BY DAVID GRANT LONG

A Cortez man was shot to death early Thursday morning while he was trying to evict a woman from his ex-wife’s home north of Cortez, and as of Friday afternoon the police had made no arrests in the slaying.

Kenneth Wayne Dugan, 22, of Cortez was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound to the chest Thursday morning after being taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital from the scene of the shooting at 15400 County Road 25, according to an affidavit written by Detective Lt. Kalvin Boggs of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Department requesting a search warrant for the premises.

Jeff Libertus, who had accompanied Dugan to the residence, told police that Dugan had been arguing with a woman standing in the doorway of a camp trailer situated behind a larger trailer, according to Boggs’ affidavit, and demanded she pack her things and leave just before he was shot.

Libertus said he had not actually seen the fatal shot fired because his attention was briefly diverted, Boggs said, but Libertus said he heard the woman say, "Where’s my (expletive) gun!" then heard a shot and felt Dugan slump against him while a red stain began spreading across Dugan’s chest. Libertus said the woman was the only person in the trailer as far as he knew.

Basil Hougland, who had also gone to the residence with Dugan, identified the woman as 22-year-old Shanna Dawn Fletcher, the affidavit said. She and others who had been attending a party at the residence were still being sought by police Friday afternoon, Boggs said, but no arrest warrants had yet been issued.

"We need to do a couple more interviews before we can establish if we can get those warrants or not," said Boggs, who declined to name Fletcher as the prime suspect.

"Anybody who was at the party I guess you could say is a suspect, but what we’re looking for them for right now is just as witnesses to the shooting," he added. "Right now we can’t call anybody a true suspect like we’ve narrowed it down.

"We are looking to talk to (Fletcher) because basically we’ve got one side of the story and that’s (from) the witnesses who were out there with Dugan."

Members of the sheriff’s department and K-9 Search and Rescue used dogs and an airplane to search along County Road 25 for a weapon or any other evidence that may have been discarded after the murder, Boggs said.

Dugan’s friends attempted to administer first aid to Dugan while driving him to Southwest Memorial Hospital, the affidavit said, but could not save his life. According to a hospital spokeswoman, he arrived at Southwest at 12:35 a.m. and was pronounced dead 10 minutes later, despite efforts to revive him.

According to the affidavit:

The shooting was the culmination of a broader confrontation that had also involved the roommate of Dugan’s former wife.

Matthew Quackenbush, a third witness, told police that Lindy Kennedy Dugan was "having problems" with Douglas Hackett and "wanted help from Kenneth Dugan in removing Douglas Hackett from her residence."

When the four men arrived at the home, "they were met by Douglas Hackett and several verbal and at least two physical confrontations took place, both inside and outside the mobile home and near a camp trailer parked behind the mobile home."

This brawl led to the heated argument between Dugan and the woman later identified as Fletcher when she came to the door.

Hackett is among those still being sought for questioning, Boggs said Friday.

No weapon was recovered during the search of the residence and the camp trailer, according to an inventory list, but some ammunition and shell casings were seized along with several items that could be related to the manufacture of methamphetamine.

A 9mm bullet and casing were found, according to the warrant return, along with a box of .380-caliber ammunition and some .22-caliber bullets.

Boxes of Sudafed, a decongestant that can be converted to methamphetamine, and several other chemicals and paraphernalia used in the methamphetamine production process —a blender, starter fluid, batteries and a quantity of white powder —were also seized.

Boggs said what type of weapon was used in the slaying wouldn’t be known until an autopsy of Dugan’s body was completed in Montrose Friday afternoon.

Boggs said additional charges based on the suspected drug-manufacturing gear found at the residence were likely to be filed.

"There sure could be," he said. "We’re looking into that."

Boggs said Lindy Kennedy Dugan was the person renting the residence.

Dugan’s murder was the second homicide in Montezuma County this year.

Dugan, who had been married and had a 20-month old child, was a self employed construction worker, according to court records. Prior to his job as a construction worker, he had been employed at In Skin Tattoo in Cortez, the records said.

Dugan’s former attorney could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon, and efforts to contact his friends and family were unsuccessful. He is not listed in Montezuma-Cortez High School yearbooks, but is listed in court records as far back as 1995.