BY DAVID GRANT LONG

A man charged with being an accessory to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Kenneth Wayne Dugan III last month saw that charge dismissed recently on a motion by District Attorney Mike Green.

Douglas Jay Hackett, 28, was arrested on a felony warrant after Dugan, 22, was fatally shot in the chest during an altercation outside Hackett’s rural Montezuma County home on Feb. 10. Hackett was advised of the charge Feb. 17 and a preliminary hearing had been set for Tuesday.

Since the charge was dismissed "without prejudice," it could possibly be refiled upon further investigation, a court spokesperson said Wednesday.

Although Hackett’s arrest warrant and all court documents related to the case were sealed by District Judge Sharon Hansen at Green’s request, he was apparently accused of assisting Mathew David Gray, 23, who was also arrested and charged with second-degree murder six days after the slaying.

Gray lived in a small trailer on the same property along County Road 25 north of Cortez. According to witnesses who accompanied him to the residence, where his ex-wife also lived, Dugan was attempting to evict Hackett, Gray and Gray’s girlfriend, Shanna Dawn Fletcher, when a fight broke out.

An affidavit requesting a search warrant for the property recounted that one of Dugan’s friends told police he’d heard Fletcher mention a gun just before the fatal shot, although he hadn’t seen anyone fire it.