|
Fourth suspect tied to manhunt |
June 9, 2000 By Tom Sluis Herald Staff Writer A Durango-area man who died of an accidental overdose in 1998 is a fourth suspect in the slaying of Cortez Police officer Dale Claxton. "If there was a fourth person, the only one it could have been was this guy. But personally, I’m not convinced he was involved," said Dot Graham, the FBI agent based in Durango. "They could have easily pulled this off with just the three of them. ... We can’t go back and verify it now because he is dead," Graham said. The man’s identity was not released by officials. The three – Robert Mason, Jason McVean and Alan Pilon – allegedly stole a water truck on May 29, 1998, from Ignacio and then shot Claxton after the officer spotted the truck in Cortez. The three then allegedly stole a flatbed truck and abandoned it near the Utah border. Mason, of Durango, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on the banks of the San Juan River near Bluff, Utah, six days later. Pilon, of Dove Creek, was found dead on Oct. 31, 1999, also from a gunshot wound to the head. Both were presumed suicides. McVean, from Durango, is still missing. Graham said it is only speculation that there was a fourth man involved, "But obviously, we can’t rule it out at this point." The man, who lived just outside Durango, died after accidentally mixing alcohol and drugs, said Graham. "We hate to have the finger pointing at someone who we can’t prove one way or the other at this point," Graham said. Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said the man was under surveillance but that no evidence was ever uncovered linking him to the crime, other than his acquaintance with the three men. "I don’t even know if you could call him a suspect, " Lane said. "He’s a theory right now. We couldn’t prove anything against him or we would have had a warrant for him." Lane said the name was being withheld out of deference to the family. The fourth-man theory is not new, Lane said. "If you are going to commit a crime with this water truck, you’ve got to have some way to get away," Lane said. "You can’t drive that water truck away. It’s too obvious and conspicuous." Lane said the most popular theory on the water truck theft was that the vehicle would somehow be used during a robbery of the Ute Mountain Ute Casino in Towaoc, or to rob an armored car between the casino and Cortez. The fourth person, in a different car, would then drive McVean, Pilon and Mason away, Lane said. Lane said the Durango-area man, if he was involved, may have realized he was in over his head when the bullets started flying. "I think basically that when he found out this whole thing happened he just headed back home," Lane said. Still, Lane said, it’s just a theory. "I don’t think that there is anything out there other than intuition on our part," he said. |
|
Contents copyright © 2000, the
Durango Herald. All rights reserved. |