SAGUACHE COUNTY– Last week, Dustin Ferguson, 38, of Villa Grove in Saguache County appeared in court in connection to the stabbing death of Brian Taylor, 41, on February 23, 2022. Over the course of several hearings, the preliminary hearing was waived, and murder charges were dismissed in exchange for Ferguson pleading guilty to Attempted Assault.
Initially, documents obtained from the court show that Ferguson was charged with two felonies in the death of Taylor – Murder in the First Degree, a class one felony, and Murder in the Second Degree, a class two felony. Both charges carried a sentence enhancer of “Crime of Violence.”
On May 16, a motion was entered and agreed to by both the defense and the district attorney’s office where, in exchange for a continuance on the preliminary hearing, count one – Murder in the First Degree- would be dismissed.
Judge Schuenemann granted the motion.
On April 20, court records show that seven letters were submitted to the court. According to an unnamed source, at least one of those letters was from a member of the victim’s family requesting Ferguson remain in jail without bond.
The preliminary hearing was set for Thursday, April 21.
On the day the preliminary was scheduled to take place, the court was informed that Ferguson waived his right to a preliminary hearing in exchange for pleading guilty to Attempted Assault in the First Degree, Crime of Violence, a fourth-class felony, with the dismissal of all other existing murder charges.
The waiver states that the offer will remain open for 120 days from Ferguson’s first appearance in district court.
Bond was set for Ferguson at $250,000.
When contacted by the Courier for a statement regarding the guilty plea and dismissal of all murder charges, Saguache County Sheriff Dan Warwick said, “I’m completely baffled by this decision. This is a solid case with an eyewitness. If there was a problem with the investigation, they could have contacted us, but they didn’t. We couldn’t understand why the murder one charge was dropped for a continuance. And without them at least speaking to us, I have no idea why this decision to drop the murder two charge was made. This wasn’t an ‘attempted’ assault on the victim. The victim died.”
According to the arresting documents obtained by the Courier from the clerk of the court, at 10:30 p.m. on February 23, Saguache County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) Deputy Barrios and Corporal Hansen were dispatched to a residence on County Road LL57 in Villa Grove in response to a reported stabbing. The person who called the office was actually a neighbor calling on behalf of David Jackman, the owner and resident of the house who had fled the scene after witnessing the incident and named Dustin Ferguson as the suspect.
When Barrios and Hansen arrived at the house, Hansen reported seeing blood on the storm door to the residence. The door was locked.
He then looked through a window and saw the body of a man – later identified as Brian Taylor – inside the house. Deputies announced their presence and forced entry into the house where they found Mr. Taylor on the floor, showing no signs of life. The deputy reported seeing that Taylor had apparently been stabbed several times in his back, head and neck.
Corporal Hansen went in pursuit of Ferguson, who was still in the area, ultimately taking him into custody without incident. In his report, Hansen states he saw several cuts on Ferguson’s hand that “were not actively bleeding.” Ferguson was then transported to the sheriff’s office in the custody of another deputy with SCSO.
Corporal Hansen then spoke to Jackman who said that Ferguson was his roommate. Taylor, who had reportedly worked with both Jackman and Ferguson in the past, had come to Jackman’s house when his car had “broken down” nearby.
The three men were reportedly drinking a beer when, according to Jackman, Ferguson made it apparent he did not like Taylor. Mr. Jackman then witnessed Ferguson stabbing Taylor, at which point Jackman fled from the house and ran to the neighbor’s residence where the sheriff’s office was called.
The presumptive range of sentencing for Attempted Assault class four felony with a Crime of Violence enhancer is five to sixteen years and mandatory three years parole.
In comparison, the presumptive range of sentencing for Murder in the Second degree – a class two felony with a crime of violence enhancer – is sixteen years to forty-eight with mandatory five years parole.
The case has been bound over to District Court where Dustin Ferguson is scheduled for his first appearance on May 17, 2022.
