Dragged woman left mile-long blood trail

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Dragged woman left mile-long blood trail, police say
POSTED: 9:24 p.m. EDT, September 19, 2006
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DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- A woman was tied to a vehicle with a rope and
dragged through suburban streets in a gruesome crime that left a trail of
blood more than a mile long, police said.

Neighbors discovered the woman's body before dawn Monday about 20 miles
south of Denver. On Tuesday, sheriff's deputies were still trying to learn
her identity.

The victim's face was unrecognizable and an orange tow rope was found around
her neck, said Nancy Foley, who lives next door to the house where the body
was found.

"I was trying to sleep last night, thinking about how this poor lady was
dragged, treated worse than an animal," Foley said. "She was really
mangled."

Preliminary autopsy results indicated the woman died of asphyxiation and
head injuries from being strangled while dragged by a vehicle, sheriff's
spokeswoman Kim Castellano said. Toxicology results could take three weeks.

Castellano said investigators Tuesday detained several witnesses for
questioning. No one had been arrested or identified as a possible suspect,
she said.

A photo of an unidentified couple was found nearby, but investigators did
not know whether it was connected to the death, Castellano said.

Investigators were checking missing-person reports for clues.

Authorities stepped up patrols in the once-quiet neighborhood, and residents
were locking their doors at night, Foley said.

"It's a very safe neighborhood, or it has been, anyway," she said.

The blood was cleaned off the paved road, but traces remained, upsetting
neighbors.

"We don't want to attract any more attention than what we're already
getting. This is our little piece of heaven," Foley said.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14922096/

Suspect held in woman’s dragging death
Man in photo found near unidentified body in Colo. faces murder charge

Douglas County Sheriff / via AP
Authorities said this photograph was found near the body of a woman
who was dragged to her death. The man in the photo, identified as Jose Luis
Rubi-Nava, was later arrested.



Updated: 1:58 p.m. ET Sept 20, 2006
DENVER - A man pictured in a photo found at the crime scene was arrested in
the death of a woman whose body was found after she was dragged behind a
vehicle for at least a mile, authorities said Wednesday.

Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, was arrested Tuesday night on a charge of
first-degree murder and was being held without bail in the Douglas County
jail, Sheriff Dave Weaver said.

He said the woman had not yet been identified.


Weaver said Rubi-Nava was the man pictured in a photograph found near the
woman’s body when it was discovered Monday in a subdivision about 20 miles
south of Denver.

The photo had been released to the public, and Weaver said without
elaborating that tips from citizens had helped lead to the arrest. The
picture shows a couple who appear to be in their 30s; he is leaning with his
arm on the woman’s shoulder; she is looking away from the camera.

Weaver did not say whether a woman who also appeared in the photo had been
identified.

Weaver said federal officials had placed an immigration hold on Rubi-Nava
but did not say whether he was an illegal immigrant. Weaver refused to take
questions after reading a brief statement at a news conference.

Neighbors discovered the woman’s body before dawn. Her face was
unrecognizable and an orange tow rope was found around her neck, said Nancy
Foley, who lives nearby.

Preliminary results of an autopsy indicated the woman died of asphyxiation
and head injuries from being strangled by being dragged by a vehicle.

Foley said the incident has shaken the normally quiet Surrey Ridge
neighborhood.

“I was trying to sleep last night thinking about how this poor lady was
dragged, treated worse than an animal,” Foley said Tuesday. “She was really
mangled.”

She said sheriff’s patrols have increased and residents are more vigilant.

“We don’t want to attract any more attention that what we’re already
getting. This is our little piece of heaven,” she said.