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Sheriff’s office takes over Manitou Springs homicide investigation

Posted at 11:52 AM, May 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-10 13:52:07-04
Freddie Crespo (left) and John Swinehart (right)

MANITOU SPRINGS – The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office announced that it is assuming the investigation into a homicide early Thursday morning in Manitou Springs.

Manitou Springs police arrested 33-year-old Freddie Joseph Crespo and 25-year-old John Robert Swinehart in connection to the crime after they were called to the scene. Both men are suspected of first-degree murder.

El Paso County spokesperson Natalie Sosa said the sheriff’s office assumed the investigation at the request of the Manitou Springs Police Department.

It all started just after midnight Thursday morning when police responded to an apartment at 601 Manitou Ave., near the intersection of Manitou Avenue and Deer Path Avenue.

That’s where they found an unresponsive male victim in a kiddie pool full of water. The victim died around 3 p.m Thursday. The El Paso County Coroner’s Office has not yet released the victim’s name.

Manitou police said this is the first homicide case in city limits since July 2013.

Anyone with information should call the El Paso County Dispatch Center at 719-390-5555.