In this episode of Crime Watch Daily Updates: Paige Birgfeld had it all: good looks, three beautiful kids, and a large house in a small town. She and her husband had somewhat of a tumultuous relationship though, and they eventually split up. She then reconnected with her first husband again.
On June 28, 2007, Paige drove back to her home in Grand Junction, Colorado, from Denver, where she had been visiting her first husband. Then, she fell off the grid. Her family reported her missing June 30, 2007, and the next day, investigators discovered her car burning in a parking lot. Search crews found some of Paige’s belongings along the highway, but she was nowhere to be found. Police suspected she had been kidnapped.
Detectives also uncovered a bombshell: Behind Paige’s sweet appearance with oval glasses and red hair, she owned and operated a high-end escort service called Models, Inc.
While sifting through her phone records, detectives learned Paige received three phone calls from a mystery man named Jim, whose real name is Lester Ralph Jones. And, it just so happened that Lester worked across the street from where police found Paige’s burning car.
Detectives looked through Lester’s workplace and found suspicious evidence, but there wasn’t enough to arrest or charge him.
Then, in 2012, five years after she disappeared, a hiker found a skull in a dry creek bed. The skull had duct tape around the jaw and head. Lester was arrested in 2014 and in September 2016, went to trial. The jury couldn’t unanimously decide on a verdict, so the judge declared a mistrial.
Prosecutors re-tried Lester and in December 2016, he was convicted of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and second-degree kidnapping. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Lester appealed his conviction, and in June 2022, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld his murder conviction, but determined the kidnapping conviction should be merged with murder. The change won’t impact his sentencing because he will still serve life in prison.
Let’s take a look back at the tragic and brutal killing of a young mother whose two lives merged into a tragic ending.
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