Teller County Sheriff’s Office addresses questions surrounding murder-suicide involving father and son
TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Tuesday, the Teller County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) released a statement on social media addressing questions surrounding a murder-suicide that occurred in January involving a father and his 5-year-old son.
On Jan. 4, the Teller County Sheriff's Office was notified that a father had missed his court-ordered child exchange time that regularly took place at the TCSO parking lot. Deputies began searching for the father, identified as William Brueche.
On Jan. 5 at 12:05 p.m., the TCSO received a 911 call about an unconscious male in a pickup truck in Florissant. Investigators confirmed it was Brueche's vehicle. At the scene, deputies found Brueche dead inside the vehicle along with the body of his five-year-old son Liam Brueche.
Detectives with the TCSO, along with assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, determined this was a murder-suicide.
RELATED: Teller County father accused of killing 5-year-old son in alleged murder-suicide
The statement addressed questions including, why an Amber Alert was not issued, why the TCSO didn't utilize the state's red flag law, and why there wasn't more concern that the father did not show up for his court-ordered child exchange time that regularly took place at the TCSO parking lot.
The TCSO's response to those three questions, respectively, are as follows.
According to the TCSO, on the date of the child exchange, the mother reported that the father had messaged her that he would be late to the exchange due to vehicle problems. The parents had joint custody of the five-year-old male. This exchange was not monitored by the TCSO or required to be monitored. The courts authorize this child custody exchange to happen often at the TCSO office and mostly without their knowledge. There were no current protection orders or cases that would identify this case to involve our officers. At 9:51 PM, approximately 24 minutes past the exchange time, the TCSO attempted to locate the father on a “check the welfare for the child” and were unable to make contact with him or the child. At that time, the TCSO was operating under the belief that the father had vehicle problems. Deputies made several more attempts to check the residence throughout the night. The deputies had no information as to the father’s location or his direction of travel. The Colorado Bureau of Investigations' requirements for an Amber Alert to be issued requires that a child abduction has occurred and that the child is in immediate danger. At the time of the report by the mother, the father had stated vehicle problems only and the TCSO had no reason to believe that there was a threat to the child, nor had any domestic violence incident occurred.
In regards to utilizing Colorado's red flag law, the TCSO said that while the father was a convicted felon, a firearm was not used during the incident nor were any firearms found in the vehicle or residence when search warrants were executed. The suspect utilized a compressed air rifle during the incident. By statute, compressed air rifles are not considered a firearm and may be purchased online or at a local retailer without a state or federal background check. The Colorado red flag law pertains only to firearms.
In their statement, the TCSO said they have received numerous requests or comments as to why they could not stop this from happening. In response to that, they said that although they would have liked to have stopped this tragedy, they had no indication from the information provided that the father would have done such a thing. Based on the timeline from when it was first reported the crime had already occurred.
