WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. -- Is a Wheat Ridge man getting away with murder or is his bizarre story of a young mother's suicide the truth?
The family of Jennifer Myers has been seeking justice for almost a year, but tell Denver7's Jaclyn Allen that a plea deal recently announced falls far short.
Randy William's charge went from first-degree murder to a plea deal for tampering with evidence.
What really happened inside William's Wheat Ridge home last March remains shrouded in mystery, and for the people who loved Jennifer Myers, that's the most difficult part.
"Because nobody knows exactly what happened that night," said Jimmy Soto, Myers' fiance. "The only person that knows is Randy, and I feel like he's going to say what he has to to protect himself."
Police say the 64-year-old William met 31-year-old Myers at a bar. Witnesses told police that Myers had been cut off and asked to leave and William offered to drive the intoxicated woman home. However, instead, he drove her to his house. William told police they had consensual sex, and when he came back from a cigarette run, she was covered in blood.
"I don't know if she hit her head or what," he told the 911 dispatcher, when in fact, paramedics immediately saw that she had been shot in the face. Police reports state that is was clear she had been alive for some time after she was shot.
Almost from the beginning, police reports show, William's story didn't add up. Video from a neighbor's surveillance camera showed that William had just gone back inside the home before the gunshot sounded, and that he hid rifles in his backyard before he called 911.
Despite William's lies, police reports show detectives started investigating Myers' history of depression and suicide attempts. Her family tells us detectives believe she shot herself in the face with a rifle she found in the home.
"We just don't accept that," said Khit McVay, Myer's aunt, speaking from Las Vegas. "We asked for a lie detector, and the detective said it was irrelevant. But she was a mother of two, just engaged, just promoted. She had a lot to live for."
McVay launched the Justice for Jen Facebook page to raise awareness about the mystery surrounding her niece's death.
"We need help to see if somebody can help get justice for her, justice for Jennifer, because he's getting away with murder," said McVay.
Jefferson County District Attorney Peter Weir would not comment for this story on the plea deal for a tampering with evidence charge, but William is set for sentencing on March 4. Family members said they were told he could serve less than a year in prison.
