A man accused of selling a Dallas-area house by posing as its dead owner has confessed to killing the man, police said on Monday.
Christopher Brian Colbert, 43, was arrested in Los Angeles earlier this month after Dallas police issued an arrest warrant in connection with the sale of Ronald Shumway’s home in the Oak Cliff neighbourhood of Dallas.
Dallas police detectives went to Los Angeles to interview Colbert about Shumway’s death. The 57-year-old’s remains were found encased in concrete in September at the house. He had last been seen in April, though his signature appeared on the June 22 deed authorising the sale of his home for US$130,000.
Colbert first denied being involved in Shumway’s death but changed his story after Dallas homicide Detective Esteban Montenegro asked him why he had been posing as Shumway. Colbert said he once lived with Shumway and “went back to being friends” after he moved out of the house, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
But the duo argued one day while Shumway was drinking, and Colbert said Shumway tried to strangle him. The men struggled, and Colbert strangled Shumway. He told detectives he bought cement from the nearby Home Depot hardware store. Colbert said he might have tied up Shumway but couldn’t remember because “he blacked out from fear and shock,” the warrant says.
An autopsy on Shumway showed his hands and feet had been bound with neckties. There was also evidence that he had been strangled, records show.