Prosecuters dismiss case against Bureau of Prisons worker accused of attempted murder

Update: As of Sept. 5, 2024, the case was dismissed. The motion to dismiss lists the following as reasons to dismiss the case.

• New evidence materialized recently that was highly exculpatory for the Defendant. After reviewing this evidence, the People no longer believe they have a good faith basis to proceed to trial.
• First, ballistics testing confirmed that the bullet discovered did not come from the Defendant’s firearm.
• Second, video extracted from the Defendant’s cell phone cooperated the Defendant’s version of events.
• In light of this new evidence the People no longer believe that a jury could find the Defendant guilty of the charged conduct and would respectfully ask the Court to dismiss the case.

Original reporting

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - The Fremont County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) arrested a  Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) worker on Jan. 26 for attempted murder, assault, child abuse, domestic violence, reckless endangerment, and more.

The BOP says that the suspect, identified as Cody Hurley, currently works at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Florence as a Correctional Officer.

Court documents show that deputies with the FCSO responded to a welfare check on Jan. 26. The reporting party asked for the welfare check after they were sent concerning Facebook messages that included "he's gonna really hurt me," "already held a gun to my head," "he keeps hitting me in the face," and "he's telling me to just kill myself."

According to the court documents, the reporting party told deputies that the victim(s) didn't have access to a phone to call 911. They also said that there was a history of domestic violence.

The FCSO says that when deputies arrived, Hurley refused to cooperate or answer any questions. Deputies did contact Hurley via phone and he told deputies that the victim had "self-inflicted" injuries but was breathing. After 45 minutes, Hurley agreed to speak with deputies at the front door.

Documents say that Hurley did get the victim to have deputies check on them. Deputies noticed injuries to their face including that the right eye was bruised and swollen, there was a cut below the right eye, and there were two lumps on their forehead. The victim was also disoriented and difficult to understand at times. Hurley again told deputies that these were self-inflicted due to the victim having mental health issues.

Court documents state that after this, Hurley left for work and the victim was transported to the hospital. while at the hospital, the victim told deputies that Hurley assaulted them. Deputies observed additional bruises on the victim's back while at the hospital. A doctor told deputies that the victim said Hurley had injured them, that verbal abuse had been going on for about a year, and that the physical abuse had been occurring for 6 months. The doctor also said that Hurley squirted soap in their mouth for swearing.

Court documents detail that a victim told deputies it started on Monday or Tuesday when someone said to Hurley "You're a b****." Hurley then said that he was going to wash their mouth out with soap and poured dawn dish soap over them. The next day, the victim didn't wake Hurley up for work and they got into another argument. The victim said that Hurley bought a phone but wouldn't let the victim have access to it. They said that Hurley smashed their last two phones because he believed that they were talking to someone else.

Court documents show that the victim told deputies that Hurley liked to put his hand over the victim's face a lot and say "you're gonna go to sleep." When deputies asked for clarification the victim said that Hurley would "put his whole hand over [a victim's] face and squeeze [a victim's] nose so that [they] couldn't breathe." The victim also said that Hurley would "twist [a victim's] neck like he was trying to break it." After showing deputies what Hurley would do, they said that "the worst part of it was that [a victim] was watching it all."

Court documents continue to detail abuse against the victims including one where the victim says Hurley grabbed a gun, racked it, and then "held it up to [a victim's] head." The victim says that Hurley told them the gun wasn't loaded and showed them it was empty.

The FCSO followed up with the victim on Jan. 26 to complete a danger assessment questionnaire. Deputies also asked about an incident where Hurley fired a gun in the house. The victim said that about three weeks prior, they were in an argument with Hurley. There was a pause in the argument when the victim heard a gun go off. They say that Hurley shot through the bedroom wall and into the neighbor's garage. The victim says that when asked Hurley said "yeah, I just shot a .22, what's your problem?" Deputies did find a bullet hole in the neighbor's garage.

Court documents say that on Jan. 26, deputies located Hurley and a Loves gas station and took him into custody. A 9-mm was retrieved from his truck. The victim told deputies that on Jan. 26, Hurley choked or restricted breathing at least five times and prevented them from getting to a phone multiple times.

Hurley faces charges of attempted murder, assault, child abuse, domestic violence, illegal discharge of a firearm, felony meaning, obstruction of telephone, and reckless endangerment.

The BOP says that Cody Hurley is currently employed with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Florence as a Correctional Officer. As the alleged incident did not occur on duty and is not related to his employment with the FBOP, they declined to comment.