JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colorado — A man has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his roommate whose body was found in Silver Plume on Sunday, according to the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Tyler Ray Condit, 31, was in court Wednesday where he was advised of the charges against him which include the following:
- First-degree murder – after deliberation
- Tampering with a deceased human body
- Tampering with physical evidence
- Two violent crime counts
The victim, identified as Joseph Elsey, was last heard from on Aug. 24, police said. Investigators gained access to his apartment near Simms Street and Ralston Road on Aug. 29 after a concerned friend went to the apartment looking for Elsey and saw "a lot of blood" through the window and said it looked like "someone had tried to clean it up," according to an arrest affidavit.
Officers said over the ensuing days, they recovered a green Toyota 4Runner that was possibly used in the crime and identified Condit as a suspect. One person interviewed by detectives said Condit sold drugs and was associated with the Bloods street gang, the affidavit says. That same person also told investigators that Elsey owed Condit money.
According to the affidavit, another person who was interviewed by police said that Elsey sold and used cocaine and ketamine.
Elsey’s body was found on Sept. 6 near an Interstate 70 frontage road in Silver Plume. According to the affidavit, investigators spoke with Condit's uncle, who said a week prior on Aug. 25 Condit told him he had been a fight with Elsey and sounded "shaken up". During that conversation, the uncle told investigators that Condit said "he stabbed Joseph in the neck." After the stabbing, Condit told his uncle that he called a friend and together they took Elsey's body "up in the mountains."
When questioned, Condit initially told investigators he moved out of the apartment on Aug. 23 or 24 because he "could not stay in the apartment full of drug activity any longer," the affidavit says.
He later told investigators that on the night of Aug. 24 he and Elsey were in the apartment together and he took two tabs of "acid" while they had a conversation about him moving out. Condit said Elsey became concerned about him moving out but said "he could not remember anything else."
Condit is being held without bond at the Jefferson County Court jail. He's due in court on Oct. 9.
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