Published/Last Modified on Thursday, November 16, 2006 2:39 PM MST
Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press News Editor
MONTROSE - A Florida couple is mourning the loss of their free-spirited son, whose body was found here last week. The Montrose County Sheriff's Office and the coroner say Steven N. Kublin was murdered, then dumped and burned here Nov. 9. A cyclist found Kublin's body while traveling along a trail located in adobe-hill terrain off of Landfill Road.
The cause of death has not been made public, but the matter is being treated as a homicide. Authorities are asking the public's help in catching whoever may have been responsible and have set up a hotline for tips.
Kublin, 50, was identified through fingerprints, Montrose County Undersheriff Dick Deines said late Wednesday afternoon. Earlier Wednesday, Montrose County Coroner Mark Young reached Kublin's parents in Florida and notified them of his untimely death.
The victim had last spoken with his parents a few weeks ago, Young said Wednesday. '(They) described him as a free-spirited Rainbow-type person,' he said, 'His mother was obviously very upset. It (personal information) makes him a person with a soul, not just a body. He had his life taken away by someone with no respect for life.'
Young said the family reported Kublin, originally from Andover, Mass., was frequently on the move and had traveled extensively, working at various locations. Kublin had reportedly been through Montrose this summer as well; investigators were trying to determine whether he had a Montrose address or permanent residence.
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By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press Senior Writer
Published/Last Modified on Friday, February 15, 2008 10:26 PM MST
MONTROSE - The family of murder victim Steven Kublin is hopeful the state can increase resources for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. 'I think it is outrageous that 15 months have passed without getting that very important information,' Kublin's mother, Estelle said of evidence collected in Kublin's 2006 slaying.
Ron Kublin said he understood the CBI's laboratories had staffing and caseload issues, but he also believed turnaround time on evidence collected in his brother's 2006 slaying was 'unacceptable'. He's written Gov. Bill Ritter's office n hopes of directing more resources toward the state's crime labs. Steven Kublin, 50, was found near the Montrose County Landfill in November 2006.
His body had been burned and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Montrose County Sheriff's Office investigators were able to ID him through fingerprint evidence and learned he was last seen hitchhiking near Delta a few days before his body was found.
They traced his work history to a ranch in Paonia and learned Kublin might have been carrying a green army-style duffel bag, bedecked with colorful patches and tied with a piece of rope.
But the trail went cold and now investigators and the Kublin family are looking to laboratory analysis of evidence for a possible break in the case.
'I just felt that without knowing the reason, the case had stalled in
the lab,' Ron Kublin, who lives out of state, said.
...
'There are people who know who did this, for sure,' Ron Kublin said. 'This is something that more than one person had to be involved in. I would be surprised if there aren't 120 people out there that know what happened.
'The evidence sitting in the crime lab could be all that they need. At this point, anything that could move the investigation forward (is needed). Somebody is out there that knows.'
CBI public information officer Lance Clem said the average turnaround time for evidence is 140 days, but this is affected by ever-increasing volume at labs statewide, because law enforcement agencies have been submitting evidence for analysis in many types of cases, including routine ones.
Clem said backlog in the lab was delaying some of the Kublin results, but most of the evidence has been returned to the MCSO.
'It's all a function of backlog. It's a tidal wave of evidence that's just difficult for us to handle at this point.'
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Telluride, Colo. -
As far as many Ridgway residents were concerned, Jeremy Hodges is the man who wasn’t there. The marshal never ran into him. A local bartender didn’t know him. A contractor hadn’t even heard the name.
It wasn’t until Hodges, 27, was arrested last week in connection with the brutal murder of a man in Montrose that his name and mug shot were published and many people learned Hodges was a Ridgway resident.
“He was flying underneath our radar,” said town Marshal D.J. Scott. “I didn’t know he was here until I read about it in the newspaper.”
The newspaper said that, in November 2006, a bicyclist stumbled on the body of Steve Kublin, 50, laying in a ditch, burned and apparently murdered. The case seemed to go cold for a year and a half. Then, last week, Montrose Sheriff Rick Dunlap called a press conference and said that an informant pointed a finger at Hodges. He’s being held in Montrose held without bond.
The case file has been sealed by a judge, and a call to Dunlap was not returned. Formal charges will be filed June 12.
Priscilla Peters hopes the cops have got the wrong man. She knew Hodges and liked him. And she’s “shocked” that police are alleging the man she knew as a “great guy” and a quiet and conscientious friend could have been involved in a murder.
“I’m very sad,” said Peters. “I went through a whole week and a half of being depressed because I was just so sad for Jeremy and his family and his friends. … He’s a gentle soul, and he’s innocent until proven guilty in my book. I’m in his corner.”
Peters met Hodges more than a year ago, after Peters’ mother died, leaving her house empty and her cat Sushi behind. The house sat unoccupied until Peters decided she needed someone who could be responsible, who would pay the rent on time, and who, most of all, would look after her mother’s cat.
Hodges was recommended by a mutual friend.
“Jeremy came along and it was the right fit for both of us,” Peters said. He looked very strong, like an outdoorsman or a snowboarder, and Peters took to him right away. “He was special to me.”
Hodges cared for the house as though it was his own. He took care of Sushi and his own pet, a dog, Toshca, a German Shepherd mix with a “sweet face.” He mowed the lawn and took care of the gardening. He came over and sat on Peters’ porch with her, chatting. He came out for neighborhood barbecues, and “all the neighbors loved him,” Peters said.
Peters said Hodges wasn’t married and had no children, and that he came from the Montrose area. She said he worked in construction.
“I think all he did was work,” she said.
She was about to meet with Hodges to extend his lease for another year when he was arrested. She’s hoping this is all a misunderstanding, and he’ll soon be let out to come back to Ridgway.
“This just kind of threw everything for a loop,” Peters said. “I don’t want to rent [the house] out from under him, but I don’t know what the future will bring.”
The Montrose District Attorney, Myrl Serra, said in a press conference that the murder is still under investigation and there may still be more arrests.
Kublin, the victim, was a member of the Rainbow Family, a loose-knit group of hippie types. He was described online as a free spirit, a kind and gentle soul who worked picking fruit on The White Buffalo Farm in Paonia and who was just passing through Montrose on his way from to Santa Fe when he was killed.
The Montrose Sheriff’s Office has never publicly stated the cause of Kublin’s death.