Man Receives 68-Year Sentence For Role In Edwards Woman's Murder
EAGLE, Colo. (CBS4) -- A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty Friday to charges of murder and burglary stemming from the January death of a 74-year-old Edwards woman.
Jacob Taylor White of Denver was immediately sentenced to 68 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections following his plea, per a press release from the Colorado 5th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
White was charged with 2nd Degree Murder and 1st Degree Burglary in the death of Catherine Kelley.
According to police documents, a property manager for the Pilgrim Downs neighborhood encountered an Uber driver waiting at the community's gate to pick up two passengers the night of January 24. That property manager also noticed the lights on in Kelley's home at an unusual hour. When Kelley, who lived alone, did not answer the door, the property manager called 9-1-1. Police responded at approximately 10:30 p.m.
Eagle County Sheriff's Office deputies then discovered a broken ground-level window and sets of footprints leading away from the home.
Inside her home, they found Kelley's body covered with a blanket in the master bedroom. A bloody knife was near her body.
At 1:10 a.m., White and an accomplice, Leigha Page Ackerson, were found 400 yards to the east of the Kelley home. They were both suffering from exposure and taken to a hospital. After they were medically cleared, they were arrested.
Ackerson, 24 years old at the time of the crime, is scheduled for a jury trial in the first week of January 2019.
