Now, however, Casey Albee has been charged, but not for killing Smith. Instead, he's accused of stabbing the other man, who's said to have acted in self-defense.
At about 11:30 p.m. on July 3, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched to a home on the 4000 block of West Eisenhower Boulevard, just outside the Loveland city limits.
Law enforcers were told that a woman had been stabbed, and this was true: Smith subsequently died of a single wound to her abdomen.But two men were also hurt: Albee, age 28, and a 38-year-old man who has still not been publicly identified. They, too, required hospitalization.
Days later, no charges had been filed against anyone, with Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith telling the Loveland Reporter-Herald that the inability to immediately interview the 38 year old due to the severity of his injuries had resulted in a delay.
Even after the man was able to talk, though, the investigation continued, with the LCSO only handing over the case to the district attorney's office in early October, the Reporter-Herald noted. And another four weeks or so would pass before the boom was lowered on Albee. What took place on the night in question? The LCSO believes Albee, Smith and the other man got into an altercation at a party that forced the latter to leave. Afterward, Albee and Smith allegedly followed him to his home, where all three were stabbed.Presumably, the unidentified man gave Smith her fatal injury, but he's been cleared of wrongdoing, since his actions were determined to have been in self-defense.
Not so Albee, who faces a pair of counts: second-degree assault/serious bodily injury and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon in the heat of passion, both felonies. As of yesterday, he was being held in Larimer County Jail on a $7,500 bond.
Here's a larger look at Albee's mug shot.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
More from our Mile High Murder archive circa September: "Photos: Isabella Guzman stabbed mom 79 times, affidavit says."
