Hatchet Suspect Charged, More Charges Likely To Come
By Jamie Leary
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A man arrested near Colorado Springs, who is a person of interest in a double murder case in Indiana, has been charged in connection with an alleged hatchet attack.
Daniel Nations has been charged with felony menacing and reckless endangerment in connection with reports of someone threatening several bike riders with a hatchet.
Nations, 32, was arrested on a weapons charge on Monday. He's a registered sex offender out of South Carolina who has been living in Indiana.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says more charges may be forthcoming after the charges filed on Thursday.
El Paso County officials were asked not to comment on the Indiana case.
Nations was arrested while driving a car that matched the description given in several tips of a man menacing people in the Monument/Mount Herman area with a hatchet. It's the same area where cyclist Tim Watkins was found shot to death just a week earlier.
Arrest papers show Nations was in the car with his wife and two children and the car had expired Indiana plates.
Inside, police found a hatchet and a .22 caliber rifle.
The body of Libby German, 14, was found along with her friend Abby Williams on a trail in Delphi, Indiana.
Police found the grainy image along with audio clips of a man believed to be connected on German's phone.
People in the area around the time of the murders helped build a composite sketch of a possible suspect -- who bares a striking resemblance to Nations.
Not only is he accused of threatening people in Colorado with a hatchet but in Indiana, his former employer claims Nations came after her too.
Suella Ferrand says nations worked for her family's farm in Martinsville, Indiana. At first she says he seemed liked a good guy but his personality quickly changed.
"He was definitely not a good guy," said Ferrand.
Ferrand and her family say Nations trashed the apartment they let him live in, frequently became violent, destroyed property and even threatened one of them with a hatchet. Ferrand says it got so bad, they had to get police and the courts involved.
Indiana state police say they will push to get a DNA sample from Nations to either clear him or connect him to the murders of the two Indiana girls.
Nations remains in custody on $2,000 bond.
Jamie Leary joined the CBS4 team in 2015 and currently works as a reporter for CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. She couldn't imagine a better place to live and work and will stop at nothing to find the next great story. Jamie loves learning about and hearing from her fellow community members, so connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @JamieALeary.
