Unfortunately, the end has already come for Reathman's wife, Barbara, age seventy, who was found dead in her Golden home on Monday, shortly after her terminally ill husband disappeared. Now, he's been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder even though the cause of her death hasn't been made clear yet.
The case begins with an irony: Members of the Golden Police Department were first called to the Reathman residence, located in a mobile home park, because loved ones (to whom we offer our condolences) feared that David might have died.
Instead, the body officers discovered was Barbara's. Thus far, authorities haven't revealed how long she'd been dead, but some personnel at the site could be seen donning hazmat suits.
7News reported that Barbara's body showed no obvious signs of trauma. But in its initial release about the incident, the GPD deemed the circumstances "suspicious."As for David, who recently retired from a civilian position at the Jefferson County Jail, where he oversaw inmates taking part in a work program, his whereabouts were unknown. The cops didn't immediately brand him as a suspect, but they did note that he was wanted for questioning in a media alert released on Tuesday.
Then, yesterday at about 6 p.m., David walked into Golden police headquarters and "turned himself in concerning the death of his wife," the latest GPD release states, adding, "Upon further investigation, detectives developed evidence to have Mr. Reathman held on charges of murder in the first degree."Did David confess? Or did some other fact come to light that led investigators to conclude the frail, meek-looking man who until recently helped criminals get back onto the straight and narrow had committed society's most terrible crime? Thus far, investigators are mum, other than to confirm that David is currently being held without bail in the Jeffco jail where he used to work.
Here's a look at David Reathman's mug shot, followed by the initial 7News report.
More from our Mile High Murder archive: "Michael Chavez ID'd as man shot to death in South Bryant Street murder (66)."
