BRIGHTON — A day after George Lindeboom’s body was discovered in his apartment, murder suspect Evan Lawlor allegedly drove to work in the victim’s missing truck.
      The truck and a cache of Lindeboom’s stolen DVD’s helped detectives link Lawlor to the crime.
      These details and others were part of the arrest affidavit for Lawlor, unsealed for the public this week. The report gives a glimpse into investigators’ timeline of the events before and after Lindeboom died.

       Lindeboom, 67, was found dead on the floor of his bedroom at 625 S. Miller Ave. Jan. 12. Adams County Coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan said Lindeboom, 67, died from blunt force trauma to the neck.
       In the days before his apparent murder, George Lindeboom was excited and optimistic in conversations with friends and neighbors about a new relationship. According to the affidavit, Lindeboom confided to a friend about meeting a young man and having a sexual encounter, and how he was looking forward to a second date.
      Lindeboom and Lawlor met Jan. 8 at J Dawg’s Double ‘D’ Saloon, 245 S. Main St., in Brighton, according to several regular customers and employees.
Lindeboom told his neighbor, Joe Torrez, that the second date would be Jan. 10
      “He was my best friend,” Torrez said. “We knew he was gay. He never kissed a guy in front of us or anything like that, but he told us and he never tried to hide it.”
      Torrez said his brother, Frank, saw Lindeboom drive off for the date, but that was the last time Lindeboom’s friends saw him alive.
      “Frank waved at him, but he was in a hurry,” Torrez said. “The date wasn’t until 9 p.m. but he left at seven. We just figured he was excited.”
      According to the affidavit, Joe Torrez and the apartment complex maintenance men discovered Lindeboom’s body Jan. 12 when they entered to check on Lindeboom’s pets.
      Investigators found no signs of a forced entry or a struggle, but several of Lindeboom’s possessions were missing, including Lindeboom’s collection of 130 DVDs, and a 32” flat screen television. The sheets and blankets had been taken off the bed and clothing was missing. Lindeboom’s truck was reported stolen and Brighton Police began a search for the vehicle.
      The next day, a Brighton police officer was patrolling business parking lots in Brighton looking for the vehicle. While driving behind the Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza at 500 E. Bromley Lane, the officer found the vehicle parked and unattended. The officer contacted the employees of Papa Murphy’s but no one confessed to knowing who drove the vehicle to the restaurant. The vehicle was then towed and a footprint outside the driver’s side door was processed and photographed.
       Detectives, working with the Papa Murphy’s store manager, used surveillance video from behind the shopping center to allegedly identify Evan Lawlor, 25, one of the store employees, as the driver of the vehicle.
      Then, using a search warrant, investigators found Lawlor’s phone number on Lindeboom’s call log. Using a technique known as “pinging,” detectives found the location of Lawlor’s phone at the residence of a co-worker, Ryker Schlitt, 18, on South 27th Avenue in Brighton.
       In the early hours of Jan. 14, an Adams County SWAT team raided the residence and arrested Lawlor and Schlitt. Schlitt, who was allegedly observed on the surveillance video talking to Lawlor outside the stolen truck, was later released without charges.
      Late in the evening, a Brighton detective investigated a Denver strip club where Lawlor once worked, according to the club owner, who spoke anonymously due to potential negative publicity for the club. The club owner denied that Lawlor and Lindeboom met at the club, and said Lawlor hadn’t worked there in more than a year.
      Torrez agreed, saying his friend wouldn’t have been at such an establishment.
      “He hated strip clubs,” Torrez said. “He never would have gone there. It would have made him uncomfortable.”
      The Adams County District Attorney’s office filed six charges against Lawlor, including first-degree murder, theft, tampering with physical evidence and violation of the Colorado Pawn Broker’s act for allegedly providing false information of ownership of DVDs to an EZ Pawn location. All charges are felonies. If convicted, the first-degree murder charges can carry a possible life sentence or the death penalty.
      Lawlor was appointed public defenders Rachel Lanzen and Lisa Herbst.
      Lawlor’s Colorado arrest record dates back to April 2003 when he faced misdemeanor charges of larceny, shoplifting and false reporting in Golden. He also faced charges in Denver related to his failure to properly register as a sex offender. Lawlor is listed on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sexual Offender database. According to the site, Lawlor last known city of residence was Arvada. Heather Smith, a spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said Lawlor’s faced charges there for violation of his sex offender status. But she said his status as a sex offender dated back to a 1997 case in Arapahoe County, Colo., when Lawlor was 12 years old.