Marcus Bebb-Jones Extradited
Well the news broke a couple of days ago across the local and international news tabloids and websites that Marcus Bebb-Jones has now been extradited back to America to face the American justice system. The main alleged offence itself is first degree murder of his wife at the time Sabrina Bebb-Jones who went missing in September 1997. The extradition was signed on July 15th 2008 but New Scotland Yard had waited till this Wednesday to follow it through.
GJSentinal quotes
Bebb-Jones is charged with first-degree murder and other counts in the slaying of 31-year-old Sabrina Bebb-Jones. A woman staying in Grand Junction at the Hotel Melrose, which the Bebb-Joneses owned at the time, reported Sabrina missing in September 1997. That triggered a flurry of events, including Marcus Bebb-Jones attempting suicide in a Las Vegas hotel room days after Sabrina was reported missing.
Sabrina’s skull was found near Douglas Pass in Garfield County in 2004. The cause of her death remains unknown.
In 2006 it was splattered across the poker forums that the police were searching for Marcus Bebb-Jones as a link was posted up explaining the circumstances. I am not even going to try and use my own words to explain what has allegedly happened, you can read for yourselves Grand Junction Sentinel’s version here
This isn’t a post to glorify Marcus, indeed if he is guilty he needs to face the consequences of his actions. This would not be of any concern to us as a poker community if he wasn’t such a prevalent player in the UK, but this is just my opinion as someone who knows him (not well, but well enough to voice an opinion). I can say from conversations and his persona at a poker table that he comes across as mild mannered, pleasant chap who acts very gentlemanly. I pride myself on my judgement of character and have always seen him as a good egg. Although poker is all about hiding and disguising emotions, to actually carry that through life for 12 years, whilst knowing that he was under investigation is a major fete, that maybe I just cannot understand or comprehend.
He must have known this day was coming, and as he had already tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head, 12 years on his mind whilst living with his son must have took it’s toll mentally, but he seemed to me as a cool thinking, calm, compus mentus individual.
I really hope the American Justice System gives him a fair trial, and if he is guilty, he gets what he deserves. I will then admit to being foxed.
Innocent Until Proved Guilty.
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Comments
65 Responses to “Marcus Bebb-Jones Extradited”
Got something to say?
i agree inocent untill proved guilty. i have had to do with marcus and would never say he was a killer. sorry for his mom pam and son dan.
Elaine, you are missing the point. The issue is not Marcus, the front-burner, elephant-in-the-room issue is Sabrina, and what happened to her.
The victim comes first.
Marcus never aided the investigation or ever made any attempt to contact or help police.
Even after her skull was found, nothing changed.
Marcus the caring husband…I think not.
They found her blood in the van for christ sake! ‘Somebody’ had tried to clean it up. Marcus had the car cleaned and valeted, twice!
In the words of Vincent ‘Vince’ Bugliosi, ‘why would an innocent man attempt suicide?’ Surely Marcus ‘would be outraged and want to find out who the killer was!’
Does an innocent man make their own son become an orphan by attempting suicide? or does he attempt it due to overwhelming guilt and refusal to face justice.
In our society, certain behaviours are just unacceptable, totally beyond the pale, and Marcus has been living for the last 12 years, living a lie. Waking up every day and looking in the mirror and seeing a murderer in the reflection.
If you are so sure of his innocence, who did kill Sabrina? A young 31 year old mother who ‘lived for her son’. She had everything to live for. She is the victim here, not Marcus.
Do you honestly think the US authorities would be able to, or even try to bring a case against someone who they know is innocent.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: the evidence is overwhelming.
we will see. but it seems as if people out there are not willing to see.
ruben by the way yes i feel sorry for sabrinas family and friends. but also for mother and son of marcus. marcus the caring husband …….. YOU KNOW NOT
Although a lot of evidence does point to Marcus, I just cannot see him doing such a thing?
http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/local/4762256.Kidderminster_gambler_refused_bail_in_extradition_hearing/
Kidderminster gambler refused bail in extradition hearing
12:44pm Thursday 26th November 2009
A KIDDERMINSTER poker champion wanted in the US for the alleged murder of his wife 12 years ago was refused bail today amid fears he might take his own life.
Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46, hid his American wife’s body in a Colorado National Park in 1997 before going on a gambling spree in Las Vegas with her credit cards, it is claimed.
The former hotelier racked up thousands of pounds of debts in just a few days before shooting himself in the head, it is said.
Aron Watkins, an attorney for the US Government, said Bebb-Jones might take his life if released from custody.
Addressing District Judge Jeremy Coleman, he said: “He is sought by the Government of the United States for the most serious offence of murder.
“It is right to say if convicted of this offence he is exposed to a sentence of life imprisonment in the United States.
“Mr Bebb-Jones has no reason whatsoever to surrender to this court to face the rather uninvited prospect of return to the US.
“In the immediate face of the upheaval following the aftermath of the murder in 1997, he reacted by attempting suicide.
“Here again, he is faced with great upheaval in relation to the very same incident and for that reason you may have concern for the way he may respond if released.”
Sabrina Bebb-Jones, 31, was reported missing in 1997 by employees of a hotel owned by the couple in the town of Grand Junction, Colorado.
A few days later, her husband apparently attempted suicide by firing a gun into his open mouth but miraculously escaped without serious injury.
When Bebb-Jones was questioned by police about his wife’s disappearance, traces of her blood were found in his car, City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told.
He then fled to Britain to embark on a high-profile poker career.
But Ben Keith, defending Bebb-Jones, claimed he has since lost all his winnings and is living on benefits.
He told the court: “Unfortunately, he has either spent or lost the remains of that money as he was recently on benefits, both housing benefits and income support, in order to fund his lifestyle.”
Bebb-Jones was arrested after returning from a two-and-a-half-month job hunt in China. He had been due to take up a post as a financial consultant, it was said.
Bebb-Jones was arrested on November 12 in his home in Kidderminster, where he lives with his 15-year-old son and his mother.
Judge Coleman remanded Bebb-Jones in custody to face a full extradition hearing on December 9.
He said: “I am not prepared to grant you bail because of the nature and gravity of the allegation you face and the possible consequences for you.
“I remand you in custody to be back here on December 9 in the morning.”
You see……. a fair trial doesn’t look very likely when the media have already hung him? “Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46, hid his American wife’s body in a Colorado National Park in 1997 before going on a gambling spree in Las Vegas with her credit cards, it is claimed.” Who is claiming this? Stating an incident happened without an admission of guilt, proof or a trial is a bit unjust is it not?
The issue with the credit cards was mentioned in the affidavit compiled by Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
Hello: I would like the to speak to Elaine and Ruben regarding Marcus. I am one of the investigators that have worked this case for the past several years and I would like to speak to those who know Marcus and hear what they have to say. Please email me at bmiddleton@garcosheriff.com or call me at 970-945-0453. Colorado is seven hours behind you. Please call or email me so we can speak. Thank you
I’m just here to say that Alan Johnson, Home Secretary for the UK, is a man of the deepest integrity. Not even Marcus could pull a Gary McKinnon over his eyes.
MR MIDDLETON THERES PLENTY OF MUD FLYING AROUND FOR MARCUS NOW .
I am not looking for mud, Ms. Jacomb.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR MR MIDDLETON?
Just to speak to those people that know Marcus personally. Give me a call or email and we can speak about it.
Isn’t Luminol just fantastic!
MY EMAILS ARE NOT SENDING TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
There may be a filter. I will have my IT folks check in to it. Try this address for now: Rancho78batm@msn.com
Ms. Jacomb, why don’t you call my direct line, 970-945-1377 ext. 1029 and leave me a voice message with your email address and I will email you. I am on vacation until January 4th but I do periodically check my messages at work.
good luck to Marcus & family for the 6th
Ms. Jacomb I am still waiting to hear from you.
If you’re wife had ran off with a guy from San Diego, why would you put ‘Widowed’ as your marital status?
I guess some men consider a woman dead if they lose interest.
Mr. Church do you know Marcus?
charles stop nit picking you sad…o
mr middleton i have been trying to email you
Ms. Jacomb I have not received any emails in my personal or work email. If you feel comfortable, post your email if not please call. If you can at least give me your IP such as hotmail or something like that I can get my IT guys to look for it.
@hotmail.co.uk
Ms. Jacomb, I am not “nit picking”. How on earth could you use such a dismissive phrase? A woman has been murdered. Remember that.
marcus jones was mine and my nans provident man wen he lived in kidderminster, when he came round he was allways polite, genuin, caring and very nice to us, i cant see him bein a killer, but if he is then he should b treated like any other criminal, untill then INOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY!! i say. and i feel sorry 4 hes son and mother bein put through all of this!.
MS. Wilkins…can we speak? I would like to talk to you if that is possible. My email address: bmiddleton@garcosheriff.com. If you cannot get through please let me know. Thank you.
the evidence against marcus is so poor he will never be convicted,they never charged him at the time of her disappearance and then found a skull proving what that she was dead yes but not when she died for all we know marcus could have been raising with ak when she was slayed such was the time span on her being found .
Mr. Jones:
Do you know Marcus personally? Is there something that you think that we should know about? I would gladly speak to you if so.
hi, i know marcus from kidderminster area, he worked for provident loan company, he came across as polite. jus cant get my head round it, marcus a killer? surely not. according to what ive heard his mum said his wife died in horrific circumstances. my mum was going thru cancer treatment at the time, then his mum uttered she died of cancer. didnt ask no more, left it at that, till this lot come out in the papers. but as what was mentioned earlier…if so innocent why take ur life?? the outcome doesnt look good for him. i feel sorry for his son and what he must be going thru right now. and if marcus is innocent, then who did this.
Tracy, when can we speak?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8561094.stm
Page last updated at 19:19 GMT, Wednesday, 10 March 2010
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Poker star ‘facing inhuman US trial over wife’s murder’
Briton Marcus Bebb-Jones and his wife Sabrina owned a hotel in Colorado
A British poker star accused of killing his wife should not be tried in the US because potential jail terms breach his human rights, his barrister has said.
Marcus Bebb-Jones, of Kidderminster, is accused of murdering his American wife Sabrina and dumping her body in a Colorado national park in 1997.
Ben Cooper told an extradition hearing Colorado’s “irreducible” mandatory life without parole sentence was “inhuman”.
Westminster magistrates delayed a decision on extradition until 12 April.
American prosecutors claim Mr Bebb-Jones, 46, murdered wife Sabrina and then spent her money during a “playboy” weekend in Las Vegas.
Mrs Bebb-Jones’s skull was found in the national park in 2004.
It really does create a mockery of justice
Ben Cooper
Her professional gambler husband was arrested in a raid at his home last year.
Arguing for extradition on behalf of the US government, Aaron Watkins told the court that the possibility of clemency or reprieve – albeit “remote” – did exist in the state.
Mr Watkins said even if it was established that the sentence was irreducible, it should be no bar to extradition.
Mr Cooper said discretionary powers of clemency had never been used and cited a similar case in which the usual tariff was compared with “being on death row, with no exit”.
He has asked US authorities for assurances that the sentence could be reduced or that Mr Bebb-Jones could serve it in the UK, where he is the sole carer for the couple’s son, 16.
The barrister said the idea of a life sentence without possibility of parole was “grossly disproportionate”.
He described it as “inconsistent with the standards of justice we hold dear, taking no account of the gravity of the crime or progress made towards rehabilitation”.
“It really does create a mockery of justice,” he added.
Comments: I’d say the act of Murder is more “inhuman” than a sentence of Life without Parole. Britain needs to stop lecturing other countries on the measure of Justice it inflicts on those found guilty of terrible crimes.
http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/5053145.Kidderminster_gambler_s_extradition_fate_to_be_decided_next_month/
Kidderminster gambler’s extradition fate to be decided next month
8:44am Thursday 11th March 2010
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A KIDDERMINSTER poker champion will die behind bars if extradited to the United States for the alleged murder of his wife 12 years ago, a court has heard.
Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46, concealed Sabrina’s body in a Colorado National Park in 1997 before going on a gambling spree in Las Vegas with her credit cards, it is claimed.
The former hotelier allegedly racked up thousands of pounds of debts in just a few days before shooting himself in the head.
Bebb-Jones appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday for a full extradition hearing.
Aaron Watkins, for the US Government, told the court: “The offence in this jurisdiction would amount to an offence of murder.
“It is alleged in the state of Colerado that Mr Bebb-Jones murdered his then wife. It is submitted that that is an extraditable offence.
“This is the most serious type of offence in the criminal calendar.
“The offence alleged is a murder in a domestic context.
“The facts set out demonstrate pre-meditation and a sustained attempt to conceal the offence after its commission.”
But extradition would “create a mockery of justice” and violate his human rights, the defence argued.
If convicted in Colorado, Bebb-Jones would be incarcerated for life and die behind bars, the court was told. The US State has no parole board and has never reduced a life sentence.
Ben Cooper, defending, branded the attitude “inhuman”.
He said: “It is submitted that the sentence of life imprisonment without parole, without such assurances for this matter on these facts, would be inhuman because it would be imposed arbitrarily, without regard to proportionality.
“That Mr Bebb-Jones faces a mandatory whole life sentence which, in real terms, is irreducible. In my submission, that violates Article 3 as that subjects him to a grossly disproportionate punishment and degrading treatment.
“Mass murders and mass bombers are given exactly the same punishment as a single murder.”
Extradition to a life sentence would violate Articles 3 and 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights, he claimed.
He added: “To the UK model, such a system is completely inconsistent with all of the standards of justice that we hold dear. It does really create a mockery of justice.”
Mr Cooper appealed to the US Government to offer an assurance that on conviction Bebb-Jones would be returned to the UK to serve out his sentence.
He said: “The sole solution is to request an assurance from the US Government that Mr Bebb-Jones is offered the opportunity to return to his home country of the UK in order that he serve his sentence close to his family.
“He has been the sole carer of his young son since his wife’s death and one sees from the evidence put forward on his behalf that his son is presently undergoing his education and that he clearly very much depends on the needs and support of his father.”
But Mr Watkins, for the US Government, told the court life imprisonment was “proportionate”.
He recommended the case be transferred to the Secretary of State, who will have to give a judgement on whether he should face the death penalty.
Sabrina Bebb-Jones, 31, was reported missing in 1997 by employees of a hotel owned by the couple in the town of Grand Junction, Colorado.
A few days later, her husband apparently attempted suicide by firing a gun into his open mouth but, apparently, without serious injury.
When Bebb-Jones was questioned by police about his wife’s disappearance, traces of her blood were found in his car, it is said. He then fled to Britain, with his child, to embark on a high-profile poker career.
But he has since lost all his winnings and is living on benefits.
Bebb-Jones was arrested after returning from a two-and-a-half-month job hunt in China.
He had been due to take up a post as a financial consultant, it was said.
Bebb-Jones was arrested on November 12 in his home in Kidderminster, where he lives with his son and his mother.
District Judge Howard Riddle will now give his ruling on April 12 at 10am.
Surprised that the DoeNetwork, Vidocq Society or Necrosearch haven’t been involved in this case.
The arrest warrant really is fascinating reading. I read all 42 pages in one go.
http://mickmccoolpokerdog.blogspot.com/search?q=marcus
‘I know l keep going on about Dusk Till Dawn, but my god, if u ain’t been yet your missing something special. I have been tonight again and it gets better and better with numbers climbing each week and the standard of the club staff getting better. There is almost certainly a hard core of professionals there every night it is open but many new faces turn up every night. The £50 comp was sold out tonight again and 20 alternates waited in the wings praying for a seat. The cash games are bunged every night and if there where more dealers it would surely be rammed to the teeth. I managed to win their £100 comp on Saturday where l was Heads up with Marcus Beeb-Jones who recently won the Blue Square Grand Prix. What a lovely fella to play with but he is definitely a silent Assasin!’
I believe that may have been taken out of context somewhat, possibly bad taste but IMO Mick’s sense of humour, as a thread had broken on blonde poker at about that time with a link from GJSentinal stating that they were looking for him (or something similar). I don’t for one minute think Mick was being serious ….. at the time.
All cuming together for Marcus now. so pleased for him and his son
What news Elaine? Searched google and couldn’t find any news in the last week?
How exactly is it coming together for Marcus? Do you really think a British judge is going to allow a suspected murderer to just remain in the UK and keep living his life as normal? Please, lets operate in the real world.
Plus, nobody can guarantee Marcus’ safety if the extradition doesn’t go ahead. Unlike the killers of James Bulger, we all know Marcus’ real name, what he looks like, where he lives, etc and so on. People who hurt women or children are not safe anywhere, prison or otherwise.
He has to be found guilty first! Seems like the Croxteth Crew have made their mind up though. Why shouldn’t a SUSPECTED murderer remain in the UK living a normal life? I can understand your thoughts if he was convicted though.
Mr. Wootton….do you know Marcus
I used to be a Tournament Director and Dealer for poker, I don’t know him well enough to be invited to his house, but I have chatted to him many times. As I said in the first post, I would be highly surprised if he is guilty and would have to admit to being completely foxed if he was. It would be the first time I have misjudged a character, and there are many unsavoury characters in my business.
Why would you be highly surprised if he is guilty? I’m guessing it’s because he seems like such a nice, genuine, jovial, normal character?
Ted Bundy was also a great guy to work with, at least, during the day.
Fortunately I never got to meet Ted Bundy, I am only going on the persona that I chatted to. He may well have a Jackyll and Hyde syndrome but I only ever met the pleasant Bebb-Jones.
For some reason I am getting a number of emails with”exactly the same content from anonymous senders. They are all from the same source, so maybe a little one sided. I would urge anyone to read it and see if a number of things don’t add up or maybe it is my misunderstanding.
This “Young English Woman” who reported her missing seems to be the crux of the investigation and is quoted a number of times by the Daily Sentinal, but I am confused.
It was first stated that Marcus reported his wife missing on the 18th, but he was seen on the 18th with A female (assumed to be his wife from photos) and his son on the same day. But he was supposed (according to “Young English Woman) to be going to Vegas to look for her on the 17th. It then transpires that the Sentinal had got it wrong and it was in fact “The Young English Woman” who reported her missing after her saying that they had had an arguement? (why would someone else report to the police that Sabrina was missing after such a short period of time?), when in fact she wasn’t missing as they were all seen together checking into a hotel the day after he was (allegedly) going to Vegas to look for her.
They checked out at approx noon and were at the Flamingo hotel 3 hours later without female? It doesn’t say but am assuming that as it is not stated that all 3 checked in. From Google maps it looks like approx 300 miles (in 3 hours?) and the skull was found at Douglas Pass, which looks like approx 250 miles in the other direction??
Maybe if had argued with his wife and had his son taken off him he could have been feeling a bit shitty dont ya think, possibly explains the botched suicide attempt. There is no excuse to leave a 3 yr old on his for 1 hour has there been an explanation why and where he was during this time? I presume all was satisfactory to the extent he regained custody of his son.
Anyway, here is the transcript I keep getting sent me by “Anonymous”
Sept. 4, 1994
Melrose place draws international crowd
Hostel-hotel gets visitors from all over
By GINGER RICE
The Daily Sentinel
The long tables in the common room invite conversation and James O’Connell introduces himself.
“I got in late last night,” he says with a disarming smile. “I came in on the bus from Wichita.”
Now, after a good night’s sleep in one of the rooms at the Hotel Melrose, he’s ready for action — a bike ride on the Uncompahgre Plateau.
An Australian schoolteacher, he’s been traveling the United States for 3 months, taking in the spectacular Grand Canyon and, as an avid student of American history, seeking out places like Judge Roy Bean’s courthouse in Texas and Civil War battlefields — places like Pea Ridge, Antietam, Manassas and Gettysburg.
Part of the time he hitchhikes. Sometimes he rides a bike. In his spare time, he sketches people he’s met and draws cartoons. At night, he looks for a hostel in which to rest his weary body.
The Melrose, he says, “is one of the best I’ve seen. It’s really clean. It has nice facilities and not too many rules.”
Marcus and Sabrina Bebb-Jones, who bought the Melrose 17 months ago, glow with satisfaction at such an assessment of what is, for them, a labor of love. They loaded up three credit cards, sold a car and borrowed from parents to invest in a business they view as full of potential.
With Sabrina’s degree in hotel management and Marcus’ experience in hostel operations, the Las Vegas transplants looked at opportunities in three states before finding Grand Junction which, until then, they’d never laid eyes on.
Now, they’re among the loudest cheerleaders for a community they believe can be a tourist mecca.
Like their predecessor, Betty Davis, whose family built the hotel, they operate it as a combination hotel and hostel. But the hostel is clearly dearest to their hearts and Marcus has quickly boned up on local lore and plotted activities.
The people who do hostels “are not necessarily young, but they’re young at heart,” he said. So, unlike some hostel operators who only provide a cheap bed, he organizes tours and packs each day with sights and action.
Guests on Monday got a sure-fire tour of Arches National Park in Utah.
“We didn’t get back until 11 p.m.,” he said, explaining the importance of getting people to the right places at the right time — no point, for instance, in viewing Independence Rock when the sun is behind it and you can’t take a photograph.
On the Arches tour, the magic moment is sunset.
“We saw the sun set through Delicate Arch and I just couldn’t believe it. It was so beautiful. Have you seen it? I got butterflies,” said Nicol Voermans of Holland.
Voermans, a 21-year-old medical student quick with a smile, first visited the United States as a high school exchange student in Texas. Now, after seven weeks as a paid counselor at a summer camp in New York, she’s hosteling across the country.
“This is really a wonderful way to travel,” she said. “It’s a way of traveling alone and not being alone.”
“I always stay at youth hostels,” said Jeanne Getty, who at 31 has saved up enough money to quit her secretarial job in Ann Arbor, Mich., and look for a job that lets her spend more time outdoors.
She worked at a camp in Durango this summer and then, having read about the fruit harvest in Mesa County, visited for two weeks of picking peaches and pears.
“It didn’t pay very much — $1 a box — but it was good experience and it was so beautiful,” she said.
Now she’s staying at the hostel to participate in Marcus’ organized tours.
“He took us on a very challenging hike, but the people you meet at these youth hostels are very activity-oriented,” Getty said. “They aren’t just sitting around.”
Still, everyone needs time to relax and regroup.
Just a block off Main Street and close to train and bus stations, the Melrose is readily identified as a hostel by the international flags flying at the roofline. Armed with maps of downtown, guests can find the post office, laundry facilities, restaurants, grocery stores, coffee houses and pubs.
An international telephone in the common room speeds calls home and special telephones — in old-fashioned wooden booths — enable guests making U.S. travel arrangements to make a four-minute call anywhere within the country for $1.
Breakfast is included in the $10 hostel room rate and the kitchen is stocked with clear plastic wrap for people who pack their own lunches on day trips.
“We don’t stop at any restaurants — number one, because they’re on a budget, and number two, because it takes time out of the parks,” Marcus said.
“The usual stay is two to five days and typically, we get people to extend their stay because they like what they’re doing and they’re flexible,” he said. “Very few people are foolish enough to set their itinerary without some extra days to spend when they find something they like and, when it’s a choice between a national park and another big city, it’s very easy to get them to stay.”
“I was persuaded,” said Adam Tudor, a 22-year-old from Wales who recently graduated from college and didn’t want to miss the bicycle ride on the Uncompahgre Plateau. When he goes home, he’ll settle into a job, possibly in London, as a solicitor — an attorney.
Across the table, Joe O’Donnell and his girlfriend, Nicola Lilley, are finishing breakfast as they chat on day four at the Melrose. When they finish, they’ll shoulder their packs and head west — on unlimited-mileage bus passes.
They’re typical of an atypical breed — young people seeing the world on a shoestring, moving from point to point on standby or discount fares, sightseeing by day, quaffing an occasional brew and bedding down at youth hostels.
Recently laid off by an American pharmaceutical company that moved from London to Ireland, O’Donnell and Lilley are using severance pay to finance a year-long world tour that started July 25 in Boston. So far, they say, the Melrose, with a 6-mile hike into the Colorado National Monument, the Arches tour and a tour of Grand Mesa, is the highlight.
“It’s been three excellent days,” said O’Donnell, 29. “We stood on the edge of the monument and said, ‘Wow.’”
Such experiences, combined with a free breakfast, make the Melrose “a very good value,” he said. “This is the best.”
“You’re encouraged to do things here,” Lilley noted. “You don’t want to get someplace and just be dumped in your room.”
When the U.S. leg of their journey ends, O’Donnell and Lilley will head for Fiji, then New Zealand and Australia, where their holiday visas will permit them to work temporarily.
Once they’ve recharged their pocketbooks, they’ll fly to Singapore and Hong Kong, then to Johannesburg — the trailhead, they hope, for a continental tour. If there’s time left at the end of the year, they’ll also tour Europe.
Their hosts hope the Melrose will still rate high with O’Donnell and Lilley a year from now when they’re back in London.
Sept. 4, 1994
Former owner says she loves new management
By GINGER RICE
The Daily Sentinel
Until last year, the Melrose Hotel at 337 Colorado Ave. was Elizabeth Davis’ livelihood and home.
“My grandparents built it in 1908 and I lived in it my whole life,” Davis said. “I was almost born in it.”
In fact, she was born next door in the Brighton, a smaller hotel now long gone.
Her grandfather, William James Ponsford, built both hotels but died a year before her birth in 1915, Davis said. Several 7.8ars later, her mother moved into the Melrose, where she lived until last year.
William Ponsford and his bride, Charlotte Louise Porter, emigrated from England in 1884 and homesteaded on Kannah Creek where, according to Davis, they established the first water rights.
“He made some money with cattle,” Davis said. “Then he came to town and built the hotel in 1908 and it’s been a home for the family ever since.”
The hotel was expanded in 1911, said Davis, who cleaned rooms as a child and later ran it herself, converting some of the rooms for hostel use in the mid-1980s.
“I couldn’t have got by with just one or the other, the hotel or the hostel,” she said.
Because the hotel is dear to her heart, Davis said she was overjoyed to find an energetic young couple like Marcus and Sabrina Bebb-Jones to keep it open.
“They were very interested in it,” she said. “That’s one reason I was very happy to sell it to them. They had a lot of experience in hotels and hostels. They’re young and ambitious.”
The Bebb-Joneses are equally appreciative of the opportunity to carry on a nearly century-old tradition.
“This hotel has never been closed a single night,” marveled Marcus.
That’s true, said Davis, who remembers that “for the first 50 years the rooms weren’t even locked.”
Now that Marcus, a 31-year-old Englishman, and Sabrina, a Vietnamese woman raised in Las Vegas, Nev., call the Melrose their home, they’re raising their 7-month-old son, Daniel, there and, between guests, refurbishing the 24-room property.
They’ve set to work painting the exterior, installing flags, adding a breakfast patio. As time and finances permit, they’re stripping paint from hardwood surfaces inside and adding wainscoting to restore the building to its Victorian charm.
Hotel guests pay $31 and hostel guests pay $10 for beds and service that a recent crop of guests called “a very good value.”
Occupancy over the past year has averaged a respectable 75 percent, with a high of 85 percent in summer. Marcus and Sabrina hope to bring the annualized rate up in 1995 with ski deals at Powderhorn and more exposure in hostel guidebooks.
Davis, who used to handle everything from midnight customers to bookkeeping, smiles on their plans and success.
“I was hoping someday somebody would do something with it. It makes me very happy,” she said.
Sept. 1, 1996
The new Melrose place
By C. PATRICK CLEARY
The Daily Sentinel
The Harley Davidson parked outside the Hotel Melrose gives a distinctly American feel to the 22-room, two-story building in the 200 block of Colorado Avenue.
Once inside, though, the clientele speak in the tongues of many nations.
Here in the meeting place for international tourists, a British/ American couple are trying to capitalize on their location in the center of Grand Junction.
That’s especially important when the 1908 building is equidistant from the train and bus stations and supermarket, and surrounded by a bustling business community.
“We give free rides from the airport,” co-owner Sabrina Bebb-Jones, 30, chimes in between answering the telephone, reminding a guest to bring the sheets and pillow cases down when departing and explaining to another that travel insurance will help if the traveler needs to go to the hospital.
Sabrina and her 33-year-old husband, Marcus Jones, have owned the hotel for 3 years.
They bought it from a woman who spent her whole life there. Betty Davis often comes back in to see how things are going.
Davis’ touch can still be seen in the decor and the flavor of the place. Her grandfather built the hotel and she was raised in it, and lived in it for the 31 years she ran the hotel and hostel.
“I always kept it up,” Davis said.
The new owners hadn’t even heard of Grand Junction when living in Los Angeles became too much and they wanted to get into the international youth hostel business.
They said they lucked into an established business and now want to let downtown Grand Junction businesses know that out-of-town clients don’t necessarily have to stay on Horizon Drive.
The hotel’s quaintness, with the salt of antique thrown in, is part of a business travel trend on which Marcus and Sabrina hope to capitalize.
“There is great potential for growth,” explains Marcus, a native of Worcestershire, England. He’s about to lead 13 guests, most of them hostelers, on a day trip over the Colorado National Monument.
“You need a liter and a half of water,” he explains, his speech English with the British flavor. They all understand.
He reads the names, European to Asian, with few problems.
Marcus and Sabrina were sold on Grand Junction for its proximity to national parks and open space and a healthy, friendly economic environment first.
“It brings a lot of people from all around the world into the downtown area,” Davis said.
Marcus and Sabrina have taken communication with their guests to another level. Fiber-optic cables now weave among the hardwood floors and wooden interior of rooms dressed in simple, but antique flair.
Business travelers need access to telephone and television, and plugs that readily accept computer modem hookups.
There’s an old wooden telephone booth in the hall and a machine that spits out calling cards, as well.
Eighty percent of the building is for hotel guests. Still, though, Marcus and Sabrina get about 2,000 hostelers, mostly international, who spend about 4,000 nights a year in the hotel.
A third of the guests come by car, 40 percent by bus, 20 percent by train, 5 percent by airplane, 2 percent by hitchhiking or other rides, and 1 percent by bicycle.
Suitcases sit next to backpacks loaded with camping gear in the community room. A pair of panniers sits in the corner of the office that used to be Davis’ bedroom. A gentlemen is spending several days biking on the Grand Mesa and asked if he could leave some gear behind, Marcus said.
“What’s the best way to get to Moab?” one young man says as he walks into the office.
The tour guide in Marcus kicks in with the explanation of how to get to Cisco, Utah, and beyond.
That concierge part of the business was a strength Davis brought to the Melrose and the new owners want to continue. The little things count, Marcus said.
Marcus and Sabrina met in 1991 in Las Vegas, Nev. Marcus had been a time-share salesman in England when he packed his belongings into a backpack to find his next adventure in the world.
Sabrina graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a degree in hotel management.
They have found the market for hostel travelers is growing.
“There is a lot of potential here,” Marcus said.
That’s not bad for a piece of property Davis said her grandfather bought because Colorado Avenue was originally slated to be Grand Junction’s main street.
“I would so much rather see this than see someone let it run down,” Davis said.
Sept. 23, 1997
Missing woman’s
child held
in Las Vegas
Probe into disappearance
widens after wife vanishes
By DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
Grand Junction investigators were in Las Vegas this morning to question the husband of a woman who has been missing for a week, police said.
Marcus Jones told authorities his wife, Sabrina Bebb-Jones, 31, has been missing since Sept. 16. Sabrina Bebb-Jones, 31, who with her husband, Marcus Jones, owns and operates the Hotel Melrose, has been missing since Sept. 16, her husband, Marcus Jones, told authorities. The Joneses own and operate the Hotel Melrose.
Marcus Jones, 34, reported his wife as missing to the Grand Junction Police Department on Sept. 18, Officer Lisa Dicamillo said.
Jones left for Las Vegas a couple of days ago, saying he was going there to look for his wife, said Bebb-Jones’ brother, Robert Dang.
But Jones apparently was picked up by law enforcement in Las Vegas after a maid in the motel where he was staying found the Joneses’ 3-year-old son alone in the room.
“Marcus hired a caretaker to come over but I guess the caretaker was late,” Dang said this morning.
The child was placed in the custody of Nevada’s child-protection agency, Dang said.
No information about Jones was available this morning from the Las Vegas Police Department.
Jones told Dang and investigators that he and his wife got into an argument at Mesa Mall on Sept. 16 and that his wife was angry and left.
“She never took off before,” Dang said, adding that he doesn’t know what may have happened to his sister and has only the information given to him by his brother-in-law.
“She’s a hard worker. She loves her boy, her husband and this town, especially the small-town atmosphere,” Dang said.
Dang, 32, lives in Southern California and is in Grand Junction trying to find his sister. Bebb-Jones grew up in Las Vegas and her parents live there, Dang said. Jones is from Worcestershire, England.
The Joneses met in Las Vegas in 1991 and last year bought the Hotel Melrose in the 200 block of Colorado Avenue. They have been operating the 22-room hotel as a hostel with a focus on attracting international travelers. The Hotel Melrose remained open this morning.
Dang is preparing flyers asking for help from anyone who may have seen his sister.
Anyone with information regarding Bebb-Jones is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Mesa County Inc. at 241-STOP.
Sept. 24, 1997
GJ police question missing
woman’s husband, son in Vegas
By CHRIS BARKER
The Daily Sentinel
Detectives interviewed the husband and 3-year-old son of a missing Grand Junction woman in Las Vegas, Nev., on Tuesday, Grand Junction police said.
A crime-scene technician traveling with two Grand Junction detectives also examined the car Marcus Jones drove to Las Vegas, Detective George Barley said. Sabrina Bebb-Jones, 31, was reported missing by Jones on Sept. 16.
Authorities have no evidence to suggest a crime was committed, though, Barley said.
“We don’t have any information as to her whereabouts at this time,” Barley said. “At this point it’s still a missing-persons case.”
Jones, who operates the Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction, went to Las Vegas a few days ago to look for his wife, Bebb-Jones’ brother said.
Robert Dang, who traveled to Grand Junction from Southern California to look for his sister, said he’s worried because Bebb-Jones never left home unannounced before. Dang said Jones told him his sister left after the couple argued at Mesa Mall on Sept. 16.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas social service authorities have custody of the couple’s 3-year-old son, said Sandie Durgan, a supervisor with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s abuse and neglect unit. Durgan said the child was taken into protective custody after he was found abandoned by his father at the Flamingo Hotel.
No charges were filed against Jones in connection with that incident, Durgan said. Las Vegas authorities tend to release children in such cases back to their parents after issuing a warning, but Durgan said Jones’ situation is different.
“In this case, we’re dealing with some other factors,” said Durgan, who added that the 3-year-old is now staying at a group facility on the county court campus. “This child isn’t going to be going anywhere at least for a short period of time.”
Barley said he expects the two detectives and the technician to return to Grand Junction today.
Sept. 25, 1997
Investigation moves to Rangely
Search for woman continues
By DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
A Grand Junction police investigator today was in the Rangely/Dinosaur National Park area following up on information that a missing woman and her husband had planned a trip there on the same day that he told police she disappeared.
Meanwhile, another investigator remained in Las Vegas, Nev., continuing the investigation into the disappearance of Sabrina Bebb-Jones.
Her husband, Marcus Jones, told police that his wife disappeared after the two argued at Mesa Mall on Sept. 16. He reported her missing on Sept. 18.
An investigator went to the Rangely area today after police received information that the couple had planned to go to Dinosaur National Monument on Sept. 16, the police department said.
Bebb-Jones and her husband own and operate the Hotel Melrose, 337 Colorado Ave.
Bebb-Jones grew up in Las Vegas and has family there.
Several days ago, Jones told Bebb-Jones’ brother that he was going to Las Vegas to look for his wife.
The couple’s 3-year-old son was taken into protective custody after a maid found the boy alone in Jones’ room at the Flamingo Hotel.
Robert Dang, Bebb-Jones brother, said Jones told him he hired a baby sitter for the boy but the baby sitter didn’t show up.
No charges were filed against Jones in connection with neglect of the boy but Las Vegas police said Wednesday the boy would be remain in protective custody.
Sept. 30, 1997
Missing woman’s husband attempts suicide
Search for downtown hotel owner enters 3rd week
By DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
The husband of a Grand Junction woman who has been missing for two weeks tried to kill himself in Las Vegas last week, Grand Junction police said.
That apparent failed suicide attempt, coupled with finding the 3-year-old son alone in a Las Vegas hotel room, led Grand Junction investigators to Las Vegas to further interview Marcus Jones, 34, about the disappearance of his wife, Sabrina Bebb-Jones.
Bebb-Jones, 31, has been missing since Sept. 16. When Jones reported her as a missing person on Sept. 18, he told Grand Junction police she had disappeared after they had an argument at Mesa Mall.
Grand Junction police last week searched the Hotel Melrose, which the Joneses owned and operated. The affidavit supporting the search warrant was sealed from public view by Mesa County Judge Tom Deister on Sept. 25.
Grand Junction investigators went to Las Vegas last week after learning of Jones’ suicide attempt there on Sept. 22, the day after the Joneses’ 3-year-old son was found alone in a room at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
Grand Junction Investigator Kevin Imbriaco said the boy had apparently been alone in the hotel room for no more than an hour the afternoon of Sept. 21, a Sunday. Jones had called the front desk from the room about 2:30 p.m. that day and the boy was found in the room alone about 3:15 p.m., Imbriaco said.
The next morning about 8, Las Vegas police received a report of a suicide attempt in a room at the Mirage Hotel. Jones had shot himself in the head, Imbriaco said, but the gunshot wound wasn’t life-threatening.
Jones had been in a Las Vegas hospital and was to be transferred to a psychiatric facility, but Imbriaco said he didn’t know if that transfer had taken place yet.
Last week, the boy was in a group home in the custody of Clark County (Nev.) Child and Family Services. A supervisor with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department’s abuse and neglect unit said Monday she didn’t know whether the boy was still in the group home.
Sgt. Bill Keeton with the Las Vegas police homicide unit said he and other officers there have been working closely with Grand Junction police on the case.
“I can tell you we’ve spent many man-hours assisting them with their investigation,” Keeton said.
Imbriaco said investigators in western Colorado were working to put together the pieces of the puzzle that might explain where Bebb-Jones is and what might have happened to her.
“It may turn out to be a homicide, we don’t know,” Imbriaco said. “We have no idea where she is so we’re conducting the investigation as if she is a victim.”
In addition to interviewing Jones in Las Vegas after the suicide attempt and searching Jones’ car, investigators also have been to the Dinosaur National Monument and Vernal, Utah areas looking for information on Bebb-Jones. The investigators last week received information that Jones and his wife had planned a trip to that area on the day she disappeared.
Oct. 8, 1997
Investigation possibly places
missing woman in Utah motel
By DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
The disappearance of a 31-year-old Grand Junction woman continues to confound investigators with reports that the woman may have been seen in Utah with her husband and child two days after she reportedly vanished.
“We’re actually no closer to knowing where she is or was,” said Grand Junction Police Investigator Kevin Imbriaco of the disappearance of Sabrina Bebb-Jones.
Meanwhile, Bebb-Jones’ husband, Marcus Jones, was scheduled to appear in a Las Vegas court today to declare whether he will try to gain custody of his son from Clark County (Nev.) Child and Family Services, Imbriaco said.
Despite earlier reports, Grand Junction police have never talked with Jones about his wife’s disappearance, Imbriaco said. Jones didn’t report her missing, he said.
Instead, it was a young English woman staying at the Hotel Melrose who contacted police on Sept. 18.
The Joneses own the Melrose, 337 Colorado Ave.
The woman told police that Bebb-Jones had been missing since Sept. 16 and that Jones had told her that Bebb-Jones left Grand Junction after he and his wife argued at Mesa Mall that day.
Jones, 34, and his 3-year-old son left Grand Junction between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Sept. 17, telling the English woman they were headed for Las Vegas to look for Bebb-Jones.
Bebb-Jones grew up in Las Vegas and has family there.
But at 6 a.m. on Sept. 18, nine or 10 hours after leaving Grand Junction, Jones, the boy and a woman checked into the Scenic Hills Motel in Salina, Utah, Imbriaco said,
Salina is 211 miles west of Grand Junction on Interstate 70.
Imbriaco said a motel clerk, a housekeeper and two people in a restaurant there all identified the woman with Jones and the boy as Sabrina Bebb-Jones, basing their identifications on a photograph of Bebb-Jones. The woman is of Asian heritage.
Imbriaco said Jones checked out of the Salina hotel about six hours after checking in. Jones checked into the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas about 3 p.m., that same day, he added.
On Sept. 21, about 3:15 p.m., the 3-year-old boy was found alone in the Las Vegas motel room and taken into custody by the Clark County child protection agency.
On Sept. 22, police in Las Vegas reported that Jones apparently tried to kill himself in a room at the Mirage Hotel. Jones shot himself in the head but the gunshot wound wasn’t life-threatening, police said. Jones was taken to a hospital and was scheduled to be transferred to a psychiatric facility.
It’s not clear whether Jones was admitted to a psychiatric facility, but he is free now, Imbriaco said.
Jones has hired a lawyer in Las Vegas. That lawyer told Grand Junction investigators that Jones intends to stay in Las Vegas until he can regain custody of his son. Then, the lawyer added, he plans to return to Grand Junction “because he has a business to run,” Imbriaco said.
Imbriaco said neither he nor the child protection agency in Las Vegas know whether Jones will face any charges in connection with leaving the boy alone in a hotel room. If Jones tries to regain custody of his son, there will be a dependency and neglect hearing in Las Vegas within 30 days, Imbriaco said.
At this point, investigators have no explanation for the hours between the time Jones left Grand Junction on the evening of Sept. 17 and the time he and a woman checked into the Salina motel in the early morning hours of Sept. 18.
Police received information earlier in the investigation that Jones had planned a trip to Dinosaur National Monument on Sept. 18. A police department investigator went to the Rangely and Vernal, Utah areas. Investigators will be going back to that area, Imbriaco said. When there earlier, area motels and hotels were checked to see if anyone named Bebb-Jones had registered.
Since that time, investigators have learned that Bebb-Jones’ driver’s license was still in her maiden name of Dang. The investigators will go back to Rangely and Vernal and check hotel-motel registers for the name Dang.
Imbriaco said he hasn’t found any indication that Jones has a prior criminal record but added that he hasn’t been able to learn very much about Jones’ life before Grand Junction.
The Jones have been married about four years. They met in Las Vegas in 1991. They bought the Hotel Melrose last year and have run the 22-room hotel as a hostel with a focus on attracting international travelers. The hotel is currently closed.
Oct. 19, 1997
Missing woman’s family offers $12,000 reward
By DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
While Marcus Jones is in Las Vegas, Nev., awaiting a hearing to determine whether he will regain custody of his 3-year-old son, the family of his missing wife Sabrina Bebb-Jones is offering a $12,000 reward to anyone who can provide information about her disappearance.
Bebb-Jones was last seen leaving the Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction on Sept. 16, with her husband in a white 1988 van with small red pinstripes and a maroon interior. The van, a Plymouth or Dodge Voyager or Caravan, has a Colorado license plate UEP 7488 and a gutter-mount ski rack.
Bebb-Jones and her husband may have been in Dinosaur National Monument on Sept. 16, according to authorities.
Jones and the 3-year-old boy were seen leaving Grand Junction between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Sept. 17. Jones told a woman staying at the Hotel Melrose, which the Joneses own and operate, that he and the boy were going to Las Vegas to look for Bebb-Jones.
The woman at the hotel reported Bebb-Jones as missing to the Grand Junction police on Sept. 18.
About 6 a.m. on Sept. 18, Jones, the boy and a woman checked into the Scenic Hills Motel in Salina, Utah, said Grand Junction Det. Kevin Imbriaco. Motel employees told police the woman was Bebb-Jones, basing their identifications on a photograph of the 31-year-old Asian-American woman.
Jones checked out of the Salina motel about noon that same day, Sept. 18, according to Imbriaco. And later on Sept. 18 (about 3 p.m.), Jones checked into the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Imbriaco said.
Three days later, on Sept. 21, the 3-year-old boy was found alone in the Las Vegas motel room and taken into custody by the Clark County, Nev., child protection agency. The boy remains in the agency’s custody.
The next morning, Jones apparently tried to kill himself in another Las Vegas motel room by shooting himself in the head, according to Las Vegas police. The gunshot wound wasn’t life-threatening and, by Oct. 8, Jones had been released from a Las Vegas hospital. Jones, 34, went to court in Las Vegas on Oct. 8 and said he wanted his son back. A hearing to determine custody of the boy is scheduled in Las Vegas for Nov. 12.
Imbriaco said late this week that police in Grand Junction are no closer to locating Bebb-Jones nor to knowing what might have happened to her. Law enforcement agencies along Interstate 70 from here to Interstate 15 and south on I-15 to Las Vegas have been asked to contact the Grand Junction police about any unidentified women patients in hospitals or any unidentified bodies, Imbriaco said.
Meanwhile, Bebb-Jones’ family has set up a Web page on the Internet asking for help in finding her. The Web page is at bttp://www .achieveweb.com/sabrina/green.htmb Anyone with information about Bebb-Jones’ disappearance is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Mesa County at 241-STOP or contact Imbriaco or Det. George Barley at 244-3568.
Nov. 7, 1997
By DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
The Hotel Melrose has reopened, but one of the owners is still missing and the other may have returned to Grand Junction from Las Vegas, Nev.
Grand Junction Police are still looking for leads that could help them find out what happened to Sabrina Bebb-Jones, the Grand Junction woman who disappeared in mid-September.
Meanwhile, her husband, Marcus Jones, may have returned to Grand Junction, sources said. Grand Junction Police Investigator Kevin Imbriaco said Thursday that a patrol officer believes he saw Jones at the hotel. But Imbriaco said he hasn’t been able to make contact with Jones.
Jones’ mother, Pam Weaver, answered the telephone at the Hotel Melrose Thursday and said the hotel had reopened.
Weaver took a message for Jones but declined to say where he was. When asked whether she had reopened the hotel at Jones’ direction, she replied, “It’s pretty obvious that I did really, isn’t it.”
The Joneses own the Hotel Melrose, 337 Colorado Ave. After Bebb-Jones disappeared in mid-September and Jones appeared in Las Vegas, the hotel stayed open until the end of the month with two hotel guests taking on the responsibility of manning the telephones.
During most of October, the hotel was closed. There was a poster asking for information on the whereabouts of Bebb-Jones taped to the locked front door.
Then, in late October, the poster came down and the hotel reopened, apparently under Weaver’s management.
“I’m holding things together,” she said.
Bebb-Jones, her husband and her 3-year-old son were seen leaving Grand Junction in a white 1988 van on Sept. 16. Police were later told that the family may have been going to Dinosaur National Monument.
On Sept. 17, Jones and the boy were seen leaving Grand Junction between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Jones told a woman at the hotel that they were going to Las Vegas to look for Bebb-Jones, police said.
On Sept. 18, the woman notified police that Bebb-Jones was missing and told officers that Jones had said his wife had walked away from the Mesa Mall after the couple had an argument.
About 6 a.m. on Sept. 18, Jones, the boy and a woman checked into the Scenic Hills Motel in Salina, Utah, Imbriaco said. About noon that day, Jones checked out, Imbriaco said. Workers at the motel and a nearby restaurant later identified Bebb-Jones as the woman who checked in with Jones, Imbriaco said.
About 3 p.m. that day, Jones and the boy checked into the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Three days later, on Sept. 21, the boy was found alone in the motel room and taken into custody by the Clark County, Nev., child protection agency.
The next morning, on Sept. 22, Jones apparently tried to kill himself in another Las Vegas motel room by shooting himself in the head. The wound wasn’t life-threatening, Imbriaco said.
Jones is scheduled to appear in court in Las Vegas on Nov. 12 for a hearing to determine whether he will regain custody of the boy.
tebb-Jones’ family is offering a $12,000 reward for information leading to Bebb-Jones.
Robert Dang, Bebb-Jones’ brother, asked that anyone in Western Colorado or Utah who may have seen his sister either alone or with Jones call Crime Stoppers of Mesa County at 241-STOP or contact Imbriaco or Det. George Barley at 244-3568.
Because his 31-year-old sister is about 5-foot tall and 110 pounds and of Asian descent and Jones, 34, is red-headed with blue eyes, 5-foot 8-inches tall and 175 pounds and speaks with a British accent, Dang said he believed the pair would have been a fairly noticeable couple.
Dec. 31, 1997
Two missing-persons cases unsolved
By DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
The Hotel Melrose has reopened, but one of the owners is still missing and the other may have returned to Grand Junction from Las Vegas, Nev.
Grand Junction Police are still looking for leads that could help them find out what happened to Sabrina Bebb-Jones, the Grand Junction woman who disappeared in mid-September.
Meanwhile, her husband, Marcus Jones, may have returned to Grand Junction, sources said. Grand Junction Police Investigator Kevin Imbriaco said Thursday that a patrol officer believes he saw Jones at the hotel. But Imbriaco said he hasn’t been able to make contact with Jones.
Jones’ mother, Pam Weaver, answered the telephone at the Hotel Melrose Thursday and said the hotel had reopened.
Weaver took a message for Jones but declined to say where he was. When asked whether she had reopened the hotel at Jones’ direction, she replied, “It’s pretty obvious that I did really, isn’t it.”
The Joneses own the Hotel Melrose, 337 Colorado Ave. After Bebb-Jones disappeared in mid-September and Jones appeared in Las Vegas, the hotel stayed open until the end of the month with two hotel guests taking on the responsibility of manning the telephones.
During most of October, the hotel was closed. There was a poster asking for information on the whereabouts of Bebb-Jones taped to the locked front door.
Then, in late October, the poster came down and the hotel reopened, apparently under Weaver’s management.
“I’m holding things together,” she said.
Bebb-Jones, her husband and her 3-year-old son were seen leaving Grand Junction in a white 1988 van on Sept. 16. Police were later told that the family may have been going to Dinosaur National Monument.
On Sept. 17, Jones and the boy were seen leaving Grand Junction between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Jones told a woman at the hotel that they were going to Las Vegas to look for Bebb-Jones, police said.
On Sept. 18, the woman notified police that Bebb-Jones was missing and told officers that Jones had said his wife had walked away from the Mesa Mall after the couple had an argument.
About 6 a.m. on Sept. 18, Jones, the boy and a woman checked into the Scenic Hills Motel in Salina, Utah, Imbriaco said. About noon that day, Jones checked out, Imbriaco said. Workers at the motel and a nearby restaurant later identified Bebb-Jones as the woman who checked in with Jones, Imbriaco said.
About 3 p.m. that day, Jones and the boy checked into the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Three days later, on Sept. 21, the boy was found alone in the motel room and taken into custody by the Clark County, Nev., child protection agency.
The next morning, on Sept. 22, Jones apparently tried to kill himself in another Las Vegas motel room by shooting himself in the head. The wound wasn’t life-threatening, Imbriaco said.
Jones is scheduled to appear in court in Las Vegas on Nov. 12 for a hearing to determine whether he will regain custody of the boy.
tebb-Jones’ family is offering a $12,000 reward for information leading to Bebb-Jones.
Robert Dang, Bebb-Jones’ brother, asked that anyone in Western Colorado or Utah who may have seen his sister either alone or with Jones call Crime Stoppers of Mesa County at 241-STOP or contact Imbriaco or Det. George Barley at 244-3568.
Because his 31-year-old sister is about 5-foot tall and 110 pounds and of Asian descent and Jones, 34, is red-headed with blue eyes, 5-foot 8-inches tall and 175 pounds and speaks with a British accent, Dang said he believed the pair would have been a fairly noticeable couple.
March 8, 1998
A tale of two disappearances
Cases alike in only one way – both still missing
DANA NUNN
The Daily Sentinel
In a tale of two disappearances, the father of a missing man is angry that authorities seem to be doing too little to find his son. In the other case, authorities are suspicious about a husband’s seeming lack of interest in the fate of his wife.
It’s been nine months since Shane Turner disappeared and five months since Sabrina Bebb-Jones was reported missing. Investigators believe foul play is involved in both cases, but no bodies have been found and no arrests have been made.
Grand Junction police detective Kevin Imbriaco continues to work on the case of Sabrina Bebb-Jones, an Asian-American woman who was 31 years old when she disappeared in mid-September.
Sabrina and her husband, Marcus Bebb-Jones, own the Hotel Melrose, 337 Colorado Ave.
To date, Marcus Bebb-Jones has never talked with Imbriaco. Though he has been notified that he can have back the van police seized after his wife disappeared, Marcus Bebb-Jones hasn’t picked it up or called to inquire about it, Imbriaco said.
Nor has he called about the efforts to find his wife, Imbriaco said.
“In my experience, I find it extremely odd that the husband of a reportedly missing person has never called. I find that extremely suspicious,” Imbriaco said.
On Sept. 18, a young English woman staying at the hotel told Grand Junction police that she hadn’t seen Sabrina since Sept. 16 and that Marcus told her his wife had left after the couple argued at Mesa Mall on Sept. 16. Marcus Bebb-Jones and the couple’s 3-year-old son left Grand Junction on Sept. 17. He told the young woman that they were going to Las Vegas to look for his wife, who has family there.
The same day the woman reported Sabrina missing, Marcus Bebb-Jones, his son and a woman checked into a motel in Salina, Utah. Motel and restaurant employees later identified the woman they had seen with Marcus Bebb-Jones as Sabrina, based on pictures of Sabrina. Marcus Bebb-Jones checked out of the motel about six hours after checking in and later the same day, he and the boy checked into a hotel in Las Vegas.
On Sept. 21, the boy was found alone in the hotel room and the Clark County, Nev., child protection agency took custody of him. On Sept. 22, Las Vegas police said Marcus Bebb-Jones had apparently tried to kill himself in a room at a second Las Vegas hotel. Jones shot himself in the head but the wound was superficial.
Marcus Bebb-Jones regained custody of his son and returned to Grand Junction where he’s continued running the Hotel Melrose. He has recently requested that the court appoint him as his missing wife’s conservator, an appointment that would allow him to manage her financial assets.
A hearing on the appointment is scheduled for April 27 before District Judge David Bottger.
Meanwhile, the 3-year-old boy has been sent to England to stay with Marcus Bebb-Jones’ mother, Imbriaco said.
Police seized the van that Marcus Bebb-Jones drove to Las Vegas and processed it for evidence. Bloodstains were found in the van, Imbriaco said.
Marcus Bebb-Jones told Nevada police that the blood was Sabrina’s and that he had “bloodied her nose,” in an argument, Imbriaco said.
Marcus Bebb-Jones has refused to comment about his wife’s disappearance, his son’s departure and his application for conservatorship of his wife’s assets.
George Turner has handled the disappearance of his son Shane very differently than Marcus Bebb-Jones has handled the disappearance of his wife.
At first, Turner was in contact with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department daily. Now he talks with lead investigator Lissah Norcross at least once a week, Norcross said.
Shane Turner was 26 years old when he disappeared on May 21. He walked out of his apartment at 540 Road 29 to talk to a man posing as a Colorado State Parks ranger. Turner’s girlfriend was inside the apartment that night. She told investigators Shane had come back inside the apartment to get a warmer shirt and then went back outside to continue talking to the phony ranger. The next time she noticed, the ranger and Turner were gone.
Norcross said the sheriff’s department has conducted 15 searches and devoted more than 2,200 staff hours investigating the disappearance. From the beginning, the case has been handled as a probable homicide, she said. She has five, 3-inch thick folders containing documents and notes related to the case.
Understandably, that’s small consolation for George Turner, who wants to know for sure whether his son is dead and, if so, where his son’s body is. He also want to see those responsible punished.
Turner believes he knows who is responsible for his son’s disappearance. He said he believes the people involved didn’t intend to kill his son. Instead, he thinks the intent was to frighten his son and things got out of control.
“We know who did it and we know he had help doing it,” Turner said.
Turner had a message for the person who he believes killed his son.
“You know that you’re guilty. I don’t know what the police have in store for you but I know what the family has in store for you and the family’s getting tired of waiting,” he said.
Turner is frustrated with what he sees as a lack of action on the part of the sheriff’s department. He said he doesn’t feel like much is being done now other than investigators waiting and hoping that someone will tip them off to where Shane’s body is or what happened to the young man.
He said he’s also frustrated because, despite talking with him weekly, he doesn’t think he’s getting much information from invest- igators.
“If they want me to stay out of their way, they better be in my way telling me me, ‘This is what we’re doing, Mr. Turner.’”
“We’ve told them (the family) as much as we can without divulging specifics of the investigation that would hamper it,” Norcross said.
Norcross and her boss, Lt. Dick Dillon, said they can understand Turner’s frustration and they are sorry they don’t know where his son is.
“If we could do that yesterday, we would have done it but that’s not the hand we were dealt,” Dillon said.
Dillon also discouraged Turner from taking the law into his own hands.
“That’s what our judicial system is for,” Dillon said. “In the days of the wild West, I suspect there were a lot of innocent people swinging from a tree.”
July 25, 1998
Owner planning to sell
Hotel Melrose, leave GJ
By ALLISON SHERRY
The Daily Sentinel
Marcus Bebb-Jones, whose wife Sabrina has been missing since last year, said he is selling Hotel Melrose and plans to leave Grand Junction and perhaps the country.
Grand Junction police Det. Kevin Imbriaco said investigators do not believe Sabrina Bebb-Jones is alive, but her body hasn’t been found. Police want to question Bebb-Jones, but so far he has refused to answer questions or write a statement, Imbriaco said.bf-b”Normally with missing persons cases, the spouses drive me crazy,” Imbriaco said. “But Marcus has not contacted me once.”
Bebb-Jones, a native of England, said he “hasn’t quite decided yet” if he will return to Worcester upon selling the hotel at 337 Colorado Ave. He refused to say if leaving Grand Junction had anything to do with the disappearance of his wife.
Because Sabrina Bebb-Jones was last seen in Salina, Utah, Imbriaco said he doesn’t believe her body is in Colorado.
But as a self-proclaimed “eternal optimist,” Imbriaco said he thinks someday, someone will come across Sabrina’s body. The investigation is complete, but without a body, Imbriaco said the police are “in limbo.” Though it has happened before, prosecutions typically are tough in cases like these, he said.
“I really don’t think her body is in the state,” Imbriaco said. “But when they do find it, the case could be completed.”
Sabrina’s body could be anywhere in the vast deserts of Utah or Nevada, he said.
“I just think it’s extremely disappointing (Marcus) won’t come and talk to me,” Imbriaco said. “I’ve worked this case intensely, and … if he came in, it may help.”
The last time Sabrina Bebb-Jones was seen in Grand Junction was Sept. 16, 1997, leaving the hotel she and Marcus co-owned in a white van with her 3-year-old son. Two days later Marcus left Grand Junction and a woman staying at Hotel Melrose reported Sabrina missing. Later that same day, Sabrina, Marcus and their son were seen checking into a Salina, Utah, motel.
That is the last time Sabrina was seen.
Six hours after checking in at the Salina motel, Bebb-Jones and his son checked out and drove to Las Vegas.
On Sept. 21, the child was found alone in a Las Vegas hotel room and was taken into custody by Nevada child protective services.
On Sept. 22, Bebb-Jones attempted suicide in another Las Vegas hotel room, prompting Grand Junction police investigators to go to Las Vegas and question him.
For most of October, the Hotel Melrose was closed while Bebb-Jones stayed in Las Vegas trying to get his son back. Upon arriving in Grand Junction to run his business, Marcus refused to talk to the police, Imbriaco said.
“Certainly I’d love for him to come in and tell me what he knows about his wife’s disappearance,” Imbriaco said.
Because she was last seen in Salina, the case is treated as a missing persons case in Grand Junction.
In December, Bebb-Jones applied to be conservator for Sabrina’s possessions which included a van, the hotel and a house, court records indicate. Conservatorship was granted May 5.
Marcus and Sabrina met in 1991 in Las Vegas. Embarking on a new adventure, they came to Grand Junction and purchased the Melrose in 1993. The antique-flavored hotel also serves as a youth hostel.
When Bebb-Jones arrived back in Grand Junction after getting his son from Nevada protective services, he sent his son back to England with Bebb-Jones’ mother, Imbriaco said.
Sabrina’s family set up a World Wide Web site late last year offering $12,000 for any information about her disappearance. The reward has since been reduced to $2,500. Sabrina’s brother Robert Dang didn’t return calls to comment.
“It’s such a shame and a huge mystery,” said Lauren, a former friend and colleague of Sabrina’s. “I’m just shocked, they were both so personable and into their work.”
Lauren, who asked that her last name not be used, said when she went to a business conference with Sabrina last year all she talked about was her work and family.
“She seemed happy,” she said.
Imbriaco said he’s not too concerned with the possibility of Bebb-Jones leaving Grand Junction because he’s never cooperated with police anyway.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Imbriaco said. “We have extradition treaties with England. … If we wanted him, we’ll bring him back.”
May 9, 1999
Half a dozen
cases still
mystify cops
By SHANNON JOYCE
The Daily Sentinel
The arrest of a Montrose man in connection with the 20-year-old murder of Pamela Powers closed one of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department’s oldest murder cases, but about half a dozen murders, kidnappings and disappearances that occurred in the Grand Valley during the past 10 years remain unsolved.
“We don’t close those kinds of cases,” said Mesa County District Attorney Frank Daniels. “We keep them on the shelf until something comes up. Particularly murder cases because there is no statute of limitations.”
But finding the right piece of new evidence to press charges can be a difficult obstacle for investigators.
Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Janet Prell said investigators have identified a prime suspect in all but one of their unsolved murder, kidnapping and missing persons cases, but deputies don’t have enough evidence to make an arrest.
“We may have strong suspect information, but not the physical evidence to support a prosecution,” Prell said. Unless they’ve got the evidence needed for a conviction, Prell said deputies and prosecutors will not take the case to trial.
Richard Martinez’s arrest in connection with Powers’ death is a good example of how a new lead in an old case can lead to an arrest, Prell said. Martinez, who had been a suspect from the time of Powers’ death in 1979, told deputies while he was in jail in Montrose that he had new information about the case. New DNA tests connecting him to the crime scene eventually led to his arrest.
One way to get the necessary evidence is to bring the case before a grand jury. The jury has the power to subpoena witnesses, something law enforcement and prosecutors cannot do, and can vote to indict a suspect on criminal charges.
A district court grand jury took over the investigation into the disappearance of Shane Turner, 27, who disappeared May 21, 1997, after stepping outside his apartment at 540 Road 29 to speak with a man posing as a state parks ranger.
The man called Turner earlier that evening and said Turner’s truck had been in an accident and he needed to speak with him.
After going outside to talk with the ranger, his girlfriend told investigators he came back in to get a warmer shirt and never returned.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Pete Hautzinger, the prosecutor assigned to the grand jury, said the panel has met about nine times.
“I think it will take a number of additional meetings before they take any action,” Hautzinger said.
Colorado law prohibits those involved in a grand jury investigation, including witnesses, from commenting on what goes on inside the courtroom, Hautzinger said. The jury meets at night when the courthouse is locked to the general public and the courtroom windows are covered with paper to ensure privacy, he said.
The grand jury isn’t the only investigative body looking into unsolved cases. Detectives from both the sheriff’s department and the Grand Junction Police Department will continue to investigate new leads in a case until a suspect is arrested.
Grand Junction Police Detective Kevin Imbriaco hasn’t closed the missing person’s case of Sabrina Bebb-Jones, the former co-owner of the Hotel Melrose.
A young English woman staying at the hotel hadn’t seen the 31-year-old mother for two days and reported Bebb-Jones missing to police.
The day before the woman called the police, Bebb-Jones’ husband, Marcus Jones, said he was taking his 3-year-old son to Las Vegas to look for his wife. Bebb-Jones was raised in Las Vegas and had family living there.
Authorities found the boy alone in a hotel room in Las Vegas, and he was placed in the custody of child protection authorities. Imbriaco said Jones now has custody of his son.
Employees at a motel in Salina, Utah, said they saw Bebb-Jones, her husband and her son on Sept. 18, 1997, the same day Bebb-Jones was reported missing.
Imbriaco said he has also received reports from a man in Las Vegas who said he saw the couple together.
Imbriaco said investigators are treating the case as a homicide, even though they have not discovered her body.
“It is a missing persons case, but with the presumption that she’s dead,” Imbriaco said. “We’re working it like it’s a homicide in our jurisdiction.”
Right now, Imbriaco said the Grand Junction police are the only authorities investigating the case, even though Bebb-Jones was sighted in other jurisdictions. Imbriaco said authorities in Las Vegas denied their request to help with the case.
“If we don’t do it, no one would,” Imbriaco said.
Detectives remain in close contact with Bebb-Jones’ brother, but said they have not received many tips from a Web site the family created for the case.
Jones, however, has shown little interest in the investigation, Imbriaco said.
“He has yet to sit down with me and talk about when he last saw his wife,” Imbriaco said. “And he’s never called for an update on the investigation into her disappearance.”
Imbriaco called the behavior “extremely unusual,” saying most families call for regular updates and to keep tabs on investigators.
Since his wife’s disappearance, Imbriaco said Jones has sold the hotel, but he’s not sure if Jones has remained in Grand Junction.
Prell said detectives have investigated hundreds of leads in the 1996 murder of a Clifton woman and her 11-year-old daughter, sending investigators all over the country.
Janet Davis, 42, and her daughter Jennifer were found bludgeoned to death in their apartment at 3197 E Road. Kent Davis, Janet’s ex-husband and Jennifer’s father was charged with first-degree murder in the case, but the charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence.
Prell said the charges were dropped in such a way that they could be refiled if more evidence surfaced. Deputies investigating the case have worked with 15 other agencies, including the FBI’s crime lab and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, hoping to gather enough evidence for an arrest.
Prell said missing persons cases, such as the disappearance of Coty Vernon, 18, can be some of the trickiest cases.
Vernon disappeared the night of Feb. 18, 1998. She was last seen leaving Grand Junction at about 5 a.m., and her car was discovered later that day near DeÊBeque.
Her boyfriend, Jason Garner, who had left Grand Junction with Vernon, awoke on a dirt road about five miles northeast of DeÊBeque and reported her missing.
Garner told authorities he couldn’t remember what happened that night because he was high on methamphetamine, but he did ask prosecutors for immunity.
Other missing persons cases, such as Richard Merrill, whose car was found abandoned on Baxter Pass in April 1993, can be equally baffling, Prell said. Authorities have classified the disappearance as suspicious and Merrill was never found.
Investigators from Hayden will be combing the desert near Mack for clues to the disappearance of their former mayor, Richard Roberts, whose car was discovered a quarter mile from the Colorado border in Utah three weeks after he disappeared in February 1995.
Raimie Hill, a private investigator working on the case, said stormy weather prevented authorities from thoroughly searching the area when the car was found, and they believe Roberts’ body might still be in the area. She said they also hope to find the rifle Robert kept in his truck, but was missing when the truck was discovered.
Hill said many clues in the case point to foul play, including the fact that Roberts’ apartment was unlocked, his computer was turned on, and none of his personal items were missing. Investigators also found two blank birthday cards in his apartment for his two daughters, whose birthdays were in February.
Feb. 10, 2002
Similarities link mysteries
Blagg case echoes disappearance of woman in September 1997
By MIKE WIGGINS
The Daily Sentinel
Sabrina Bebb-Jones and Jennifer Blagg walked on different life paths to presumably meet the same mysterious end.
Bebb-Jones attended college in Las Vegas to learn to manage hotels. Blagg grew up in a small southern Oklahoma town and became a stay-at-home mom.
Bebb-Jones came to Grand Junction for recreational and economic reasons; Blagg came for her husband’s career opportu- nities and the couple’s spiritual pursuits.
The two women never met. But separate tragedies have brought them together to form eerily similar enigmas — puzzles that local law enforcement agencies, while quietly building solid cases, have to this date lacked the major piece needed to solve them.
“There are some similarities,” said Steve King of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department. He is one of several investigators working the Blagg case and was formerly with the Grand Junction Police Department, the agency handling the Bebb-Jones investigation.
Indeed, there are parallels between the cases.
Both women disappeared and have not been seen again.
Both are believed dead, the victims of some act in which authorities believe their husbands may have been involved.
Both of their husbands tried to commit suicide after the women vanished.tf-tebb-Jones, 31, was last seen in Grand Junction on Sept. 16, 1997, leaving the Hotel Melrose in a van with her 3-year-old son. She and husband, Marcus Bebb-Jones, had purchased the hotel on Colorado Avenue four years before.
A young English woman staying at the hotel reported Bebb-Jones missing Sept. 18, telling police that Marcus said his wife left Grand Junction after the couple argued Sept. 16 at Mesa Mall.
Marcus and the 3-year-old boy left Grand Junction on Sept. 17, telling the English woman they were going to look for Bebb-Jones in Las Vegas, where she was raised and had relatives.
The next day — reported missing — Marcus, the boy and a woman checked into a motel in Salina, Utah. Motel and restaurant workers identified the woman with Marcus as Sabrina Bebb-Jones.
Six hours after checking in at the Salina motel, Marcus and his son checked out and drove to Las Vegas.
“Our last information was she was seen in Salina,” said Grand Junction police Detective Kevin Imbriaco, the lead investigator in the Bebb-Jones case. “When he got to Las Vegas, she wasn’t with him.”
On Sept. 21, the child was found alone in a Las Vegas hotel room and was taken into custody by Nevada child protective services.
On Sept. 22, Marcus attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head, prompting Grand Junction police to go to Las Vegas and question him.
The Hotel Melrose remained closed for most of October while Marcus remained in Las Vegas trying to get his son back. Marcus returned to Grand Junction in November to resume running the hotel.
In December, he applied to be a conservator for Sabrina’s possessions, which included a van, the hotel and a house. He was granted conservatorship in May 1998.
Later that summer, Marcus sold the Hotel Melrose and moved back to his native England to be with his son and mother.
Police believe Sabrina is dead but have no idea where her body is.
The same holds true for 34-year-old Jennifer Blagg and her 6-year-old daughter, Abby, who vanished more than four years after Sabrina.
Husband and father Michael Blagg reported the two missing from the family’s upscale Redlands home Nov. 13 after returning home from work to find a large pool of Jennifer’s blood in the master bedroom and his wife and daughter gone.
The last time anyone other than Michael Blagg saw or heard from Jennifer was the night before her disappearance, when a neighbor called Jennifer about 8 p.m. to talk about meeting for lunch the next day.
Mesa County sheriff’s investigators searched the area around the Blagg home for weeks, bringing in bloodhounds to try to pick up a scent, mounting horses to probe tall brush and scouring the nearby Colorado River to look for any clues as to their whereabouts.
The Sheriff’s Department has received several anonymous tips since the beginning of the year that it claims have helped the investigation. Yet Jennifer and Abby remain missing. The case is classified as an endangered missing persons case, leaving open the slim possibility that one or both may still be alive.
In both cases, authorities strongly suspect the husband had something to do with their wives’ disappearances.
“We believe that Marcus is the suspect in that case,” Imbriaco said. “We don’t have anybody else involved as a suspect in that case.”
Publicly, the Sheriff’s Department has never applied the term “suspect” to Blagg. Privately, investigators have been eyeing Blagg since he reported Jennifer and Abby missing, and their suspicions have only grown in the last several days.
“He is someone we have been looking at very closely in connection with Jennifer’s and Abby’s disappearance,” Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Janet Prell acknowledged last week.
While Michael Blagg has been cooperative with authorities, Marcus Bebb-Jones has not.
He has repeatedly rebuffed detectives’ efforts to talk to him about his missing wife. Police have not tried to contact Marcus in England because he never cooperated with them while he was here.
“He’s ignored all attempts to make a statement about this to me, so my assumption is he’s continuing to do that,” Imbriaco said.
Blagg, on the other hand, voluntarily met with sheriff’s deputies on numerous occasions, spending nearly 30 hours with them for formal interviews, lunch and coffee. He called regularly to see if there were any new developments in the case. He publicly commended the Sheriff’s Department for its investigation, saying he was confident it was doing everything it could to find Jennifer and Abby. He spoke openly with local and national media and said he was holding out hope that Jennifer and Abby would return home.
Behind the scenes, though, the relationship between Blagg and investigators grew acrimonious. Blagg said he was “frustrated and disappointed” that the Sheriff’s Department had not eliminated him as a suspect. Investigators turned him down when he asked if they could publicly declare that they had ruled him out as a suspect. Heated confrontations ensued.
Still, the investigation into Jennifer’s and Abby’s disappearance proceeded quietly, with authorities not outwardly pointing any fingers at Blagg.
That changed when investigators executed a search warrant last Monday at his new town home and found two tables, a desk and a paper shredder he reportedly stole from his workplace.
Investigators had been tailing Blagg since Jennifer and Abby disappeared, following him to and from work and using a surveillance camera to monitor activities outside his home.
In mid-January, deputies observed Blagg unloading two tables into his house and garage. Employees at Ametek-Dixson, a manufacturing company Blagg works at as an operations director, told authorities they saw Blagg load a desk into a truck and found the other items missing.
Investigators asked Blagg to come to the Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, where he voluntarily underwent 10 hours of questioning about the stolen items, as well as about his missing wife and daughter. He admitted stealing the furniture, as well as some plastic bins, but left Tuesday night without being arrested.
The next morning, when Blagg knew deputies would be coming to his house to continue their investigation, he didn’t answer the door or phone calls.
Instead, he got into a bathtub and slit his wrists. Investigators who obtained a key from the property manager found him with “life-threatening” injuries and had him rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital.
Blagg was hospitalized at the end of the week on a psychiatric hold. His condition was upgraded from critical to serious.
Like the Blagg case, the investigation into the whereabouts of Sabrina remains open, though police have received no new leads for about a year on the Bebb-Jones case.
The largest hurdle for authorities to clear is determining what jurisdiction would prosecute the case, because authorities don’t know where Sabrina died.
“It’s certainly frustrating,” Imbriaco said. “It’s a good case. We obviously don’t have Sabrina’s body, and without that, jurisdiction is still up in the air as to who would prosecute this case.”
Imbriaco has asked the states of Utah, Nevada and Arizona for investigative help. Each has turned him down.
Finally, about a year ago, he turned the case over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the hopes federal prosecutors would call a grand jury that would issue an indictment.
Imbriaco said he has discussed the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wallace in Grand Junction. Wallace, however, has shown no interest in pursuing an invest
won a poker tourney today, comp started with 4 players, as it was a small venue (the cell), made it to the last 2 after a big raise or 4cigarettes against a bar of soap and a jazz mag, eventually my J4 off-suit beat larry’s KQ suited. in the final, it went all the way until my 10-2 off suit beat a pair of 6’s, leaving me to be the cell champion of that hour, winning several bars of soap, 13 cigarettes, 2 jazz rags and a night with young billy-bob any night before the end of march.
with DTD closing soon, i could have just struck lucky with the most beatable poker game in town.
Funny but bad taste sir, how can 10-2 off beat a pair of 6’s every time!?!
Seriously though a blokes life (and his family) hangs in the balance and a poor woman was murdered.
Well 6 of the “Hang him” brigade are from the same IP, also another comment which I won’t publicise but can I suggest that you need to sort yourself out. The “anonymous” comments here, emails to me and making a blog which impersonates Marcus borders on obsessive. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if the other two anons are the same person too as they are all London based going through the Sheffield exchange. Yes even Chris Hansen Dateline NBC.
Why are you anonymous, you have an opinion voice it by all means, but don’t hide behind a keyboard with anonymity. If you have any information that you believe is incriminating air it here or contact the Sheriff.
Please don’t think I have some loyalty towards Marcus (in fact if he is guilty then maybe he should face the death penalty at minimum life imprisonment). I just find it hard to believe and somethings don’t add up to me. Luckily we live in a country where we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. I am not sure how the American judicial system works.
It seems however that you have already put him on trial and found him guilty.
In case you didn’t know, my son is innocent.
Not innocent till proven guilty, he is INNOCENT. Somebody else killed Sabrina.
I SAY INNOCENT. INNOCENT.INNOCENT
MGE for liverpool croxteth crew. you say you know who Marcus is, what he looks like. and where he lives. IS THAT SOME KIND OF THREAT???????????????
GOOD LUCK MARCUS WE ARE ALL BEHIND YOU
No, it wasn’t a threat, at least not from me. There are plenty people in the UK and the USA, both inside and outside of prison who won’t tolerate people who hurt women or children.
BUT HE HASENT HURT ANY WOMAN OR CHILDREN
Good luck to Marcus on Monday.
Boy is he going to need it.
http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/8093900.Home_Secretary_to_decide_Kidderminster_gambler_s_extradition_fate/
Home Secretary to decide Kidderminster gambler’s extradition fate
12:19pm Monday 12th April 2010
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A KIDDERMINSTER poker champion accused of murdering his wife and spending her money on a Vegas blow-out was told today that it would not be “inhuman” if he were to die behind bars for the crime.
Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46, is said to have killed his wife, Sabrina, and then hidden her corpse in a Colorado National Park in 1997 before going on a gambling spree with her credit cards.
The former hotelier allegedly racked up thousands of pounds of debts in just a few days before trying to kill himself by putting a gun in his mouth and firing but the suicide attempt failed.
Bebb-Jones was arrested for his wife’s murder after police found traces of Sabrina’s blood in his van but the case went cold because a body was never found.
But the case was reopened in 2004, when a human skull was found and identified as Sabrina.
The US Government want Bebb-Jones tried in the States but his defence lawyer argued that it would be “inhuman” to extradite him. If convicted in Colorado, Bebb-Jones would be incarcerated for life and die behind bars.
The US State has no parole board and has never reduced a life sentence.
District Judge Howard Riddle insisted today that life without parole is not “obviously grossly disproportionate” for the alleged crime.
It is now up to the Home Secretary to decide whether or not Bebb-Jones will be tried for murder in America.
District Judge Riddle said: “The contested issue is that extradition to the US in these circumstances would not be compatible with his human rights.
“Bebb-Jones argues that there remains a real risk that he will be sentenced to the death penalty but if he is found guilty of first degree murder then he will be sentenced to life with no parole.
“The defence argues that a whole life sentence which, in real terms, is irreducible, violates a prisoner’s rights. It subjects him to inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment.”
According to a legal expert in Colorado called upon by the defence, “the prospect of that individual leaving this earth in prison uniform is absolute”.
Judge Riddle added: “This is an admirably clear expression of the de facto position. There is a legal possibility of pardon or communication.
“However, unless the practice in Colorado changes in the future, the chances that this defendant would be released at any stage before his death are vanishingly small.
“I find it impossible to determine whether Mr Bebb-Jones faces an irreducible sentence. As things stand he does. Things may change.
“Ultimately, it is probably a matter of judgement whether a sentence of life without parole is clearly, obviously or grossly disproportionate for this crime.
“In this country, it is unlikely that such a sentence would be imposed. In our judicial system such a sentence would not be thought to be appropriate.
“I accept the possibility that some people would consider such a sentence to be grossly disproportionate. However, it is not obviously or clearly grossly disproportionate.
“On these facts, the prospect of a whole life term falls short of inhuman and degrading treatment.
“As I am satisfied that extradition is compatible with the defendant’s rights, I must send this case to the Secretary of State for a decision whether he is to be extradited.”
Ben Cooper, defending, earlier told the court: “Mass murderers and mass bombers are given exactly the same punishment as a single murder. It does really create a mockery of justice.”
Sabrina Bebb-Jones, 31, was reported missing in 1997 by employees of a hotel owned by the couple in the town of Grand Junction, Colorado.
After the failed suicide and when police found Sabrina’s blood in his van, Bebb-Jones then fled to Britain, with his son, to embark on a high-profile poker career but he has since lost all his winnings and is living on benefits.
Bebb-Jones was arrested after returning from a two-and-a-half-month job hunt in China. He had been due to take up a post as a financial consultant, it was said.
Bebb-Jones was arrested on November 12 in his home in Kidderminster, where he lives with his son and his mother.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8552166.stm
Page last updated at 12:57 GMT, Monday, 12 April 2010 13:57 UK
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Marcus Bebb-Jones: from poker fame to murder charge
By Paula Dear
BBC News
Marcus and Sabrina Bebb-Jones, Melrose Hotel, Grand Junction, in 1996. Pic: Christopher Tomlinson, Daily Sentinel
Briton Marcus Bebb-Jones and his wife Sabrina owned a hotel in Colorado
More than 12 years after the disappearance of his American wife, poker champion Marcus Bebb-Jones is a step closer to being extradited from the UK to face trial in the US for her murder.
The case has seen a number of bizarre twists that have yet to be explained.
These include Mr Bebb-Jones going on a Las Vegas “playboy weekend”, partially funded by his wife’s credit cards, then shooting himself in the head in a failed suicide attempt – all in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance.
In recent years he has had more attention for his successes on the online and casino poker circuit, winning thousands of pounds in prize money.
We are looking forward to sitting down and talking to him [Mr Bebb-Jones]
Commander Bill Middleton, Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado
The large amount of cash he was thought to have accrued was one reason given for his being held in custody since his arrest. However, his barrister argued the money could not be used to aid his escape because it was “either spent or lost” and he was living on benefits.
Extradition to the US is a fate the Briton has been challenging since he was arrested at his home in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, last November.
Following a hearing in London on Monday district judge Howard Riddle will now send the case to the Home Secretary. If handed over and then convicted in the US, Mr Bebb-Jones would face a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The judge rejected his lawyer’s argument that such a sentence would be “grossly disproportionate” and would breach his human rights.
Mr Bebb-Jones’s barrister Ben Cooper – who is also representing British computer hacker Gary McKinnon in his US extradition case – will now try to persuade the Secretary of State to let his client stay in the UK, and he will have the right to appeal against the eventual decision if necessary.
Right to remain silent
But if that process fails then, before long, Mr Bebb-Jones could be saying goodbye to his mother and 16-year-old son and boarding a flight with US marshals, who will travel to the UK to escort him back across the Atlantic.
Map of Colorado
He would then be collected by detectives and taken to the county jail in Glenwood Springs, Colorado – the state in which Mr Bebb-Jones’ wife Sabrina’s skull was found, on a mountain pass, nearly six years ago.
If and when he arrives there, he will find at least two people who are “looking forward” to seeing him.
Commander Bill Middleton and Detective Eric Ashworth, of Garfield County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado, have been working on the case since that grisly find, and they are keen to see it brought to a conclusion.
“We have worked on this since September 2004, and the investigation has taken us to London, Dublin and Edinburgh to interview people.
“Now we are looking forward to sitting down and talking to him,” Commander Middleton told BBC News.
However, Mr Bebb-Jones may decide to exercise his right to remain silent, he added.
Car cleaned
Mr Bebb-Jones had been living in Colorado with his wife, Sabrina, 31, and their son, Daniel, who was three when his mother vanished.
The couple owned the Hotel Melrose, in Grand Junction, and it was an employee who reported Sabrina missing on 18 September 1997, according to details of the court documents reported in local newspaper the Daily Sentinel.
Mr Bebb-Jones is said by prosecutors to have put forward a number of different stories as to what exactly happened and where, but in each he claimed his wife had walked out on him after an argument while they were out on a day trip.
Playing cards
Mr Bebb-Jones allegedly used his wife’s credit cards on a “playboy” weekend
More than one witness said the pair had gone on an outing to Dinosaur National Monument in north-west Colorado, and Mr Bebb-Jones is said to have told one friend of Sabrina’s they had had a fight while there.
One employee said Mr Bebb-Jones had told her not to the call the police to report his wife missing, according to the report.
The employee also told police Mr Bebb-Jones had taken his minivan to the car wash to have the inside and outside cleaned, before taking his son to Las Vegas on 17 September. He told colleagues he was going to look for his wife, whose family live in the city.
According to US prosecutors, police later found Sabrina’s blood inside the van.
Four days later Daniel was found alone in a Las Vegas hotel room and taken into state care. The next day a maid found Mr Bebb-Jones in another hotel room, with a “self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head”.
Detectives said nearly $5,700 (£3,825) had been charged to credit cards – some of which were Sabrina’s – in Las Vegas and a further $7,000 (£4,697) was refused. The spree is said to have included cash advances at casinos, hotel rooms and car rental.
No parole
Mr Bebb-Jones refused to talk to the US police, and moved back to the UK with his son in 1998, after selling the hotel.
For the next six years the case lay dormant, until a rancher found a human skull – later identified as Sabrina’s – near Douglas Pass, which is between Dinosaur National Monument and Grand Junction.
The court document states that in the vicinity of the skull detectives found purple thistle flowers, which had also been discovered on the undercarriage of the couple’s van in 1997.
Some 12 years after Sabrina’s disappearance, a warrant was issued for Marcus Bebb-Jones in the US for murder in the first degree, concealing death and domestic violence.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police extradition unit acted on behalf of the US authorities, and Mr Bebb-Jones has been in custody awaiting the outcome of the extradition case.
On charges so serious, if found guilty the death penalty could be issued in the US.
But in accordance with the US-UK extradition treaty assurances have already been given that the sentence will not be used in this case.
However if Mr Bebb-Jones were to be found guilty following a trial he still faces staying in prison until his death.
As he awaits the final outcome of case from across the Atlantic, Commander Middleton says there is still much to explain.
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20100417/VALLEYNEWS/100419907/1083&ParentProfile=1074
Extradition expected in Bebb-Jones murder case
DA’s return could be delayed by Iceland volcano eruption ash
John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Ninth Judicial District Attorney Martin Beeson is confident that accused murder suspect Marcus Bebb-Jones will be extradited to Garfield County for trial. However, his day in court may still be up to a year away.
A London district court judge approved the extradition of Bebb-Jones to the United States at a hearing on Monday, April 12. However, the actual extradition order will have to come from the Home Secretary. Beeson was pleased by the decision.
“The magistrate’s decision is very encouraging, although it may simply be the end of the first phase of this process,” Beeson wrote in an e-mail statement to the Post Independent on Friday.
If Bebb-Jones appeals the decision, the case would have to go to a higher court for ruling before going to the Home Secretary for approval. Bebb-Jones could also appeal the Home Secretary’s decision as well, which could further delay the process between nine and 12 months, according to Beeson.
“Although somewhat disheartening, the process is moving forward and we are making significant progress,” Beeson said.
Beeson and Deputy DA Jeff Cheney traveled to London last week to be present at the extradition hearing.
Bebb-Jones, 46, of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, is accused of murdering his American wife Sabrina in 1997 and dumping her body in Western Garfield County, northwest of Grand Junction. Bebb-Jones and his wife owned the Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction. Sabrina was reported missing in September 1997.
Reports state that Bebb-Jones went on a lavish gambling trip to Las Vegas immediately after Sabrina went missing. He ultimately sold the hotel and moved back to England, with the couple’s then 4-year-old son, to live with his mother.
Bebb-Jones was arrested in November 2009 in England on charges of first-degree murder. Sabrina’s remains were discovered by a rancher near Douglas Pass in 2004. If the extradition goes through, Bebb-Jones faces a trial in Garfield County District Court. If convicted of first-degree murder he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Beeson will prosecute the case and is also heading up the extradition fight against Bebb-Jones. He traveled to London, along with Cheney and two officers from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, specifically for the extradition hearing. Being the prosecutor on the case, it was important to be present for the extradition hearing, Beeson said.
“I made the determination that it would be more cost effective for Mr. Cheney and I to come here and meet with and accomplish initial witness preparation, than it would to try to bring them individually to Colorado,” Beeson said. “Given the progress that we’ve made in that regard, I believe it was a good decision.”
Beeson said also that he had spoken with the Crown Prosecutor, who had expressed appreciation for his input regarding Colorado law as it relates to this case. Beeson explained other purposes for the trip was to interview four potential witnesses regarding testimony in the case. Two of the witnesses Beeson referred to as “critical and indispensable to the prosecution of this case.”
Hopes of a fifth witness interview were unsuccessful, Beeson said.
Garfield County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Phil Strouse said that Commander Bill Middleton and Detective Eric Ashworth went along on the trip to also conduct interviews with witnesses, and to clarify information with their British counterparts.
According to a BBC News article, Middleton told BBC News that he and Ashworth have been working on the case since Sabrina’s skull was discovered in September 2004, and the investigation has taken them to the cities of London and Edinburgh and also to Dublin, Ireland, to interview potential witnesses.
According to 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office administrator Bill Brunworth, Beeson and Cheney departed for England on April 10, along with Middleton and Ashworth. The group was scheduled to return to the United States today.
However, with all flights in the UK delayed for the past two days from heavy winds spreading volcanic ash from an eruption in Iceland, the group could be there slightly longer than expected. The BBC News reported Friday that flight restrictions at all of London’s airports would remain in place until at least 1 p.m. (BST) Saturday afternoon.
“My guess is that there will be delays,” said Brunworth.
Beeson said that he hopes to return by Monday at the latest.
“It is my earnest hope that this situation with the volcanic ash will dissipate quickly, so that we can return home,” he said.
Travel arrangements were made by and paid for by the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office. However, the DA’s office will reimburse the Sheriff’s Office for its respective costs and expenses, according to Beeson.
Even though the couple were residents of Mesa County and the Grand Junction Police initiated the missing person investigation when Sabrina was first reported missing, according to Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario, Garfield County is responsible for prosecuting the case, and the associated costs.
“The presumption is that she was murdered in Garfield County because that is where the remains were found,” Vallario said.
Vallario said that the total expense for the trip would not be known until the group returned and expenses could be tabulated.
Beeson noted that the expense is warranted.
“Not only is this a murder case, it is one in which the family of the victim has been waiting 13 years for their day in court,” Beeson said, adding, “The combined efforts of the Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the District Attorney have given them hope — a hope that they never had before.”
jgardner@postindependent.com
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20100427/VALLEYNEWS/100429883/1083&ParentProfile=1074
Back after five days in London
‘
District attorney, detectives finally able to return after conducting interviews with witnesses in murder case
John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Two prosecutors and two Garfield County Sheriff’s Office detectives returned home late last week after being stranded in London for five days.
Ninth Judicial District Attorney Martin Beeson, Deputy District Attorney Jeff Cheney, commander Bill Middleton and detective Eric Ashworth were among thousands of travelers stranded in London, as airports across Europe were closed due to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland. Strong winds carried volcanic ash and dust particles over much of Europe, closing most major airports for close to six days.
“We got a flight out Friday afternoon,” Beeson said. “We were feverishly trying to find a way to get out.”
Beeson and Cheney appeared in a Garfield County courtroom Monday for a brief status conference in the Heath Johnston murder trial. That case was continued to later this week.
Beeson previously stated that he and Cheney were initially scheduled to depart London on April 17, but the airport closures pushed back their return flight to Sunday, April 25. A stroke of luck granted the two earlier flights and they were able to return home, on a nine-hour flight that took them through Los Angeles, on Friday, April 23.
It was unclear as to when the two Sheriff’s Office detectives returned. Inquiries into their travel arrangements were not returned Monday. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Phil Strouse confirmed last week that the two detectives were able to secure flights for Sunday, April 25.
“It’s not the trip that we had planned,” Beeson said Monday, but he called it a successful trip despite the travel delays.
According to Beeson, he and Cheney traveled to London to conduct interviews with five witnesses and to be present at the extradition hearing in the case of accused murder suspect Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46.
Beeson said that he and Cheney were able to interview four of the five potential witnesses, two of which Beeson said were “critical” to the prosecution of the case.
Bebb-Jones is accused of murdering his wife, Sabrina, and dumping her body near Douglas Pass in rural western Garfield County, north of Grand Junction. The couple owned the Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction before Sabrina’s disappearance in 1997. Her skull was found by a rancher in 2004.
A London district court judge approved the extradition of Bebb-Jones to the United States. However, the actual extradition order will have to come from the Home Secretary. Extradition could take more than a year if Bebb-Jones decides to appeal the decision.
“It may take some time,” Beeson said. “[Or] we may be fortunate and he may decide to come over here and get it over with. That remains to be seen.
“I don’t see any reason that he wouldn’t use his appellate rights,” Beeson said, expecting Bebb-Jones to challenge the extradition.
Beeson is prosecuting the case and heading the extradition case against Bebb-Jones and made the decision to travel to London for the hearing and to prepare witnesses for the upcoming trial. He said that the decision was made to go to London because it is more cost effective than flying each of the witnesses here, individually, for interviews.
“We are going to have to fly them here for the trial anyway,” Beeson said. “Trying to get them over here before trial, to sit down with them and prep them for trial and to evaluate them as witnesses, on a one-at-a-time basis does not seem to me to be the most effective or efficient use of resources we have. And part of those resources are funding.”
When asked why the interviews had to be conducted in person and could not be done by phone or other means of communication, Beeson responded by saying, “Any trial lawyer, worth their salt, wants to look in the eyes and see the body language of the witness, and the opponents’ witnesses, to see what kind of witness they are going to be at trial.”
While this was the first trip to London for the DA’s Office, this is the third trip to the UK for Middleton and Ashworth, according to Ashworth’s written arrest affidavit.
According to the arrest affidavit used to secure an arrest warrant for Bebb-Jones, Ashworth and Middleton also traveled to Scotland in December 2007, and to Ireland and England in April 2008, to interview a former co-worker of Bebb-Jones and two former employees of the hotel in which Bebb-Jones and his wife owned during the time of Sabrina’s disappearance.
The total cost for the trips has yet to be revealed, but Beeson said that since Sabrina’s remains were found in Garfield County, the costs incurred will have to be paid for by the 9th Judicial District.
“Regardless of where the case is prosecuted, it has to be prosecuted by a taxpayer funded DA’s office,” Beeson said. “This is not a traffic, or DUI case, and I’m not treating it like a traffic case. I’m going to treat it with the seriousness that it has, and I’m going to prosecute it the way a homicide case should be prosecuted.”
jgardner@postindependent.com
Well, it looks like Marcus has been pretty much pwned!
http://www.nbc11news.com/regionalnew…/96100714.html
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (KKCO) – The suspect in a more than decade old murder in Garfield County could be headed back to Colorado.
Marcus Bebb–Jones fled to his native England after authorities say he killed his wife Sabrina in 1997.
Thursday, the UK’s Secretary of State ordered his extradition to the U.S.
Bebb-Jones has until June 23 to file a final appeal with British authorities to fight the extradition.
Sabrina’s skull was found near Douglas Pass in 2004. The couple owned the Melrose Hotel in Grand Junction.
http://www.postindependent.com/ARTIC…0619986/-1/RSS
Grand Junction-area murder suspect’s extradition OK’d
Friday, June 11, 2010
Staff Report
Post Independent
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
The United Kingdom’s Secretary of State ordered the extradition of Marcus Bebb-Jones back to the United States to stand trial, where he is charged with the murder of his wife, Sabrina Bebb-Jones.
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office reported that Bebb-Jones has until June 23 to file a final appeal with England’s High Court in the extradition case. The extradition must still be approved by England’s Home Secretary. Bebb-Jones could also appeal the Home Secretary’s decision, which could continue to delay the process for months.
Bebb-Jones, 46, of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, is accused of murdering his American wife Sabrina in 1997 and dumping her body in Western Garfield County, northwest of Grand Junction. Bebb-Jones and his wife owned the Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction. Sabrina was reported missing in September 1997.
Bebb-Jones was arrested in November 2009 in England on first-degree murder charges. If extradition is granted, Bebb-Jones faces a trial in Garfield County District Court. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/artic…ion_of_suspec/
Brits OK extradition of suspect in murder
Marcus Bebb-Jones
By Mike Wiggins
Friday, June 11, 2010
The United Kingdom secretary of state on Thursday ordered the extradition of a British man accused of killing his wife in western Colorado in 1997, although the suspect can still appeal his transfer to the U.S. to face trial.
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Department announced in a news release that Home Secretary Jack Straw ordered Marcus Bebb-Jones to be extradited back to Colorado. Sheriff’s officials indicated the 46-year-old man has until June 23 to lodge a final appeal with the High Court in England.
Bebb-Jones and his court-appointed attorney have fought extradition to this point, claiming a sentence of life without parole would be “grossly disproportionate” and represent a human rights violation, the British Broadcasting Corp. has reported.
Bebb-Jones is suspected of killing his wife, Sabrina, in September 1997. At the time, the couple owned the Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction. A rancher found Sabrina’s skull on Douglas Pass in 2004.
Court records indicate Bebb-Jones went to Las Vegas in the days after his wife disappeared and charged thousands of dollars to credit cards in his wife’s name. He also survived a suicide attempt inside a Las Vegas hotel room.
Bebb-Jones eventually moved back to his native England and had won hundreds of thousands of dollars as a professional poker player before being arrested in November.
http://www.garcosheriff.com/press_release.html
June 10, 2010
Marcus Bebb-Jones One Step Closer To Extradition
GARFIELD COUNTY – Today the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State ordered the extradition of Marcus Bebb-Jones back to the United States to stand trial for the alleged murder of his wife, Sabrina, in 1997.
Her skull was found by a rancher near Douglas Pass in 2004.
According to British authorities, Mr. Bebb-Jones has until June 23, 2010, to lodge a final appeal with that country’s High Court.
http://www.raketherake.com/rakeback-news/2010/07/26/uk-poker-player-fighting-to-get-away-with-murder/
UK POKER PLAYER FIGHTING TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
July 26th, 2010
Another day and another schmuck trying to sully the good name of poker: this time it’s Marcus Bebb-Jones, a 46 year-old UK poker player who has been accused of murdering his American wife, Sabrina in 1997, interring her body in the soils of a national park near Douglas Pass in Colorado and then treating himself to a weekend in Las Vegas. The poker enthusiast subsequently moved back to the UK only to be arrested in a police raid of his home last year.
There’s nothing funny about what happened here; it was a case of cold-blooded murder seemingly carried out by Mr. Bebb-Jones. But it is what he and his defense lawyers have subsequently claimed that is a complete farce!
Basically, he is fighting tooth and claw to avoid extradition to the United States, where they would give him the electric chair for his transgressions. While the District Judge presiding over the case has assured Mr. Bebb-Jones that the Secretary of State would not give him the boot if it meant the death sentence, the alternative is a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. And everybody knows what happens to idiots that kill their own wives in prison: “Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size?”
Feeling the heat of divine justice under his collar, Mr. Bebb-Jone’s barrister, Mr. Cooper bleated that the proposed punishment was “grossly disproportionate” and would breach his client’s human rights: grossly disproportionate to what, Mr. Cooper? To his crime? To the fact that your client murdered his wife, buried her in the wilderness and then rewarded himself with a weekend of poker in Las Vegas? Shame, shame, shame! How the integrity of the great American pastime has been soiled by this man and for that alone, he deserves the full wrath of the law. The case is ongoing and the outcome for the accused is greatly anticipated. Should he be found to be innocent; then I will eat my words, letter by letter.