BIKER NEWS -- A town board member from Pierce told Weld County sheriff’s deputies he killed a woman after a hit was approved by his ...
BIKER NEWS -- A town board member from Pierce told Weld County sheriff’s deputies he killed a woman after a hit was approved by his biker gang leader over an argument about drugs.
He and four others are being held in Weld County Jail without bond while they await further hearings. A sixth person has been located out of state and will be brought to Weld County.
All were arrested Oct. 29 and five have been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and a violent crime causing death: Daniel “DJ” Meyer, 36, of Pierce; Chad Iler, 18, of Fort Collins; Mike Vassil, 23, of Fort Collins; Scott Hanchett, 21, and Karly Hanchett, 18. Crystal Griffin, 37, has been charged with accessory to the crime. All but Scott Hanchett, who has an active warrant for his arrest, appeared via video in Weld District Court on Wednesday morning. Their cases all were continued.
The story of the murder of Tera Lewandowski, 34, unfolded in a 15-page affidavit unsealed Wednesday by Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow. Lewandowski was apparently living in a house in Pierce with Meyer and Griffin for about a week. Authorities believe she was killed sometime between Sept. 29-30.
Police were tipped off to her disappearance by her mother, who said she believed her daughter was murdered after she failed to show for a doctor’s appointment Sept. 30.
Her mother told sheriff deputies her daughter explained that “every night several young males come over to get high and are in possession of clubs, knives and one individual had a gun,” the affidavit stated. “The individuals would then go out in a vehicle to find someone to beat up.”
According to Weld County records, the home in Pierce is owned by Meyer, an active board member for the town of Pierce, and according to the affidavit, “the enforcer” in a biker gang in which members call themselves the “21 Crew,” also known as the “Unforgivens.” The gang is not a recognized gang in Weld County, reports Mike Prill, a gang expert with the Greeley Police Department. But, that doesn’t mean the group didn’t operate as a gang, he said.
The night before she disappeared, Lewandowski texted her mother: “stay by your phone, something might happen tonight,” the affidavit stated.
Lewandowski apparently made the mistake of taking umbrage at one of the roommates stealing her prescription pain medications. Griffin said Lewandowski also had an argument with Karly Hanchett that also may have sparked her “hit,” according to the affidavit. Once the purported gang leader, Vassil’s father, approved the hit, the suspects in the case killed her, then dumped her body in Wyoming, according to the affidavit.
Griffin told deputies Meyer was stealing Lewandowski’s medications, and he had been talking about killing her for days, but she didn’t think he was serious, the affidavit said.
Griffin told deputies Meyer, Vassil, Iler, Karly and Scott Hanchett, all members of the gang, trudged together upstairs of the Meyer home around midnight, Sept. 29, and confronted Lewandowski. Griffin said all she heard was Lewandowski say, “Why?” and Meyer respond, “Because you’re a (expletive).”
The affidavit stated all had their assigned duties when they confronted Lewandowski in her second-floor bedroom. Two were supposed to hit her, and one was supposed to stab her. Meyer, according to the affidavit, admitted to stabbing her in the chest once.
Her body was taken downstairs, and eventually wrapped in a blanket and put in the back of a pickup, the affidavit stated. Griffin said she was instructed to drive, but could not lead authorities to the whereabouts of Lewandowski’s body. She said the body was wrapped in a carpet, but the carpet was left open so wildlife could get to it.
Meyer told authorities her body was taken 100 miles into Wyoming, and dropped about 50 feet off the road. After several searches, by air and on land, her body still has not been recovered.
The group apparently took Lewandowski’s belongings to the Hanchetts’ home in Nunn, and burned them. Authorities found several items in ashes under a pile of dirt, the affidavit stated, that were consistent with Lewandowski’s property, including her Ipad.
After the belongings were burned, one member wrapped up the knife and disposed of it in Scottsbluff, Neb., by dumping it into a McDonald’s dumpster, the affidavit stated.
Some members of the group also took her dog several miles into the Pawnee Grasslands and left it there. The dog was later found and identified as Lewandowski’s.
Griffin told authorities she and Karly Hanchett cleaned up the house, where authorities later found bottles of hydrogen peroxide with spray nozzles attached. Investigators sprayed Luminol throughout the house, which detects the presence of blood through a chemical reaction. Hydrogen peroxide, however, can break down the properties in blood to render it undetectable by Luminol, the affidavit stated. Regardless, traces of blood were found throughout the house, the affidavit stated.
Meyer is listed as a trustee on the Pierce Town Board. A town official did not return a call Wednesday afternoon seeking comment.
This article was first published on November 4, 2015
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