Three people arrested in connection with the death of two men found in a burning truck last year were officially charged Tuesday.
Samuel Lucas Pinney, 34, and Samantha Lynn Simmons, 27, were arrested early Monday at a home in the 1200 block of Moore Drive in Gilcrest.
They were charged Tuesday with two counts of murder in the first degree after deliberation, felony murder, two counts of abuse of a corpse, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery, second degree arson, and criminal mischief.
A third suspect, Nathaniel Lee Youngman, 26, was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. He was arrested on April 7 in Oregon and extradited back to Colorado, and is set to appear in court on May 20.
Police on the night of October 17 responded to a vehicle fire near the intersection of Weld County roads 96 and 57 near Nunn.
The Nunn Fire Department put out the fire, and crews found the bodies of two men. An affidavit states the bodies were found in the rear passenger compartment of the truck.
Autopsy reports later confirmed that both victims – later identified as Zachary Allen Moore of Prague, Oklahoma and Joshua Trae Foster of Muskogee, Oklahoma -- were dead before the truck caught fire.
Investigators also found evidence suggestive of a gunshot wound to the head.
The affidavit notes that the truck was registered to Foster’s father, Rusty Young.
Detectives believe the victims were ambushed, robbed and killed, and that Pinney was angry because Foster was trying to use Pinney's "Colorado marijuana connections" without going through him.
Cell phone location data also placed Simmons' cell phone at the scene of the murder at the approximate time of the murder.
