ADAMS COUNTY, Colorado – A gruesome crime unfolded in the Twin Lakes community when Adam’s County sheriff’s deputies responded to a welfare check at a home in the early hours of Jan. 5. The deputies discovered a horrific scene – rooms covered in blood, a decapitated and dismembered body, and the victim’s head smoldering on a stove in the kitchen, according to an arrest affidavit.
Jose Valdez-Canas, 25, has been charged with first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, and abuse of a corpse in the stabbing death of a 31-year-old man at a home in the 6900 block of Ruth Way. The victim has not yet been publicly identified by the Adams and Broomfield County Coroner’s Office.
Valdez-Canas was previously on supervised release after being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault, and kidnapping in Denver in September. He was free on $10,000 cash bail at the time of the incident.
According to the affidavit, the victim had expressed concerns about a roommate who had recently been released from jail and was causing trouble by trying to steal the victim’s personal belongings and engaging in physical altercations.
Deputies responded to the home for a welfare check after a witness living in the home called 911 about someone upstairs making a lot of noise. Valdez-Canas, who had blood on his face, hands, and other parts of his body, answered the door and was later taken into custody.
Valdez-Canas told deputies that he killed the man because he believed the victim had threatened his family and was involved in “satanic things” and witchcraft. He claimed to have been given a mission by God to carry out the murder, and described in detail how he had killed and dismembered the victim.
As of now, Valdez-Canas is in custody on a $5 million cash bail and is set to appear in court on June 20. The horrific and senseless nature of the crime has sent shockwaves through the community and raised questions about the mental state of the accused.