A suspect has been arrested in connection to the shooting death of a 31-year-old man whose partially decomposed body was found inside a stolen SUV in the Villa Park area of Denver.
The victim, Isaiah Morales, was reported missing and was last seen on June 4, according to a police department news release. On June 16, his body was found in the back seat of a parked Ford Explorer in the 800 block of Hazel Court. The vehicle had a parking citation on it.
A passerby called 911 to report a strong odor coming from the vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit. The body was partially covered by a windshield sunshade and a jacket. Morales had been shot in the head. The vehicle his body was found in had been stolen. Investigators believe the fatal shot was fired inside the vehicle.
In the missing person report on Morales, he was described, in part, as wearing a red baseball hat at the time he went missing. The victim in the vehicle also had a red hat, and investigators made the connection.
The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner made a positive identification of the body as that of Morales. He had been shot three times, once in the head and twice in the shoulder, according to the affidavit.
On Tuesday, Spencer Doom, 30, was arrested in Edgewater on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to police.
Investigators found a finger print on the exterior side door of the SUV and it linked to Doom, the affidavit said. Investigators found surveillance video footage of Doom, taken on June 9, driving the stolen SUV to a Lakewood pawn shop.
A license plate on the Ford SUV connected the stolen vehicle to a theft in Wheat Ridge in which two suspects stole more than $1,300 in fragrances. Surveillance video from the theft includes images of Doom, according to the affidavit.
Information from the victim’s cell phone, which was found in his pants pocket, was used as part of the investigation.
Morales was shot at about 7:40 p.m. June 4 in the 600 block of Wolff Street, the affidavit said, and the SUV was later taken to Hazel Court and left there with the body inside of it.
Doom is being held at the Denver jail without bond. He has a court hearing scheduled on Thursday morning.
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