Nephew's Alleged Drunken Strangling Of Uncle First Homicide In Gunnison In 30 Years
GUNNISON, Colo. (CBS4) – A Gunnison man with a lengthy legal past told police he strangled his 71-year-old uncle to death amid a drunken discussion gone wrong.
It was the first homicide in the Colorado town in 30 years.
Zachary Hurley, 30, was arrested Sunday for killing Gilbert Arthur Harrison, his 71-year-old uncle visiting from Taos, N.M., during a heated argument over television and alcohol.
The Crested Butte News reports that Hurley and his uncle were "watching television and drinking when they became involved in an argument related to events in the past" at around 2:40 a.m. Sunday. Police said that Hurley would go on to strangle Harrison.
According to media reports, Hurley, who was driving around in his uncle's pickup truck, got into a wreck at around 1 p.m. that same day. Upon questioning Hurley, he indicated that the car belonged to a dead relative.
"Upon further comments, Mr. Hurley indicated that the relative was at his residence and he had been killed earlier in the day," police said in the police report. "Officer [sic] responded to Mr. Hurley's residence and did locate a male subject deceased in the residence."
Hurley, who has had multiple run-ins with the law since 2000, is responsible for the first homicide in Gunnison since the early 1980s, according to the Crested Butte News.
