The murder of Paige Birgfeld
Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado · 2007
Overview
Paige Birgfeld, a 34-year-old mother of three, left her Grand Junction, Colorado, home on the morning of Thursday, June 28, 2007, telling her children she was working in Glenwood Springs, and did not come back. Her red Ford Focus was found burning in an empty parking lot on July 1. Investigators learned that she ran an escort business called Models Inc. By October 2007 they had named a suspect, Lester Ralph Jones, a client who worked as a mechanic. Prosecutors said store video showed him buying a TracFone two days before she vanished, and that the phone's only calls were to her. Without a body there was no arrest, and the case went cold. In March 2012 a hiker found her remains in a dry creek bed in Wells Gulch, Delta County, and dental records identified her. A cold case team at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation took over in 2013, and the Mesa County Sheriff's Office arrested Jones on November 21, 2014. A first trial in 2016 ended in a mistrial on September 9 with the jury split nine to three. A second jury convicted him of murder and kidnapping on December 27, 2016, and Judge Brian Flynn sentenced him to life without parole. No DNA linked him to her, and the case rested on circumstantial evidence.
How it was solved
No single new test cracked this case. The suspect was named in the first months and the proof took seven years. By October 2007 the Mesa County Sheriff's Office had identified Lester Ralph Jones, a client of Paige Birgfeld's escort business, as a suspect. ABC News reported that a search of his home and workspace found a box for a TracFone, which investigators traced to a Walmart; the Daily Sentinel reported that store video showed Jones buying a Tracfone on the night of June 26, 2007, and that a partial package was found in his work space near a gas can. CBS's 48 Hours reported that the phone's only calls were to Birgfeld and that they stopped when she disappeared. Jones denied knowing her and denied he was the man on the video. Without a body, the case stalled. ABC News wrote that investigators struggled to prove a crime without one. On March 6, 2012, a hiker found Birgfeld's remains in Wells Gulch, Delta County, and dental records identified her. The case was classified as a homicide, and prosecutors later pointed to duct tape found near the skull. Medical witnesses could not say how she died. In 2013 a cold case team at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation took over, and the Daily Sentinel described the sheriff's work as seven years of eliminating alibis for other men in her life. Jones was arrested on November 21, 2014, and officials did not say that day what specifically prompted it. The first trial, in 2016, ended with a jury split nine to three. A state witness testified that no DNA ever linked Jones to Birgfeld. Prosecutors retried him, and a second jury convicted him on December 27, 2016.
Sources
- Suspect Arrested In Death Of Paige Birgfeld, Mom Who Led Double Life (November 21, 2014)
“A cold case team in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation took over the case last year.”
- Trial begins in 2007 murder of mom of 3 and escort service operator Paige Birgfeld (2016)
“the arrest affidavit noted that physical evidence did not link him -- or any other suspect -- to the murder.”
- 'Secret Life of Paige Birgfeld': Body of woman missing since 2007 is found (March 8, 2012)
“In October 2007, investigators identified Lester Ralph Jones, then 56, as a suspect.”
- Years of checking alibis in Paige Birgfeld probe cast light on valley's seedy side (December 14, 2014)
“He was also seen on video surveillance at Walmart, 2881 North Ave., buying a Tracfone on the night of June 26.”
- The Secret Life Of Paige Birgfeld (updated July 1, 2017)
“Paige's red Ford Focus was found engulfed in flames in an empty parking lot about 2 miles from her home.”
- After two trials, killer of Colorado mom of three with secret life appeals conviction (May 21, 2021)
“They also found condoms, Viagra and, in a trash can, a box for a TracFone.”
- Mistrial Declared In Paige Birgfeld Murder Trial (September 9, 2016)
“Medical professionals testified in the trial that they couldn't tell for sure how Birgfeld died.”
- Mistrial declared after hung jury in Paige Birgfeld murder case (September 9, 2016)
“The jury was split, with nine people finding Jones guilty, but three determining there was too much doubt to convict him.”
- Testimony: DNA link between Jones, victim was never identified (August 19, 2016)
“No DNA evidence was ever discovered that linked Jones and Birgfeld”
- Jones sentenced in kidnapping, murder of Paige Birgfeld (December 27, 2016)
“Following the verdict, Judge Brian Flynn sentenced Jones to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
- Lester Jones found guilty of killing Paige Birgfeld in Grand Junction case (December 2016)
“The jury in his second trial came together after deliberating for three days to find Jones guilty of all charges.”
- Appeals court vacates part of Jones' conviction (June 3, 2022)
“the lesser kidnapping charge had to be merged with the felony murder charge”