Rangely resident found dead in home, son charged with first-degree murder

RANGELY | A 50-year-old Rangely man – Jerry Snider Sr. – was found dead in his home Friday, and his son is in custody and has been charged with first-degree murder.
The cause of death was blunt trauma injury. A weapon, which authorities have not disclosed, was found at the scene.
“There was a weapon recovered that is believed to be the murder weapon,” said Sgt. Roy Kinney, Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s investigator.
Asked if drugs were involved in the murder, Kinney said, “We don’t know yet.”
An autopsy was performed by a pathologist in Grand Junction.
“We think it happened sometime between the night of July 2 and midday on the 3rd,” Kinney said.
Jerry Snider Jr., 29, turned himself in to authorities. He has been charged with first-degree murder.
“He turned himself in to another jurisdiction around noon Friday and said he was wanted in the questioning of a murder, but at the time no murder had been reported,” Kinney said.
Stephen Petersburg of Rangely said his son, an officer with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, called to tell him about Jerry Snider Jr. being arrested.
“My son told me about it,” Stephen Petersburg said. “He happened to be booking a prisoner at the same time that the other fellow was booked.”
Jerry Snider Jr. is expected to be transported to the Rio Blanco County Detention Center later this week.
According to a news release issued Tuesday by the Rangely Police Department, “The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office notified Rangely police of information they received indicating a homicide had taken place somewhere in Rio Blanco County. Rangely police uncovered a body believed to be that of Jerry Snider Sr.”
Jerry Snider Sr. was found at his Rangely residence, 134 S. Darius.
“I knew him,” said Jerry LeBleu, owner of Professional Touch Auto Repair and Towing. “He was one of my customers. I never knew the boy. I didn’t know, truthfully, he had a boy. He (Jerry Snider Sr.) has been a long-time customer. He was actually pretty quiet. He didn’t socialize a lot. I didn’t see him around town much. Of course, all of the miners knew him.”
The elder Snider worked at Deserado Mine for nearly 20 years.
“I knew him very well. I worked with him for four years,” said Jeff Rector, who used to work at Deserado. “He was an incredible human being, He came to work about a year or so after i had been there. Jerry was kind of one of those guys, who always had a smile on his face, just a carefree soul. To look at him, you’d have thought nothing bothered him.”
Rector said he hadn’t seen Snider in a long time.
“In fact, I didn’t know Jerry lived here,” Rector said. “I hadn’t run into him since I’ve been back (in Rangely), and I moved back four years ago.”
Rector,who returned Sunday from a 10-day fishing trip in Alaska, found out about the murder Monday.
“It just amazed me. I can’t imagine anybody trying to hurt that guy,” Rector said, adding, “I don’t know this for sure, but it seemed to me he (Jerry Snider Sr.) had another son.”
Sheriff’s investigator Kinney confirmed the elder Snider had another son.
“Yes, there is a younger son,” Kinney said. “And he had an ex-wife.”
The case is being investigated by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, RBC Sheriff’s Office and the Rangely Police Department.
“I have to go pick up the truck in Georgetown (in Clear Creek County) tomorrow for the CBI, and they will me follow back,” said Professional Touch owner LeBleu said. “That will be a long tow.”
Jerry Snider Jr. had stolen his father’s pickup, Kinney said.
LeBleu, who grew up in Rangely, said he found the news of the homicide unsettling.
“That’s kind of crazy when you live in a small town like this, where everybody pretty much knows everybody and looks out for each other,” LeBleu said. “That’s big-town stuff.”
This is second homicide in the Rangely area in less than a year. In September, Carlos Graham Sr. shot and killed his wife, Lucille, who had been sick, and then shot and killed himself. They lived just outside of Rangely.
RBC Sheriff’s investigator Kinney and investigators from CBI are continuing to conduct interviews in this newest case. Anyone with information relating to the case is asked to call Kinney at the RBC Sheriff’s Office at 878-9620.