A Cortez man who police say killed his Ignacio marijuana dealer earlier this month may have been trying to leave the area for good before he was arrested at a Starbucks in Durango earlier this week, prosecutors said Tuesday.
La Plata County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Robert Dean Rose, a 50-year-old man also known as Dean Seavy, Monday on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Mark Wayman. Rose appeared before District Court Judge Todd Norvell Tuesday in an orange jump suit with a hearing assistance device.
Law enforcement found Wayman dead May 13, with three bullet wounds in his head and neck. Rose has been booked into the La Plata County Jail. Sixth Judicial District Attorney Christian Champagne requested Rose only be released after posting $500,000 bail.
Colorado law affords the court authority to hold murder suspects without bond when proof is evident and presumption of guilt is great, Champagne said.
Prosecutors plan to file formal charges by Friday, Champagne told Norvell. The judge told Rose that if prosecutors charge him with first degree murder, the minimum sentence, if convicted, is life in prison.
Rose’s public defender, Barrie Newberger King, called arresting documents “fairly scant” and said her client has “no means” to post bond. She said her client is unlikely to leave the area – Champagne cited Rose’s former felony convictions on weapons and drug charges as reason for a $500,000 bond.
Champagne also said Rose was planning to get on a bus and “never come back” before law enforcement arrested him.
“Mr. Rose is a flight risk,” Champagne said. “He had intentions to leave.”
Law enforcement said Rose shot Wayman as part of a feud that started two or three years ago about marijuana Rose allegedly stole from Wayman, a La Plata County Sheriff’s investigator wrote in an arresting document. Wayman was known to grow a large amount of marijuana in his home, according to law enforcement.
A woman familiar with Wayman told police he messaged her May 11, the day police say he was murdered, and told her that Rose was at his house around 1:40 p.m. and that he wanted to “settle up,” according to court documents.
Wayman’s landlord said he received a message from the victim at 3:30 p.m. May 11 saying that Wayman was on his way back from an annual honeybee exchange at the Zuberfizz warehouse in Bodo Industrial Park.
“Wayman was always a man of his word,” the landlord told law enforcement. “(Law enforcement) believes Wayman was shot and killed shortly after this (3:30 p.m.) message,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Law enforcement said Wayman had been borrowing a 2005 silver Dodge Neon at the time of his death – but the vehicle was missing from Wayman’s home at 441 County Road 509 when his body was discovered.
Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office stopped a vehicle matching the description of the one Wayman was borrowing in Towaoc six days after his death. The vehicle was listed as stolen and the driver, Fernando Hill, was taken into custody.
Hill told investigators Rose had given him the vehicle and asked him to sell it May 11, the day of Wayman’s death. He also gave law enforcement access to his cellphone and Facebook account, where investigators found messages from Rose to Hill about the stolen vehicle and guns for sale.
“(Hill) also stated (Rose) had told him he ‘popped his dealer in the back of the neck twice,’” law enforcement wrote in arresting documents.
bhauff@durangoherald.com