A jury found Gustavo Olivo-Tellez guilty of second-degree murder Friday for the death of his estranged wife Blanca Salas-Jurado in October 2016, avoiding a life sentence.<\/p>\n
However, the jury in the Glenwood Springs murder trial also had to determine whether the shooting was by a \u201cprovoked and sudden heat of passion.\u201d The verdict on that was \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurors were released after closing arguments late Thursday, and began deliberations Friday morning. As a violent crime, second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 48 years in prison and a minimum of eight. The court scheduled a half-day sentencing hearing for April 30.<\/p>\n
Nine relatives and friends of Salas, known affectionately as \u201cChula,\u201d which means \u201cbeautiful\u201d in Spanish, came to hear the verdict just before 8 p.m. Friday.<\/p>\n
For them, the second-degree murder conviction was nothing compared to the crime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t come close to what he has taken away,\u201d Karla Salas, the victim\u2019s sister, said.<\/p>\n
Salas was shot four times in the Pinon Pines apartment near Spring Valley which she shared with her sister and Olivo-Tellez\u2019s son, then 3 years old, on Oct. 7, 2016.<\/p>\n
She was shot once in the stomach, once in the collarbone and twice in the chin. Both Salas\u2019 hands had gunshot wounds from apparently raising them in an attempt to defend herself, according to forensics testimony during 12-day trial.<\/p>\n
Olivo-Tellez told police in his confession during the first interrogation after his arrest that he had removed his son from the apartment before he shot Salas.<\/p>\n
Olivo-Tellez\u2019s attorneys did not attempt to prove his innocence in the shooting, but argued that the defendant was not guilty of murder in the first degree because his abuse of multiple substances prevented him from forming deliberative intent for murder.<\/p>\n
Karla, Salas\u2019 sister, and Corina Person Minniti, a lifelong friend of the victim, said they thought the defense presented a false image of Chula.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey almost ignored the fact that she was a person, a mother, a friend,\u201d Karla said. During the trial, Olivo-Tellez\u2019s attorney talked a great deal about the defendant\u2019s belief that Salas was cheating on him.<\/p>\n
The defense attorneys admitted that Olivo-Tellez\u2019s suspicions of Salas were likely delusions attributable to the methamphetamine, but he believed them. There was no evidence presented at trial that Salas had been unfaithful to Olivo-Tellez while they were estranged.<\/p>\n
Karla saw a double standard. Olivo-Tellez was driven to murder because he believed Salas was sleeping with other men, \u201cyet he had this relationship, openly, with Michelle Castillo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castillo was a codefendant in Salas\u2019 death, and pleaded guilty to accessory first-degree murder in 2017. She testified at the trial, in custody while serving a 16-year prison sentence with the Department of Corrections. On the day of the shooting, she picked up Olivo-Tellez from Denver, purchased ammunition that may have been used in the murder, met up with him after the shooting, and drove him to Grand Junction, with Salas\u2019 son.<\/p>\n
Now 5 years old, Salas\u2019 son \u201cmisses his mother every day,\u201d Karla said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether he is sad or hurt, the person he wishes he could tell was murdered. That relationship was torn,\u201d Karla said.<\/p>\n
The family will have the opportunity to speak at the sentencing hearing in April. Olivo-Tellez \u201cis going to have the opportunity to walk away. She will never get that chance,\u201d Person Minniti said.<\/p>\n
Olivo-Tellez smiled after the trial adjourned, and Salas\u2019s family was emotional. A few muttered insults in Spanish and English.<\/p>\n
Attorneys for Olivo-Tellez and the 9th Judicial District declined to comment.<\/p>\n