David Hendren was arrested on May 18 in connection with the death of Larry Fuller on New Year’s Day.
More than 14 years after Larry Fuller was shot dead in front of a Baptist church on Goddard Street in Ignacio, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced Friday it had arrested a suspect in an unsolved case.
David Hendren, 38, was arrested in Navajo Nation, Arizona on May 18, according to a news release. Hendren is awaiting extradition to La Plata County, where he is likely to face first-degree murder charges.
David Hendren, 38, was arrested on May 18 and is facing first-degree murder charges in the 2009 murder of Larry Fuller. (Provided by Colorado Bureau of Investigation)
Larry John Fuller was shot dead on his way home at Block 300 Goddard Street in the early hours of January 1, 2009. (Durango Herald File)
Fuller was found dead on the sidewalk in the early hours of January 1, 2009. The 49-year-old father was shot on his way home from a sidekick bar along with his partner Paula Silva. new Year.
Silva passed away in 2015.
In February of this year, at the request of the Ignacio Police Department, the CBI became the lead investigative agency in the case. The agency once again appealed for public support.
“During the course of this years-long investigation, the CBI conducted witness interviews, which subsequently led to the identification and arrest of Hendren,” CBI spokeswoman Lisa Colebrenner said in a news release.
Silva’s daughter Monica Escalante said her mother never recovered from the death of her stepfather. She called her arrest “unreal.”
Investigators said they believed the motive for the killing may have stemmed from an altercation at the bar. In a 2010 interview Durango Herald, Silva said the couple avoided any quarrel that night.
Escalante said the investigator who informed him of Hendren’s arrest said he told authorities he did not intend to kill Fuller and mistook him for someone else.
Kohlbrenner said the arrest was sealed and authorities could not comment further on the incident. Details of where Fuller was shot, how many times and what weapon was used have not been released.
“I never thought they would figure it out,” Escalante said. “It feels like a dream come true.”
Escalante was 25 when Fuller died. Fuller was Escalante’s father, and she described him as a very caring and capable person. Silva and Fuller met in 2001, according to a 2010 article in . Herald.
On March 1, 2010, at Ignacio’s home, Paula Silva started crying while talking about her late fiancé Larry Fuller. Sitting next to her is her son, Chris Madril. Silva passed away in 2015. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald File)
Escalante said Fuller’s murder haunted his family. Over the years, she and her two brothers had heard rumors in the community that various people were involved.
“You’ve just lived in fear,” Escalante said. “And her mother doesn’t think she’s cured of the disease. If she had lived, she would have wept from her heart with joy and sorrow.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
