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Suspect In Birgfeld Death Had Threatened To Kill Wife, DA Says

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The man apprehended last week in the murder of a Grand Junction woman was arrested 15 years ago for threatening to kill his wife.

RELATED: Suspect Arrested In Death Of Paige Birgfeld, Mom Who Led Double Life

The Mesa County District Attorney's Office said Lester Jones, who is accused of killing Paige Birgfeld, forced a car carrying his wife and another man off the road in 1999. He then put his wife, prosecutors said, into his car and threatened to kill her.

Later that month, Jones was accused of kidnapping a woman and sexually assaulting her.

Prosecutors recounted his criminal history in court on Thursday, arguing that Jones, 63, was a flight risk.

A judge ordered Jones held on $2 million bond for the 2007 death of Birgfeld, a single mother of three.

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