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AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — After the body of a 36-year-old man was found in a “clandestine grave” in the crawl space of an Aurora, Colorado condo Wednesday, police have released an affidavit explaining the man was reportedly killed by his “best friend” after he assumed he was a police informant.
On Tuesday, Casie Bock, 29, was arrested after a Crime Stoppers tip was submitted about a man who had been murdered 6-8 months ago and buried in her crawl space. Haskel Leroy Crawford, 38, was arrested Thursday on one charge of first-degree murder.
FOX31 obtained the arrest affidavit from the Aurora Police Department outlining the circumstances surrounding the homicide investigation. Police identified the victim as Karl Beaman Jr.
Victim’s relative had concerns about his whereabouts
On April 1, an officer with APD received a call from a woman in Phoenix who identified herself as a relative of Beaman. They told the officer they were worried about him and had not talked to him since May, which was unusual.
The relative said they believed his disappearance could be connected to Crawford, the father of Bock’s children, because Crawford and Beaman had almost been caught stealing catalytic converters.
The relative told police that they had hired a private investigator to look into Beaman’s whereabouts. According to the affidavit, Beaman had been caught stealing catalytic converters with Crawford and a warrant was out for his arrest.
According to the affidavit, Crawford was already booked into the Jefferson County Jail for charges of attempted first-degree murder related to another case when this call was made.
The relative also started a Facebook page to look for Beaman, and that is when they received direct messages about Crawford and Bock.
Crime Stoppers tipster
Beaman’s relative told APD that they received a message on the Facebook page from an anonymous account.
“He’s buried under Casie Bock’s apartment in the crawlspace, under cement. Her and Leroy [Crawford] did it. I’m sorry,” said the tipster in a message.
The user also told the relative that Bock had gotten high and told the tipster that Crawford thought Beaman was a police informant and an altercation ensued. That is when Beaman was killed, according to the message.
Per the arrest affidavit, APD received a tip to Crime Stoppers on April 3 with almost the same exact details as relayed to Beaman’s relative confirming the anonymous user on Facebook was the same as the Crime Stoppers tipster.
APD said they went to speak with the Crime Stoppers tipster in person. According to the affidavit, the tipster told police they did not know Bock well but that both their children went to school together. Three months ago, Bock had asked the tipster if they could watch her children and take them to school, and that is when the tipster said they noticed Bock was likely high on methamphetamine.
The tipster told police that Bock began to spiral within the last three weeks when Bock allegedly told the tipster about the situation between Crawford and Beaman. Bock allegedly told the tipster that Crawford killed Beaman inside their apartment and that he was buried in a shallow grave under the building. The duo placed cement over the victim to help mask the smell, according to the tipster.
The tipster said Bock told them that she didn’t help with the murder, but instead helped with the cleanup and moving the body.
According to the affidavit, when the tipster became suspicious of Bock’s story, they located the missing person’s Facebook page made by Beaman’s relative and sent private messages.
The tipster also told police they believed they were being threatened by Bock after receiving phone calls and explaining how her car had been damaged.
Beaman’s criminal history
After speaking with the tipster, officers looked into Beaman’s records.
According to the arrest affidavit, Beaman had an outstanding warrant as well as an “attempt to locate” report. An APD officer spoke with an investigator with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office who looked into Beaman in February 2023.
According to the affidavit, Beaman was listed as a possible accomplice in relation to an April 2022 case involving Crawford. The investigator told police that Beaman was driving a car when Leroy shot at someone.
The records confirmed Beaman and Crawford were accused of selling a stolen catalytic converter to someone else.
APD also said that Beaman, Crawford and Bock were all listed in a motor vehicle theft out of Castle Rock.
Crawford and Beaman were ‘best friends’
On Tuesday, Bock was taken into custody and interviewed.
According to the arrest affidavit, Bock told officers that Beaman and Crawford “were best friends.” The officer then asked Bock about the past tense nature of her statement, and she corrected it to “they are best friends.”
Bock reportedly admits to the murder
According to the arrest affidavit, late Tuesday night Bock was re-interviewed by police. Bock allegedly told police her account of what transpired.
Bock allegedly told police that she had recently allowed Crawford back into her life. One day when she returned back to her apartment after work, she found Crawford inside with Beaman lying on the ground. Bock said he had a white plastic bag over his head.
According to the affidavit, Bock said that Crawford told her he killed Beaman to protect his family. Bock said Crawford threatened her if she did not help him move the body.
Probable cause
Ultimately, Bock admitted that the father of her children, Crawford, had killed Beaman and she admitted to assisting in moving his body.
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