Clear Creek Sheriff Matt Harris said the arrest for the murder of Paul Peavey, announced Friday, was the result of good police work and cooperation from the community.
But he continued to promise that his department would improve its procedures after missteps in handling the initial missing person report that came in days before Peavey’s body was found on his property.
“I don't feel good about some of the ways we handled things on the front end. And my staff knows that,” Harris said. “And they know that our initial reaction was unacceptable and we promise to do better.”
But just hours after Peavey — who was well known in the community for breeding and selling Doberman puppies — was found, a suspect was in custody.
36-year-old Sergio Ferrer is accused of first-degree murder, felony murder and aggravated robbery.
“We had really good solid police work, we had really good solid leads … and shortly after receiving that information we had somebody in custody,” Harris said.
In his first interview since the arrest, Harris sat down exclusively with Denver7 Investigates to discuss portions of the 18-page arrest affidavit, released Friday. The report included information from investigators uncovered in multiple interviews where the suspect answered questions for more than two hours.
“Based upon the information that we received and that was disclosed, I felt very confident that we had a strong case based upon those statements,” Harris said.
The affidavit also detailed how Peavey’s friends who found him on his property pointed to Ferrer as a suspect and found some of Peavey’s belongings in the suspect’s home.
Last week, before the announcement of an arrest, Harris apologized to the community for his department’s handling of two missing person reports about Peavey that came in on Aug. 21 and 22 where he said his staff did not do enough after the reports were made.
Ultimately, Harris said the arrest is victory for his department that is trying to rebuild its reputation after the 2022 shooting of Christian Glass.
“I 1,000% guarantee (this department is) better,” he said.
How have things changed at the Clear Creek County sheriff's office since the Christian Glass case? We asked the sheriff himself. Hear his answer in the video player below:
