EL PASO COUNTY — An affidavit obtained by News5 alleges that 21-year-old Carlos Ulises Diaz admitted to killing four men in Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and El Paso County, and claimed two of the victims had tried to sexually assault him.
All four homicides took place in late April of 2022.
The investigation began with the death of 22-year-old Anthony Moore, whose body was found on April 21 in the 20000 Block of Longhorn Point in unincorporated El Paso County. An autopsy revealed that Moore had been shot multiple times. Detectives learned that Moore had several connections to Pueblo County and that some of his social media accounts showed he was selling narcotics.
Four days later, El Paso County investigators learned about two other deaths that happened in Pueblo with similarities to Moore's death. They learned that the two other victims had also been shot with the same type of gun as Moore.
The homicides happened in the early hours of April 25. At around 2:30 a.m. Pueblo Police found 27-year-old Manuel Zegarelli shot to death at 10th Street and North Hudson Avenue. Witnesses say they heard about 10 gunshots and had seen a newer, dark-colored sedan in the area. About two hours later, Pueblo Police found the body of Vehto Finnell-Vigil near the 100 block of East 24th
Detectives later learned about a vehicle that was believed to be connected to a homicide in Colorado Springs as well as the homicides in Pueblo. They found that the vehicle was registered to a woman named Brittanie Sutherland and that an unknown man had been shot in her Chevy Malibu while at a car wash near Airport Road and Murray Road in Colorado Springs. Video surveillance showed two men arriving at the carwash and where they then clean the car for an extending time. One man then shoots the other man and fled on foot. Eyewitnesses identified Diaz as the shooter and said the two men were arguing over a set of keys.
Detectives learned from a friend of Moore that Diaz had stolen Brittanie Sutherland's car.
On Monday, May 2, detectives interviewed Ms. Sutherland who said that Mr. Moore and Mr. Zegarelli had stolen a large amount of money from Mr. Diaz, and an unknown man who were selling those drugs in the area. Ms. Sutherland said one of the unknown men was the person found dead in her vehicle in Colorado Springs.
After several interviews and looking at Facebook chats, detectives learned that Diaz believed that Moore had tried to set him up with law enforcement. In the chat, Diaz sends a picture of the type of gun used in the homicides.
Detectives also talked to another witness who told them that she knew Diaz and that he had been bragging about killing. She said that Diaz had wanted to kill Zegarelli because he stole his car which contained drugs and resulted in a loss of sales for Diaz. She also said Diaz had shown her pictures of a bloody hotel room, she went on to say that the pictures frightened her so she looked away.
In another Facebook chat that happened on April 26, the day after the three homicides Diaz says "I have to get out of here yesterday I killed 3 guys the police are looking for me and I lost my car."
Arrest warrants were obtained for Diaz and on May 19, 2022, Diaz was taken into custody without incident in Pueblo by detectives assigned to the Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force.
During questioning, Diaz admitted to shooting the unidentified man at the car wash, but said that he had to do it because the man wanted to sexually assault him. Diaz then said Mr. Moore set him up during a drug deal and had stolen from him, and he said Zegarelli had also stolen from him.
Diaz then said that he killed Finnell-Vigil and Zegarelli at the direction of the man who he shot at the car wash. Later that night, the unidentified male forced him to drive to Colorado Springs where Diaz killed him after he tried to sexually assault him (Diaz.)
Diaz then said he had shot Moore because Moore had also sexually assaulted him.
Diaz is currently being held at the El Paso County Jail on four counts of First Degree Murder.
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