Left: Daniel DeVito (Colorado Bureau of Investigation). Right: Jordan LaBarre (Dwyer Funeral Home).
A man accused of murdering a woman in a Colorado mountain town severely wounded a different woman just days earlier, authorities claim as they make their case against the suspect.
Daniel DeVito, 46, has been charged with the first-degree murder of 32-year-old Jordan Labarre. Although the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced his arrest over the summer, preliminary hearings were held for the defendant in court on Monday and Tuesday.
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It was the evening of July 7, about 6:20 p.m., when law enforcement officers from six different agencies, including the Colorado State Patrol and Blue River Police Department, responded to a home. They had received a report of "shots fired" at the residence on the 100 block of Aspen Meadows Circle in Blue River, which is a mountain town about 85 miles west of Denver.
As officers arrived, they "could hear active gunfire coming from inside the home." They surrounded the home and ordered the person inside to come out. DeVito emerged and was arrested, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said. According to authorities, he had several things to say.
He had "killed three people in the house that were Cartel," DeVito told officers, per arrest papers obtained by local ABC affiliate KMGH. He also "spontaneously" told them that "the Cartel are after me" and that he shot "two guys in body armor."
Inside the home, police found one body — Labarre's. She reportedly had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and her death was ruled a homicide. She is believed to have tried to lock herself in the master bedroom of the home to get away from DeVito, but he forced it open and shot her in the corner of the room, per Summit Daily.
Authorities said DeVito was charged with "an unrelated offense and lodged at the Summit County Detention Facility." Two days later, he was charged with Labarre's murder.
DeVito and Labarre were believed to have been romantically involved at some point.
In the days following the victim's death, another woman came forward with a harrowing story. She reported being attacked at the same home just days earlier.
On the morning of July 4, after sleeping over at DeVito's residence, she was suddenly woken up, held prisoner inside of a bathroom in the home, with DeVito "warning her that he would blow her head off if she came out," court documents state, per KMGH.
She reportedly believed him, knowing there were weapons in the house. DeVito allegedly forced her to answer questions on sheets of paper such as "What's the meaning behind truth and honor?"
When she was let out of the bathroom, another man was reportedly present at the home. The men are accused of zip-tying her to a swing, with DeVito allegedly using a "switch blade knife" to cut her across her chest and making a footlong wound.
The woman "thought she was going to die," according to the court records. During a court appearance this week, DeVito was accused of pouring hydrogen peroxide on the woman's open wound. She eventually got away, and she said she did not initially report the attack because she feared retaliation.
According to Summit Daily, DeVito also faces charges of first-degree assault, menacing with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, criminal mischief and domestic violence. He is expected to enter a plea on Jan. 20, 2026.
