JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Jane found herself at a crossroads on a day in May 2023. She had to decide if it was safer to make a run for it and probably end up back in jail for absconding bond, or go back to the bounty hunter hired to find her.
She chose to run. And she did, in fact, wind up back in custody, but only after a stop at an area hospital.
She wouldn’t be the only one to go to jail. The bounty hunter, Jesse Wagner, would also later find himself behind bars, facing numerous charges for what he allegedly did to Jane over the course of a few weeks after initially finding her.
Wagner’s July 2023 arrest, along with his lengthy criminal record in California, where he also worked as a bounty hunter, highlights an industry that lacks regulation in the state. It has also left some calling for reform.
Wagner, 49, who also used the name Jesse Nunez, has been charged with burglary, kidnapping, unlawful sexual contact, assault and more. He is currently in the Jefferson County Jail awaiting trial.
- Watch the culmination of Denver7's investigation in the video player below:
An arrest affidavit alleges Wagner contacted Jane in early May 2023. Jane is not the alleged victim’s real name. Denver7 Investigates is withholding her identity because she is a sex offense victim. Her name is also redacted from Wagner’s arrest affidavit.
Instead of taking her to jail as he was hired to do, according to his former employer, Wagner told Jane she could “work off her debts and get out of this life she was living.”
“He would look at me and would be like, ‘Why is somebody so beautiful in trouble?’ And just making weird comments like that,” Jane told Denver7 Investigates.
The affidavit said Wagner put an ankle monitor on Jane to track her and he told her that if she helped him find other people out on bond he was looking for, he would keep her out of jail.
But, she said he kept close tabs on her.
“When I wouldn't answer him or text him back right away or phone call, that's when things got really weird,” she recalled.
The affidavit claims that after Jane eventually ran away from Wagner, he followed her to her apartment and beat her with a baton.
After an investigation, Wagner was arrested months later. The affidavit notes his lengthy criminal history in California with multiple convictions for charges, including statutory rape, kidnapping to commit robbery, impersonating a police officer, false imprisonment and more.
He was also set to appear in a San Diego court in October on similar charges, but missed that appearance because he was in jail in Colorado. Depending on the outcome of the trial, he may be extradited back to California to face those charges, according to sources.
Lack of regulations in the industry
- How are bounty hunters regulated in Colorado? Denver7 investigator Natalie Chuck explains in the video player below:
So, how could someone with Wagner’s criminal history come to Colorado and easily find work as a bounty hunter? As it turns out, Colorado has little to no regulation within the industry.
The Colorado Division of Insurance confirmed to Denver7 Investigates that bounty hunters are not required to be licensed in the state, meaning that bondsmen who hire them are not required to do a background check.
That is what happened in Wagner’s case.
Bail bondsman Roy Jones, who owns 1st Stop Bail Bonds, said he hired Wagner for roughly a dozen jobs, including Jane’s case, who had absconded on bond on charges related to drugs and motor vehicle theft.
“I thought he was great,” Jones said. “Very efficient.… He definitely came with a different swag than anything that I have seen before.”
Even though Wagner’s history was easily accessible with a quick search online, Jones said he did not feel the need to look into Wagner's background.
“Well, he’s an independent contractor, just as is every other bounty hunter and fugitive recovery agent. He came with credentials and he came very highly recommended,” Jones said.
Jones said he would welcome stricter laws on bounty hunting licensing, but added that he would hire Wagner again if he is cleared of his charges.
William Ellenburg, a Colorado bondsman who also works as a bounty hunter, said the lack of regulation is hurting the industry and putting people at risk.
“If they don’t put regulations in, most of these bondsmen, like the ones that hired Jesse and his little entourage, they’re going to have issues,” he said. “Bondsmen hire bad bounty hunters. You have to hire the right people.”
Ellenburg said he did not know Wagner, but knew of him as news of his arrest had spread within the industry.
“There’s a whole bunch of people who’ve been in trouble, but Jesse tops them all,” Ellenburg said.
“He was in control”
- Denver7 Investigates sat down with the man who hired Wagner and asked him about the accusations. This is what he said:
Even though Wagner has been accused and convicted of impersonating a police officer in the past, Jane told Denver7 Investigates that he continued similar behaviors when she was with him.
She claims his appearance would get him access to people and places he should not have been able to access.
“He would impersonate a cop just to get into my apartment complex and find me,” she said. “You know, with him having that look, he looks like a cop, people respected and they don’t ask questions about it.”
Jane told police that when Wagner found her, she would rather do anything else than go back to jail, and Wagner “hung it over her head.”
“He had control everywhere,” she said. “No matter where we went.”
The affidavit details text messages where Wagner called Jane “baby.” He also allegedly bought a plane ticket for her to go to California with him and offered her $100 to perform oral sex on him.
Jane said she and Wagner had sex one time, but claims it was not something she wanted to do.
“(He) took me inside of his house with the handcuffs on, took me inside the room and had me like that, telling me that if I didn’t do certain things that he was saying to me that I was going to go to jail,” she said. “He just got on top and was like forcing himself while I had the handcuffs on.”
Jane felt she had to speak up about what Wagner did to her.
“It was hard for me to make this choice,” she said. “But if I wouldn’t have done it, who else could he be hurting at the time?”
Denver7 Investigates requested an interview with Wagner through the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. He did not respond after initially saying he wanted to discuss the request with his attorney, according to a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
His trial is set to begin Nov. 12 in Jefferson County.
