Suspect in triple murder in Caon City has long criminal history

Jaacob Van Winkle, 31, has spent much of the last decade in trouble with the law in Indiana and Colorado.

Beginning in Indiana in 2004, Van Winkle was charged with one count of battery. That same November, he pleaded guilty to child molestation and spent time in prison.

He had several other run-ins with law enforcement for various crimes over the next several years and then in 2011 he was arrested after his landlord was found dead. No charges were filed after it was determined the man died of a heart attack.

Van Winkle began his criminal history in Colorado in 2012. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault.

Now he faces charges of first degree murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.