Suspect arrested in dragging death investigation
Bianca Prieto, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 20, 2006 at midnight
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office announced an arrest this morning in the death of a woman dragged behind a vehicle for a mile on a rural roadway.
Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, of Glendale, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder. He is the man pictured in a photograph found near where the woman was dragged which was distributed to local news media when the sheriff asked for help in the investigation.
Rubi-Nava is a suspected illegal immigrant.
The victim, who was found Monday morning just west of Interstate 25 on Surrey Drive in a field by a passerby, was not identified by the sheriff at a press conference this morning.
Although authorities earlier said that the woman in the photo found near the murder scene was not the victim, they said this morning they are not sure.
The victim is described as a short, white woman with a stocky build and red hair pulled into a ponytail.
Yesterday, the sheriff’s office said they were talking to some witnesses in trying to identify the victim. An autopsy determined the woman was alive when a tow strap was tied around her neck and that she died of a combination of head injuries and strangulation
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