Gruesome Details Revealed In Castle Rock Double Murder
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) - A Castle Rock man has admitted to being the mastermind behind his wife's murder. The alleged plot was revealed in court on Tuesday.
Christopher Wells, 49, is accused in the murder of his wife, Amara Wells, 39, and her brother-in-law, Robert D. Rafferty Jr., 49.
The details of the coroner's report revealed Amara Wells and Rafferty were both shot and stabbed in the neck.
Sgt. Jason Weaver, the lead investigator with the Douglas County Sheriff's Department, who was at the Wells home the morning of the murders, gave detailed testimony on what happened on Feb. 23.
In a taped interview played in court with Josiah Sher, the man accused of executing the murders, it was revealed Sher, 26, allegedly was offered $15,000.
According to the interview he would have been paid an additional $5,000 to kill Robert Rafferty's wife Tamara, but she was out of town.
The interview revealed Sher was offered the money by Micah Woody, 29, who was allegedly carrying out the murder plan for Christopher Wells, who was in jail at the time.
Sher said he came in the front door of the Rafferty home where Amara Wells was living with her 6-year-old daughter. He went downstairs to Amara Wells' bedroom and shot her. But she got up and tried to escape. In the interview, he then said he stabbed her.
Sher then said he went upstairs to kill Robert Rafferty, who had woken up and was standing at the top of the stairs with a shotgun.
Rafferty punched Sher a couple times in the face and pinned him to the ground. But Sher told the detective he was able to pull out his gun and shoot Rafferty. He then said he stabbed Rafferty in the neck, poured gas on him and lit him on fire.
Amara Wells' daughter woke up to her mother screaming, left her room and stepped over her mother's body and went upstairs to witness Sher attacking Rafferty. She then hid and then ran to a neighbor's house, where he called 911.
In the interview Sher said he chose not to hurt the little girl.
Sher also talked about the fourth suspect in the case, Matthew Plake. He said Plake, 26, was his friend and he asked him to drive and get rid of the evidence.
Sher told the court the only reason he committed the murders was for money.
