Bessey linked to Saguache murder

Daniel Bessey

Courier staff writer

ALAMOSA — A man accused of murdering a Monte Vista couple has emerged as a person of interest in an ongoing investigation into an unsolved homicide.

Saguache County Sheriff Mike Norris said Wednesday that his office is aware of a relationship that 41-year-old Daniel Bessey had with homicide victim Brenda Kay Shepard.

The 45-year-old Saguache woman’s badly charred remains were recovered from a burning barrel on Sept. 20, 2008, after a caller reported the discovery of skeletal human remains on a remote stretch of Saguache County Road 41 G.

“Obviously, it’s been several years, but obviously, any time anything new comes up, we take a look at it,” Norris said during a brief Jan. 9 phone interview.

Authorities arrested Bessey on Jan. 5 in Oklahoma and charged him in connection with the Feb. 12, 2012 shooting deaths of John Salazar and Sarah Beasley. Bessey is currently being held on a Rio Grande County warrant for first-degree murder, first- and second-degree burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, an act of domestic violence and three counts of child abuse.

Bessey, who was previously in a relationship with the 29-year-old Beasley, was a resident of Saguache at the time of the double homicide. He later moved to Thomas, Okla., where he was arrested last weekend following a multi-agency investigation.

As of press time, no court date had been set on the Rio Grande County charges.