Rick Ratzlaff opened the abandoned Cañon City storage shed that he had just bought for about $50 and discovered more than he had bargained for: an ax, a blood-stained rope and bloody socks inside a manila envelope marked “Evidence.”
“That’s when I knew it was bad — really bad,” Ratzlaff said.
Ratzlaff’s discoveries — evidence from a cold case murder of 17-year-old Candace Hiltz �— led to the suspension of a sheriff’s lieutenant who had previously rented the storage shed, triggered an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and emboldened the victim’s mother, Delores Hiltz, to speak openly about her long-held belief that the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office grossly bungled the investigation into her daughter’s murder — and possibly covered it up.
The mishandled evidence also freed Hiltz from worries that her own mentally ill son, James, could be charged with murder in the 2006 death of her daughter, a threat that has been hanging over her since that day she discovered the body of her nearly decapitated daughter crammed under a bed.
The December discovery of evidence from Candace Hiltz’s murder case in a storage unit rented by sheriff’s Lt. Detective Robert Dodd infuriated Delores Hiltz, and she refuses to remain silent about her daughter’s death.
Sheriff Jim Beicker did not return several phone messages seeking comment, but he has previously said Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents are reviewing the circumstances of the misplaced murder evidence. CBI spokeswoman Susan Medina also declined to comment.
The evidence was discovered after Dodd fell behind on his rental fees for a storage unit at Dawson Ranch Mini Storage, which is west of Cañon City. The owner said he auctioned the contents after Dodd paid him with a bad check.
Why did a Colorado sheriff
“That’s when I knew it was bad — really bad,” Ratzlaff said.
Ratzlaff’s discoveries — evidence from a cold case murder of 17-year-old Candace Hiltz �— led to the suspension of a sheriff’s lieutenant who had previously rented the storage shed, triggered an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and emboldened the victim’s mother, Delores Hiltz, to speak openly about her long-held belief that the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office grossly bungled the investigation into her daughter’s murder — and possibly covered it up.
The mishandled evidence also freed Hiltz from worries that her own mentally ill son, James, could be charged with murder in the 2006 death of her daughter, a threat that has been hanging over her since that day she discovered the body of her nearly decapitated daughter crammed under a bed.
The December discovery of evidence from Candace Hiltz’s murder case in a storage unit rented by sheriff’s Lt. Detective Robert Dodd infuriated Delores Hiltz, and she refuses to remain silent about her daughter’s death.
Sheriff Jim Beicker did not return several phone messages seeking comment, but he has previously said Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents are reviewing the circumstances of the misplaced murder evidence. CBI spokeswoman Susan Medina also declined to comment.
The evidence was discovered after Dodd fell behind on his rental fees for a storage unit at Dawson Ranch Mini Storage, which is west of Cañon City. The owner said he auctioned the contents after Dodd paid him with a bad check.
Why did a Colorado sheriff