Inset, left to right: Leon Pantoya and Steven Robinson (Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Pueblo, Colorado, where Pantoya allegedly buried Robinson in a shallow grave (Google Maps).
A 43-year-old man in Colorado has been arrested and accused of killing his roommate, burying the body in a shallow grave, and convincing the victim’s friends that he had died from pneumonia — all while secretly stealing money from the dead man’s bank account.
Leon Pantoya was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of first-degree murder in the 2022 slaying of 39-year-old Steven Robinson, authorities announced. He is also facing one count of identity theft and one count of theft of an amount between $20,000 and $100,000, both of which are felonies.
According to a news release from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, Pantoya’s arrest came after a three-year investigation headed by PCSO Detective Vanessa Simpson.
Deputies on Sept. 25, 2022, responded to a field in the 3500 block of 36th Lane regarding a call from the property owner who reported “finding possible human remains in a shallow grave.”
“Forensic analysis confirmed the remains were human,” officials wrote in the release. “An autopsy determined the victim had suffered blunt force and sharp force trauma, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.”
Authorities in late 2022 entered the unidentified man’s information into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database. While the victim’s information did not match anyone in the database, investigators said they generated several leads. Just over a year later, in March 2023, a DNA profile was developed, but again, no matches were found.
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A forensic artist created a reconstruction image of the victim that law enforcement shared publicly, but it resulted in few additional leads regarding his identity.
The victim’s DNA profile was subsequently submitted to a genetic genealogy database which matched the victim’s DNA with a relative. That match led to the positive identification of the victim as Robinson, who was originally from South Carolina, but had moved to Pueblo sometime in 2017.
After identifying Robinson as the victim, investigators soon learned that he had been living with Pantoya when he died in early January 2022.
“Pantoya told Robinson’s friends and landlord that Robinson had died of pneumonia on January 22, 2022,” sheriff’s officials wrote in the release. “Investigators later determined Robinson’s remains were buried on property owned by one of Pantoya’s relatives. The investigation also revealed Pantoya had withdrawn more than $75,000 from Robinson’s bank account, where Robinson’s military disability payments continued to be deposited for more than a year after his death.”
Sheriff David J. Lucero praised the detective who led the multi-year investigation into Robinson’s suspected murder.
“Detective Simpson has been dedicated and committed to solving this case for years, and, ironically, an arrest was made three years and a day since this investigation began,” Lucero said. “She worked tirelessly not only to identify the victim but also to investigate the homicide and identify a suspect. Bringing closure to this case is a testament to modern science and solid investigative police work.”
Pantoya is currently being held without bond and is scheduled to make his first appearance in Pueblo County Combined Court on Oct. 1, records show.
