Days After the Justice System Let Him Go, This Serial Abuser Killed His Ex-Girlfriend

It's a horror tale that's become all too familiar in this country. A domestic abuser slips through the cracks of the justice system and gets away with monstrous behavior for years before eventually committing the ultimate act of violence: murder.

In Jefferson County, one woman's horrific death is shining a light on how domestic violence cases are handled — often allowing repeat offenders to fall through the cracks — with sometimes deadly results for victims.

Career criminal Wayne Lotz, 59, managed to walk free on two separate sentences of time served after generous plea deals in two different cases — just days before he beat and strangled 55-year-old Michele Scott to death at her home in the 27000 block of South Timber Trail in Conifer.

In one case, Lotz had violated a protection order in place for Scott, while in the other he'd violated the probation he was given as part of another plea agreement related to a felony menacing case — in which Lotz threatened to shoot and kill a random stranger at a Jeffco gas station, according to police records.

Scott had been involved in an on-again-off-again relationship with Lotz since 2019, and their history together was marked by multiple arrests of Lotz on charges of assault, harassment, damaged property, theft and violations of protective orders. But those charges all resulted in plea deals or short jail stints, according to his criminal history report, which was provided by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
By early 2022, the relationship with Scott was definitely off, and Lotz was in the Jeffco jail for violating his probation.

He had been arrested on January 17 of that year and, after failing to post bond, remained behind bars until his sentencing dates for two cases.

On January 31, a judge in Jefferson County District Court gave Lotz a fifteen-day sentence — with credit applied for the time he had already served — for the probation violation related to the menacing case. On February 1, a judge in county court, Harold Sargent, let Lotz walk free on a sixteen-day sentence with credit for time served in connection with the protection order violation.

Prosecutors had given the repeat offender a plea deal in the menacing case in April 2021, which dropped the charge down from a felony to a misdemeanor and required him to serve only twelve months of probation. At the time, he was already on probation for a September 11, 2020, "Criminal Mischief/DV and Harassment DV" case in which Scott was the victim; prosecutors had given him a deal of eighteen months of probation with domestic violence and mental health treatment.

In August 2021, authorities determined that Lotz had violated his probation for both the menacing case and DV charges. A warrant was issued for his arrest in September 2021, and he was finally taken into custody the following January.

While Sargent could have given Lotz — a New York native with multiple felonies on his record and at least three other abuse victims in his past — up to six months in jail under the terms of the deal, he instead went with the sixteen-day slap on the wrist and credit for the time Lotz had served.

"District attorneys are asked to make their sentencing recommendations based on the facts, laws and circumstances presented to them at that time," says Jeffco DA spokesperson Brionna Boatright. "Our attorneys are tasked with making these decisions on dozens of cases like this every day, but only the court determines the ultimate sentence."

It's unclear whether either Sargent or the district court judge who handled the menacing case knew that Lotz was in jail for two different cases and got two different deals. Sargent has since retired and was unavailable for comment.

"Complex cases such as this require careful evaluation, each being assessed on its own merits and considering a multitude of factors, including the victim’s needs and perspective," Boatright explains. "At no time was our office aware of uninvited contact, an escalation of behavior or substantial threats to Ms. Scott's safety; on February 1, 2022, Mr. Lotz had just spent sixteen days in custody and was willing to accept responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty."

As a result, Lotz was released from jail, and the orders of protection that had been filed against him by Scott were no longer in effect.

"In the state of Colorado, when charges are pressed in a DV case, automatically a temporary protective order is issued for the victim," says Sabrina Fritts, lead advocate for PeaceWorks Inc., a Colorado domestic violence support group. "That temporary protective order stays in place throughout the duration of that case, which is typically the conclusion of the sentence. Well, in this case, he pled guilty and got time served. And so [the protective order] was dropped February 1. And then we believe it was February 10 when he killed her."
Just one week after Lotz was let out of jail, he was back at Scott's house, harassing her.

On February 7, 2022, sheriff's deputies were called to her residence after Scott's son — who lives out of state — heard her arguing with Lotz over the phone and asked authorities to conduct a wellness check. The "disturbance" was investigated at around 3 p.m. that day.

"While enroute, Deputy Markus Liebe advised that there was a history of disturbances at this address with a male, Wayne Lotz," the police report notes. "Michele said that she was fine, she was just in an argument. Deputy Johnson asked her if it was with Wayne Lotz and she said 'yes, he left.' Deputies Johnson, Liebe, and Gardner went to clear the barn where Wayne was last seen."

One of the deputies stayed behind and spoke to Scott about what happened; she said that Lotz had just gotten out of jail and wanted to get back together.

"Michele did not want to get back together and told Wayne to leave," the deputy notes in the report. "Wayne began to get angry and started yelling at Michele. Michele was on the phone with her son, the [reporting party], at the time. Michele said that she and Wayne were just arguing."

Cell phone footage that was captured by Scott shows a much different story, however.

"She was terrified," says Fritts, who saw the video in court. "She is heightened. She's in a trauma response. Her heart is beating fast. Her breath — she's out of breath."

Throughout the video, Scott and Lotz can be seen screaming at each other outside her Conifer home. She appears frightened and is crying hard.

"You ruined it!" Scott tells him.

But when they responded to the call, deputies Johnson, Liebe and Gardner were unable to locate Lotz on Scott's property. "Based on the information I had, I was not able to substantiate a crime had been committed," Hochberg says in the report.
One of the deputies who visited Scott's home on February 7 had also investigated Lotz's 2020 menacing case and investigation. According to the report for that incident, Deputy Liebe had asked the victim whether he felt his life was at risk.

His response: "A thousand percent."

The man was putting air in his tires at the Stinker Stores gas station at 10800 County Highway 73 when Lotz began yelling at another person and drew his attention.

"[The victim] asked Wayne, 'Are you good?' and Wayne yelled, 'Fuck you, you fat fucker,' and then lifted his shirt and showed [the victim] his abs," the police report states. "A short time later, Wayne pulled up in his truck and stopped behind [the victim's] truck. When Wayne hopped out of his truck he had his right hand behind his lower back and his left arm held out in front of him. [The victim] told Wayne, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you about to draw down on me?' Wayne replied, 'Hell yea brother.'"

Between 2020 and 2022, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office received a total of twenty calls to Scott's residence for a "variety of incidents" — most of which involved Lotz and resulted in his being arrested several times. But Lotz never served more than a month straight in the Jeffco jail, despite being charged with numerous felonies and DV-related crimes.

In fact, he was only convicted of domestic violence charges on one occasion: the September 2020 "Criminal Mischief/DV and Harassment DV" case. Two months after that incident, Lotz had violated orders of protection in place for Scott — on November 11, 2020, and November 25, 2020 — but the violation-of-orders cases were dismissed as part of the March 2021 deal, according to the DA's office, when Lotz pleaded guilty to the Class 3 misdemeanors. Lotz was sentenced on April 6, 2021.

Less than three weeks later, on April 26, he pleaded guilty to the menacing charge related to the gas station gun threat.


The August 2021 discovery of Lotz's probation violation — which led to his January 2022 arrest and brief jail stint — prompted judges in his menacing and VPO cases to revoke his probation, according to the Jeffco DA's office. But he still was just sentenced to time served.

In all, Jeffco gave Lotz three separate plea deals in the span of a single year. And that's just scratching the surface of his ability to play the justice system.

Between 2009 and 2020, Lotz was charged at least fourteen times in Park County after eleven different arrests. It's unclear exactly where he was living at the time. The man spent a total of just 100 days behind bars during this period, according to the Park County Sheriff's Office records department.

"Fifteen contacts, fourteen charges, eleven arrests," a spokesperson says. "In 2010 and 2011, he served sixty days. And then outside of that, he served forty more days. That's the total amount of days [Lotz spent] in our jail for those dates."

"Fifteen contacts, fourteen charges, eleven arrests. In 2010 and 2011, he served sixty days. And then outside of that, he served forty more days."

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Asked if serving one hundred days in jail — for over a dozen different charges during an eleven-year span — was appropriate, a law enforcement source says: "That's an average of what? Ten days a year? That's inconceivable."

Another source tells Westword that Lotz spent some time in prison in New York and Georgia, and also had at least two female victims in Florida and Wyoming who were abused and terrorized by him. There was a woman in Park County whom he allegedly assaulted and harassed, too, but most of the charges filed against him there over the years were also "dismissed by DA" following plea deals, according to his criminal history report.

Speaking in an emailed statement, 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley says: "I was not the elected district attorney until 2021. Obviously, I can’t answer as to why other administrations may have done what they did."

Stanley adds, "If you would like to inquire about the 'reasons' and/or 'public confidence,' I would suggest you reach out to Thom LeDeaux and Kaitlin Turner, who were the district attorneys during that timeframe." LeDeaux and Turner could not be reached for comment.

It was just a few days before Valentine's Day 2022, on Super Bowl LVI weekend, that Scott went missing.

Neighbors concerned for her safety called police on February 13 to notify them of her disappearance after she failed to show up for a Super Bowl party that day. Jeffco sheriff's deputies were unable to make contact with Scott on a wellness check that night, and repeated attempts to reach her by phone were also unsuccessful.

"Friends of Scott" went to her residence the following day and forced themselves into her garage, where they saw that her red Toyota Highlander was missing. The last time Scott had actually been seen by anyone was February 10, according to authorities.

After the Highlander was reported missing, deputies went out to the property on February 14 and found evidence of something sinister.

"Smeared blood on a truck parked in the driveway, in the garage, as well as other places in the home," according to the Jeffco DA's office. Scott's four dogs were in the house, uncared for, and her cell phone was there.

Just hours after searching the home, authorities were able to locate Scott's Highlander: Lotz was driving it around Conifer.

Deputies pulled over the SUV and questioned Lotz as to why he was behind the wheel of his ex-girlfriend's vehicle; he claimed that it had been loaned to him while Scott was "on vacation."

In addition to letting him use the car, Lotz said that Scott had also given him access to her credit card while he watched over her dogs and the horses she kept. The deputies didn't buy the story, however, and wound up booking Lotz on domestic violence charges related to felony menacing, aggravated motor vehicle theft and criminal possession of a financial transaction device.

A subsequent sweep of Scott's Highlander turned up blood evidence in both the rear hatch area and on the inside of the hatch door, according to prosecutors.

On February 15, as deputies searched for Scott in the area of Pleasant Park Road and South Ridge Road in Conifer — where Lotz's cell phone indicated he had been on February 11 — they found a rug and "moving blanket." They then discovered Scott's body just a half-mile away, underneath a pile of stacked rocks.

"Scott was found with a brown leather leash looped around her neck, her wrists were bound with braided rope, her arms had been bound by horse lead, and her legs were bound with a dog leash and bungee cord," the Jeffco DA's office reported. "An autopsy would later reveal Scott’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force injuries. Lotz’s DNA was found on the leash around her neck."

"An autopsy would later reveal Scott’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force injuries. Lotz’s DNA was found on the leash around her neck."

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On February 18, 2022, Lotz was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, menacing, aggravated motor vehicle theft, tampering with physical evidence, criminal possession of a financial device, and two crime-of-violence counts. He went to trial in Jefferson County last month.

After a five-day trial, it took jurors fewer than four hours to deliberate and convict Lotz. On May 12, he was found guilty on all charges except menacing.

“He is a multi-state, multi-victim, domestic violence offender,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Tyra Forbes said in a May 15 announcement of the conviction.

Describing Lotz's lengthy history of domestic violence involving Scott, Forbes noted that he "finished serving out a sentence on a protection order where Michele was the protected party a mere ten days before he killed her.” But she didn't reveal that the sentence was for time served, nor did she describe how it came after a plea deal.

Lotz was sentenced to life in prison plus sixteen and a half years for Scott's murder.

The DA office's announcement included comments from Scott's family members and friends.

“Domestic violence is a horrible thing, and many people are afraid to speak out,” said one. “I thank you for taking this man off the streets and knowing he will never be able to harm another woman or family like this again. Thank you for justice.”

Domestic violence advocates — and even the Jeffco DA's office — acknowledge that the way the justice system handles career criminals like Lotz could be improved, and the Scott saga presents a perfect opportunity to push those changes.

"I agree that revisiting cases such as this is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the cycle of intimate partner violence," says deputy DA Forbes. "In Colorado, the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board plays a pivotal role in providing such insight, which is invaluable in our profession and in preventing future tragedies."

According to the state website, the mission of the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board is to "examine domestic violence fatality data from the preceding year and identify trends; identify measures to help prevent domestic violence fatalities and near-death incidents; establish uniform methods for collecting, analyzing, and storing data relating to domestic violence fatalities and near-death incidents; support local fatality review teams; and make annual policy recommendations concerning domestic violence to the Colorado General Assembly."

The board was established in 2017 and was renewed for another five years in 2022; it comprises a "multi-disciplinary set of leaders and subject matter experts from across Colorado committed to preventing domestic violence and domestic violence fatalities," the site continues. "The board works together and in partnership with community partners to publish an annual report detailing data and trends related to domestic violence fatalities statewide and identifies policy recommendations to better prevent these tragedies. Each year the board also works closely with the Attorney General’s Office to implement the policy recommendations from years prior."

"The outcome of the case was a terrible tragedy," the DA's office says in a statement to Westword regarding Scott's murder, "and we recognize that there are imperfections in our system and always opportunities to learn."

"The outcome of the case was a terrible tragedy and we recognize that there are imperfections in our system and always opportunities to learn."

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"At the heart of our work is a commitment to protecting victims and holding abusers accountable based on available evidence and applicable legal standards," Boatright says. "Complex cases such as this require careful evaluation, with each one being assessed on its own merits and considering a multitude of factors, including the victim’s perspective, when making decisions."

Forbes tells Westword that she "firmly believes that Mr. Lotz bears full responsibility" for Scott's murder and that nothing could have prevented it — not longer sentences or stricter punishments. "It's important to recognize that the system has limitations in predicting the actions of abusers," she says.

"Regarding intimate partner violence, it's essential to understand that victims often have complex relationships with their abusers," Boatright adds, speaking on behalf of the DA's office. "Undoubtedly, these dynamics can make presenting evidence to a jury and obtaining convictions more challenging, but we prioritize training on these issues and overcoming such obstacles within our ethical and legal boundaries."

The DA's office stands by the decision to give Lotz the plea deal that led to his February 1, 2022, sentence of time served, saying that "our deputy district attorneys acted appropriately and according to their professional judgment."

Since 2017, there have been 2,197 cases with a charge of criminal attempt to commit a violation of a protection order in Jefferson County, according to the DA's office. Of those cases, 1,723 resulted in a conviction — one of which was Lotz's plea deal.

"Regarding sentencing on that charge, most cases received multiple sentences — for example, probation plus community service, or jail plus credit for time served," Boatright explains. "The most common top sentence was jail, 51 percent, followed by probation, 36 percent. Jail plus credit for time served is what Mr. Lotz received."

But out of the 1,723 VPO convictions that have been recorded since 2017, only 160 resulted in sentences of credit for time served, while 872 required jail stints. "The average sentence to probation was one year, and the average jail sentence was fifty days — about seven weeks," Boatright says. "Jail sentence lengths were much more variable and dispersed, but clustered at two days, thirty days, sixty days and ninety days."

Domestic violence advocates argue that if Lotz had been given one of these thirty-, sixty- or ninety-day sentences, it might have offered Scott the time she needed to get away from him for good before he showed up at her house on February 7, 2022.

"Knowing that when he was released on February 1, that protective order was gone, Michelle could have been encouraged to seek a permanent protective order and, in fact, could have had victim services working with her to file that while he was serving [his jail sentence], so that as soon as he came out, that could be in place," PeaceWorks' Fritts says, adding that credit for time served "is not an adequate sentence for this type of violent offender."

The judges assigned to Lotz's cases approved the plea deals for time served, and the DA's office points out that they could have turned down the deals or made the sentences stronger. But it's the prosecutors who decide whether to offer deals to defendants in the first place.

"I think that could be part of the problem, is that they're not bringing in history into some of these cases," Fritts says, noting how Colorado's 404(b) rule makes any evidence of other crimes or wrongful acts inadmissible in court to prove a person's character.

"He had a past in multiple states, multiple victims, and these are severe charges that he was facing," Fritts continues. "This is a classic example of all the red flags that indicate lethality. To me, it's unimaginable that this man was allowed, first of all, to meet Michele Scott, given his priors, but second, given his priors and what he did to Michele Scott, to be anywhere near the vicinity of her ever again. Time and time again, the judicial system puts the responsibility of the victim's safety onto the victim: The victim has to move, the victim has to get the protective order, the victim has to do all this stuff to stay safe. He should have never been able to even meet Michele, let alone see her again after he assaulted her."

"He had a past in multiple states, multiple victims, and these are severe charges that he was facing. This is a classic example of all the red flags that indicate lethality."

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Two bills approved this year by the Colorado Legislature could lead to changes in this state's handling of future domestic violence cases.

Roshan Kalantar, executive director of Violence Free Colorado, points to HB23-1108 and HB23-1222, which were put before legislators by the federally recognized anti-domestic violence coalition. "Police, judges and other decision-makers in the criminal justice system need better initial and ongoing domestic violence training to adequately identify a pattern of abuse and know how to support victims/survivors," she says. "HB23-1108 is meant to address the need for judicial training on domestic violence. We also brought legislation to create parity in how courts handle domestic violence cases across jurisdictions in Colorado. HB23-1222 will address some of the inconsistencies between municipal and district courts in Colorado."

Kalantar adds, "It's really common for people to slip through the cracks over and over again, because the cracks are so huge. There are gaping holes."

Kalantar, Fritts and other advocates are illuminating those cracks and fighting to better inform people, especially law enforcement authorities and survivors of domestic violence.

"Statistically, in lethality cases, there will be multiple calls to law enforcement prior to [the murder] happening, and there's usually multiple victims," Fritts says, noting that the statistics hold true in Lotz's case.

"The system lets people down all the time, but it is important that we educate people about resources. We have a community wellness program that's available free of charge because we are committed to personal well-being, healthy relationships and safe homes," she adds. "But I do hope to see a judicial system one day where victims will actually be seen and heard and not re-traumatized, so that they can get that justice in court — not before they're killed."