ALAMOSA– Shawdon McVey, 26, pled guilty to two charges at the Alamosa County Courthouse Tuesday in connection with the August 2018 murder of Mathias Fritz. According to District Attorney, Crista Newmyer Olsen, McVey pled guilty to a Class 4 felony of conspiring to aggravated robbery as a crime of violence and second degree kidnapping as a crime of violence. He will now proceed to sentencing on August 9.

McVey had previously been granted a continuation on his first appearance in the 12th Judicial District Court when his attorney conveyed to Judge Michael Gonzales that he had not had a chance to review a revised offer from the District Attorney’s Office and thus requested additional time to review the particulars. There was no objection from the State. The court date was then rescheduled for April 16. Judge Gonzales made it clear that there would either be a resolution at that time or the case would proceed to full trial.

As one of four defendants charged in the case, McVey wanted to “come clean” on a crime that he, along with Robert Martinez, 29, Shem Brown, 26, and Philip Medina, 36, had allegedly committed together. Medina and Martinez are half brothers. On Aug. 9 of last year, the four men, along with Fritz and Alma Salazar were together in an apartment above the Extreme Graphics office near Vendola Plumbing & Heating in East Alamosa. Neighbors had reported the shooting after finding the female victim wandering around with gunshot wounds. Authorities later found Fritz deceased at the scene. According to authorities, Fritz and Salazar were put in separate bathrooms in the apartment where Fritz was beaten, then shot. Salazar also was shot.

By his own admission, McVey has previously stated to the court that he was in a “meth haze” for several weeks following the incident. When he sobered up, he realized what had happened and was concerned about the victim as well as his role in the murder.

Robert Martinez faces charges in connection with his alleged shooting of his codefendant, McVey in late October of 2018. According to McVey, Martinez apparently threatened him and later shot him in the head while driving. McVey told the court that Shem Brown who was driving the vehicle was the person who later drove him to the hospital after he was shot. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for Shem, I probably would have died because Rob wanted to pull over and shoot me again,” he said.

McVey also told the authorities that the incident occurred after he wanted to go to the police following the robbery, assault and murder of Fritz, 40, and the assault and shooting of Fritz’s girlfriend. McVey survived the shooting and has since pointed to Martinez. Judge Daniel Walzl agreed that there was enough evidence for Martinez to stand trial in the district court. David Lipka, the attorney who is representing Martinez, explained to Judge Gonzales that the defense has been having difficulty with discovery issues, particularly in regard to the audio and video files.  He then proceeded to ask that the court allow 60 days for him to complete discovery. Newmyer-Olsen informed the court her office didn’t have an objection with the extension. “If the court would allow 60 days … we can access the files and we won’t be asking for much after that,” Lipka said. Gonzales then proceeded to set the next court date for June 18 at 3:30 p.m.

Brown is also facing multiple charges in the case including murder, kidnapping, robbery, felony menacing and crimes of violence sentence enhancers.

His case is also moving forward as he is set for a continued first appearance on June 20 at 1 p.m. He is being held on a $500,000 bond.

Newmyer-Olsen has previously noted to the court that as of April 3, the state has been waiting on test results from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation; however, there has been a backlog. “It’s my understanding they’re in line to be expedited … they know we want these results,” Newmyer-Olsen said.