04-03-2011, 06:07 PM
Daily Mail
A 16-year-old has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder over the shotgun deaths of his great-grandparents in a tiny farming community where the elderly couple had lived for decades.
The boy, who has not been named, was arrested on Thursday evening following the deaths of Laura Clagett, 82, and her husband Charles, 80, at their home in Hugo.
The town, on the eastern Colorado plains that has a population of 770, is said to be deeply shocked by the killings.
The murder probe began on Wednesday when the Colorado State Patrol was sent to a crash scene outside Hugo and found a pickup truck that had overturned.
The boy was rescued from the vehicle and taken to a Denver hospital 105 miles away where his injuries were described as not life-threatening.
When Lincoln County deputies went to the home of the truck's registered owners to tell them about the accident, they walked into a gruesome scene.
The elderly couple had been shot dead in their bedroom.
Lincoln County Coroner Jennifer Nestor said on Friday that the pair both died from close-range shotgun blasts and may have been dead for three days before their bodies were found, Reuters reports.
Investigators said there are no other suspects involved and found no sign of burglary.
According to the Denver Post, the boy began living with his great-grandparents in September at the start of the school year.
Steve Johnson, the assistant director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, said a significant amount of money, thought to be about $12,000, was found in the pickup at the crash scene.
A 16-year-old has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder over the shotgun deaths of his great-grandparents in a tiny farming community where the elderly couple had lived for decades.
The boy, who has not been named, was arrested on Thursday evening following the deaths of Laura Clagett, 82, and her husband Charles, 80, at their home in Hugo.
The town, on the eastern Colorado plains that has a population of 770, is said to be deeply shocked by the killings.
The murder probe began on Wednesday when the Colorado State Patrol was sent to a crash scene outside Hugo and found a pickup truck that had overturned.
The boy was rescued from the vehicle and taken to a Denver hospital 105 miles away where his injuries were described as not life-threatening.
When Lincoln County deputies went to the home of the truck's registered owners to tell them about the accident, they walked into a gruesome scene.
The elderly couple had been shot dead in their bedroom.
Lincoln County Coroner Jennifer Nestor said on Friday that the pair both died from close-range shotgun blasts and may have been dead for three days before their bodies were found, Reuters reports.
Investigators said there are no other suspects involved and found no sign of burglary.
According to the Denver Post, the boy began living with his great-grandparents in September at the start of the school year.
Steve Johnson, the assistant director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, said a significant amount of money, thought to be about $12,000, was found in the pickup at the crash scene.