Man Found Guilty, Sentenced In Planned Death Of Missing Woman
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4)- Less than an hour of closing arguments, a Weld County jury returned a guilty verdict for killing a woman who disrespected his "gang."
Daniel "D.J." Meyer was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Tera Lewandowski on Monday.
He was immediately sentenced to life in prison plus 18 years.
Lewandowski, 34, went missing in September 2015. She had been living at Meyer's home for about a week before she was stabbed to death.
Former Pierce Town Board member Meyer told authorities he killed Lewandowski after a hit was approved by his "21 gang" biker gang leader over an argument about drugs. The gang included Meyer, Michael Vassil, Thomas Vassil and Chad Iler.
"This crime is absolutely senseless," Assistant District Attorney Robb Miller said during the hearing. "I still can not fathom why they murdered her."
Meyer, along with the other co-defendants, plotted when and how they would kill the victim and then carried out the plan. The group stabbed the victim multiple times, wrapped her body in carpet and dumped her nearly 100 miles away in Wyoming. Then they burned all of her belongings in an outdoor fire pit.
It took authorities nearly six months to find her body.
"The defendant killed his defenseless roommate in a dark room in the middle of the night," Miller said. "He intentionally stabbed her. He offered to do it all to make a name for this gang – a gang with a bunch of nobodies."
"It took going through all of this to get the answer I already knew," said Vonda Holt, the victim's mother. "We got justice for Tera, and she can finally rest."
