AURORA, Colo. – The man arrested in the death of an Aurora woman whose remains were found at an abandoned truck stop in southern Colorado was the victim's boyfriend and was driving her SUV and had her cellphone when he was arrested in Texas, days after she was last seen in December, an arrest warrant affidavit said.
Andrew Joseph Condon, 26, has been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder, Aurora police announced this week.
LeBrea Jackson, 23 , died of strangulation, according to the affidavit. Her body was found Jan. 6 inside of a storage container along Interstate 25, near the town of Aguilar in Las Animas County.
Jackson had made two recent allegations of domestic violence against Condon, the affidavit said, with both incidents involving Condon reportedly placing his hands around her throat. She told investigators that Condon threatened to hurt her if she contacted police, the affidavit said.
Jackson was last seen in the early-morning hours of Dec. 21. Investigators believe she was strangled at her apartment in the 12700 block of East Mississippi Avenue in Aurora, sometime between Dec. 21 and Dec. 24.
Jackson's adoptive mother told police that her daughter had texted her on Dec. 23, saying she was going to pick Condon up. They were going to the adoptive mother's home in Westcliffe in Custer County to stay for four days, the woman told police.
But the couple never showed, and Jackson's adoptive mother reported her daughter missing on Dec. 26.
Two days earlier, on Dec. 24, Condon was arrested in Alvarado, Texas, south of Fort Worth, on charges of drug possession and felony warrants out of Colorado.
Colorado detectives spoke with Texas authorities on Jan. 2 and learned that Condon was driving Jackson's Toyota Rav-4 and had her cell phone, the affidavit said.
Cellphone records later showed that Jackson's phone had traveled south on I-25 out of Denver, stopping near the same spot where her body was discovered.
The phone continued along I-25 and into New Mexico, according to the cellphone records, and then into Texas, traveling along the same route that Condon drove to Texas, according to the affidavit. Records picked up the phone on Interstate 35W until Condon was stopped by police south of Fort Worth, the affidavit said.
When detectives interviewed Condon in Texas, they showed him pictures of the storage container where Jackson's body was found.
Condon studied the pictures "very closely," the affidavit said, and then dropped his shoulders and "appeared to become emotional almost sad in appearance," the affidavit said.
Condon later told detectives "not guilty" and then said he would wait for his lawyer.
Previous domestic violence allegations
Investigators found two prior cases involving Condon, both related to domestic violence.
Jackson reported to Aurora police in November and December that Condon had placed his hands around her throat, the affidavit said. Police filed charges against Condon in the December incident.
In the November report, Jackson used Condon's alias, the name of a man who had reported that Condon stole his driver's license. Police filed charges against the alias name, but later voided the case.
When asked why she used Condon's alias, Jackson told police that she was afraid, the affidavit. She had reported that Condon threatened to hurt her if she called the police.
