Springs murder suspect steals plane, commits suicide
A man wanted for murder in Colorado Springs attempted to steal a plane in Utah then committed suicide.
Brian Hedglin, 40, was wanted in connection to the stabbing of his girlfriend, 39-year-old Christina Cornejo. She was found dead Friday in Hedglin’s apartment.
Police said Hedglin, a Skywest Airlines pilot, drove his motorcycle to the St. George Municipal Airport and hopped the fence just after midnight on Tuesday. He then boarded a vacant 50-passenger Skywest plane, started the engines and began to taxi the aircraft. While taxiing, he clipped the jet bridge, part of the terminal building and damaged several vehicles in a parking lot.
The plane ran over a fence and onto an access road before it stopped on the east side of the terminal. Hedglin then allegedly shot himself in the head. His body was found in the aisle of the plane, according to police.
Skywest Airlines says that Hedglin was on administrative leave at the time of the incident. A St. George police spokesperson said security at the airport is sound, despite the huge breech.
“You have to realize, it was a Skywest pilot, he’s going to know exactly how to get into the plane., activate all the systems, the redundant systems and take that plane off,” said James Van Fleet at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Hedglin is the prime suspect in the murder of Christina Cornejo. Cornejo’s body was discovered at Hedglin’s apartment in the 1000 block of Cheyenne Villas Point on Friday.
Colorado Springs Police say they had been actively searching for Hedglin since Friday. Police detectives contacted Skywest and had them deactivate Hedglin’s access cards in the event he showed up at the airport.
Hedglin was also a traditional part-time Soldier in the Colorado Army National Guard. He was a Food Service Specialist with no other specialized military training.
Cornejo was a second lieutenant in the 100th Missile Defense Brigade of the Colorado Army National Guard. She enlisted in April 2006 and was a soldier in good standing.
The airline is cooperating with the FBI, St. George Police, and the TSA in a joint investigation.
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