Intelligence work by the La Plata County Sheriff’s Department led directly to the identification of the three fugitives suspected of killing a lawman in Cortez last week, according to Sheriff Duke Schirard.

Wednesday, authorities named Alan "Monte" Pilon, of Dove Creek, and Robert Mason and Jason McVean, both of Durango, as suspects.

"Someone in the Mason family had called Cortez to report him missing," said Schirard. "We put two and two together. We contacted a young woman who was the girlfriend of one of the suspects, and she told us where the men had done target practice.

"John Wallace of the FBI, Sgt. Detective Jim Shethar of Cortez and our own investigator, Jimmy Ezzell went over the target practice scene and found some cartridge casings. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation compared the casings with those at the scene where Cortez officer Claxton was killed, and they matched," said Schirard.

The sheriff’s department had entered the search effort at the outset because it was the closest law enforcement agency with a trained SWAT team. It was the first on the ground where a water truck, stolen by the killers, was abandoned.

Their most intensive effort was the second night, Saturday, when they generated the addresses of McVean and Mason as suspects.

"We got the cooperation of a building owner next door at Animas Air Park, and set up surveillance where we could use video and spotting scopes in case they returned," Schirard said. "We knew we couldn’t let them get back off the mesa if they showed up, and get into populated areas.

"On Sunday, the Denver police chief and SWAT team showed up and put themselves at our disposal. They took over the building surveillance for 12 hours. Finally we searched the premises of McVean and Mason with warrants and discovered the names of the three suspects."

The sheriff’s department also called in the Emergency Ordnance Disposal team from Colorado Springs and El Paso County, and sent a plane for them Wednesday. The team detonated some of the explosives found at Animas Air Park and moved what was safe to a country gravel pit for detonation there.

By Ray Parker
Special to the Herald

La Plata County Sheriff Duke Schirard says his budget has been "pretty well drained" by the search efforts.

Costs include at least $10,000 in overtime, not to mention expenses such as putting the first plane in the air over the scene where Cortez police officer Dale Claxton was gunned down. Schirard said his office has also been using the jail kitchen to feed some 75 deputies and 15 civilian workers around the clock. Altogether, the sheriff estimates that his department’s intelligence and surveillance work has run at least $15,000 so far.

Another $7,500 or more has been spent on overtime by the Durango Police Department, according to Elizabeth Bartley, administrative secretary to Chief Al Bell. This doesn’t count the many extra hours put in by the chief and two captains who are not paid overtime. Expenses are sure to rise when wear and tear on vehicles and fuel costs are totaled and factored in, Bartley said.