Colorado man found guilty of strangling roommate and co-worker to death

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (TCD) — A 40-year-old man has been convicted of fatally strangling his roommate and co-worker in 2019.

The Colorado Attorney’s Office for the Fifth District announced March 8 that a jury found Miles Tovar guilty of reckless manslaughter and first-degree criminal trespass in connection with the death of Brendan Rye. He was found not guilty of first-degree burglary and another count of first-degree criminal trespass. Tovar faces one to three years for criminal trespass and two to six years for reckless manslaughter when he is sentenced on May 9.

On Nov. 6, 2019, shortly before 10 p.m., a co-worker called law enforcement after finding Rye unresponsive in their condominium where they were temporarily living with Tovar while renovating it as subcontractors. Law enforcement officials located Rye in the bathroom, and he was later pronounced dead.

According to the attorney’s office, the owner of the unit lived near the men and invited them over for dinner to thank them for the work they had been doing. During dinner, Tovar reportedly became “heavily intoxicated,” and he was asked to leave.

Tovar kept returning to the owner’s home that night, prompting Rye to steer him back to their home multiple times. The attorney’s office said during one of those attempts, the reporting individual heard “loud ‘pops'” from inside the unit.

During the deadly encounter, Tovar sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. Investigators determined Rye died by manual strangulation, and his death was ruled a homicide.

Breckenridge Police identified Tovar as the primary suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest in February 2022. He turned himself in to the U.S. Marshals Service in Connecticut around eight months later, in October 2022, and was extradited back to Colorado.

Colorado 5th Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum said, “Mr. Rye’s family and friends have waited more than four years for this justice, and I sincerely hope this is one more step in their healing process.”

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