Details are emerging about the brutal murder of an elderly couple in Howard. Arrest records reveal that weeks before the killings, the couple complained about the man who is now charged with their murders.
The Fremont County Coroner believes 83-year-old Carl Cooper and his 75-year-old wife Susan Cooper were beaten to death with a stoker and other fireplace tools.
The arrest affidavit shows that the Coopers complained about issues they had with their neighbor, 42-year-old Eric Escobedo, just weeks before their murders. Back in December, Fremont County deputies were dispatched to a house fire in Howard. Shortly after they arrived, they discovered the bodies of the Coopers in a nearby home.
Deputies took Escobedo to a medical clinic in Salida for fire-related injuries. When deputies got Escobedo’s DNA while he was being treated in Salida, it came back 60 days later as a match to the DNA discovered at the Cooper’s home.
Escobedo was arrested on two second-degree murder charges and two counts of crimes against an “at risk” person.
Escobedo is currently being held at the Fremont County Jail on a $2 million cash only bond.
