UPDATE | Friday, 9:40 a.m. — Joshua Stephen Miles and Kyli Leanne Ferguson, who are accused of murdering and burglarizing an 85-year-old man in his Adams County home on Dec. 28, have been formally charged with:
- Second-degree murder
- First-degree assault of at-risk person
- Aggravated robbery
- First-degree burglary
- Theft - at-risk victim
- First-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft
- Unlawful possession of a controlled substance
- Two crime of violence - sentence enhancers
...
DENVER — Two people were arrested after police found an 85-year-old man dead inside his burglarized home and his vehicle missing in Adams County last week.
Joshua Stephen Miles, 29, and Kyli Leanne Ferguson, 28, were taken into custody Friday morning outside a hotel in Thornton, according to a Tuesday release from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
Responding to a report of a suspicious death, Adams County deputies found the victim inside his home in the 8800 block of Wagner Street the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 29.
Deputies found the elderly man deceased in the residence, with visible physical injuries, and determined that items were missing from the home, including a vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities are investigating the death as a homicide. He was identified on Wednesday as Richard Leroy Debus of Westminster. The exact cause of his of death has not been released.
The following day, Northglenn police spotted the victim’s stolen vehicle parked at an apartment complex at 11501 Washington Street and determined the suspects were associated with a unit at the complex.
Authorities served a search warrant on the unit and recovered evidence they said links the suspects to the homicide investigation. They also uncovered evidence that led police to a hotel, where the suspects attempted to flee but were later apprehended.
The sheriff’s office said they don’t believe the suspects and Debus knew each other before the incident and it appears the victim was randomly targeted by the suspects.
Miles and Ferguson were booked into the Adams County Detention Facility pending further court proceedings. They are both facing several charges, including first and second-degree murder, burglary and crimes against an at-risk adult.