By Kaitlin Durbin
The Gazette
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A GoPro camera mounted to the dash of Daryl Ritz’s vehicle captured his murder.
The 33-year Colorado Springs firefighter was checking on his family’s property on Judge Orr Road after several recent thefts when he encountered a man, according to court records unsealed this week.
The two struggled.
At one point, Ritz, 58, threw the man to the ground. He then ran as the man turned a gun on him and fired three shots. Ritz was hit in the side and back, which brought him to the ground, records state.
The next scene caught on camera is the most chilling.
The man walked over to Ritz and fired a fourth shot, this time to his head, according to the court records.
“The final shot appears to be what some have called a ‘coup de grace,’” court documents said.
Gustavo Torres-Gonzalez, 43, has been charged with first-degree murder in Ritz’s death.
Torres-Gonzalez didn’t keep the shooting a secret, according to his arrest affidavit.
A woman who picked up Torres-Gonzalez at a local Safeway the day of the shooting and dropped him off in Black Forest said he told her he “needed to leave town because he did something bad,” the affidavit said.
He told other friends “I shot a guy” because he was “afraid the victim might beat him or call the police” and was seeking a shovel to bury the body, the document said. The video showed Ritz’s killer covering his body with debris.
Torres-Gonzalez told a fourth person he “was looking for a place to lay low,” and “his freedom was at stake,” the affidavit said.
One of the people Torres-Gonzalez reportedly confessed to was Christopher Laxton.
Laxton had sold Torres-Gonzalez a .40-caliber Ruger handgun consistent with that used to kill Ritz. The two occasionally worked together, according to the document.
When police went to interview Laxton and search his Black Forest property, he was destroying papers with Ritz’s name on them, the affidavit said. Officers also discovered property that Ritz had reported missing on Laxton’s property.
Ritz had complained of “ongoing theft, burglary and trespassing issues” when he told a coworker he was going to check on the family property May 16. He’d previously reported as stolen an airplane kit, a red Jeep, various tools, engine parts and machines, the affidavit said.
Metal, machinery and materials were stored on the property, previously the site of a well and wastewater company called Greater West Distributors. The business closed, and the property is owned by Ritz’s parents, who moved to Georgia in 2015, according to Ritz’s sister, Phyllis Crumb.
The airplane, Jeep and some tools that were reported stolen were found on Laxton’s property, the affidavit said.
Laxton has since been accused of tampering with physical evidence. He’s scheduled for arraignment Aug. 9.
There were signs of forced entry to the building where video showed Ritz first contacting the intruder.
Authorities found a glass pipe consistent with those used to smoke drugs “such as methamphetamine or crack cocaine” inside the building.
Ritz’s cellphone also went missing.
It last pinged its location in Black Forest shortly after his death.
“In other words, the evidence suggested that the victim’s phone was transported to the Black Forest area after he was killed,” the affidavit said.
Torres-Gonzalez is being held without bond in the El Paso County jail, records show. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Aug. 30. Police said he also was wanted in Teller County on charges of fraud-impersonation.
Ritz had retired from the Colorado Springs Fire Department three years ago. He was previously a driver-engineer on the hazardous materials team.
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