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According to an arrest affidavit on view below, Englewood’s Jackie Degarmo was last reported to have been seen on February 21 of this year.
However, her daughter, Alisia Blythe, didn’t tell authorities she was missing until more than two months later — April 24.
On May 3, Degarmo’s body was found by hikers in Clear Creek County. She was missing her head and her hands.
Now, John Brant, Alisia’s fiance, has been busted in connection with Degarmo’s murder — although he’s quoted in the document as insisting, “I’m really not a violent person.” Moreover, Englewood police representatives suggest that future arrests may be in the offing.
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A warning: The details that follow may disturb some readers.
Just shy of 1 p.m. on the 3rd, the affidavit notes, a body was discovered underneath a blue tarp near the intersection of Mine Road and Crest in Clear Creek County, in an area for which Google has yet to capture a street view. Here’s a map of the area.
The head and both hands of the body were removed post-mortem, the police report maintains. However, a tattoo of a heart and flower connected by vines remained visible on the outside of the woman’s right shin, just below the knee.
A photo of the tattoo was circulated to law enforcement agencies, and on May 8, a detective with the Englewood Police Department saw it and surmised that the body might be the remains of Degarmo.
He then contacted Blythe, who confirmed that the tattoo had been on Degarmo. After all, she had a matching one.
From there, investigators zeroed in on Brant, Degarmo’s fiance — and he agreed to speak with authorities, as did Blythe and a woman named Racheal Berg.
When Berg was asked during her interview if Brant killed Degarmo, the narrative continues, “she shook her head affirmatively.”
During his own sit-down with investigators, Brant is said to have mentioned an incident during which Degarmo threatened him and Blythe with a BB gun.
Then he asked for a lawyer, but not before reportedly offering a series of statements: “I was pushed, man,” “I’m really not a violent person” and “This is not something that, like, I ever thought in my life would ever happen. I mean, I really didn’t. I really, really didn’t.”
A second interview with Blythe divulged more information. The document quotes her as saying that Brant had strangled Degarmo to death after the woman “swung a stick” at her daughter.
Afterward, Brant allegedly dragged Degarmo’s body into the backyard of her home, at 4046 South Logan Street, “so her body could be preserved.”
At that point, Blythe maintains that she left with her two-year-old daughter, and when she came back, her mother’s body was gone — and Brant didn’t tell her what he did with it.
Brant was subsequently booked into the Arapahoe County jail on suspicion of second-degree murder.
In the meantime, the cops are still on the lookout for Degarmo’s car, a blue 1997 Nissan 200SX bearing Colorado license plate 632LHE.
And, as noted above, more arrests could be pending.
Continue to see the booking photo of John Brant, followed by reports by 7News and CBS4, as well as the arrest affidavit.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
