Background: News footage of the scene in Hotchkiss, Colo. where Dave Vieira was killed in January 2024 (KREX). Inset: Luke Shelton (Delta County Sheriff”s Office).
A Colorado man pleaded guilty to killing his employer and burying his body after he couldn’t wait to round up a co-conspirator to steal the victim’s money.
Luke Shelton, 21, entered a guilty plea on Aug. 13 and was sentenced the same day to 56 years in prison — 48 years for second-degree murder and eight years for tampering with a human body. Shelton admitted to killing 58-year-old John David “Dave” Vieira while working on Vieira’s property on Jan. 4, 2024. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by local news outlet The Daily Sentinel, Shelton confessed to police that he had been plotting to kill Vieira, hide his body, and take over his equipment titles and split the assets with his colleague.
But his plans to commit the crime with the other man fell apart, and he decided to take matters into his own hands.
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That other man, who reportedly lived in a truck with Shelton on Vieira’s property, was the one who called 911 after Shelton shot Vieira. According to the affidavit, Shelton and Vieira had an argument about the truck on the morning of Jan. 4, 2024, which led Shelton to gun Vieira down. Shelton reportedly told police that Vieira “pushed me too far.” The other man was not charged with any crime in connection to Vieira’s murder.
After shooting Vieira, Shelton put the injured man in an excavator and buried him, later telling police, “I buried him in the dirt, next to that tree.” When first responders arrived, they located a freshly dug area of dirt and began digging. Body cameras captured the moments that sheriff’s deputies found Vieira and attempted to revive him — but Vieira was already dead.
According to the arrest affidavit, Shelton repeatedly apologized at the scene for the killing, later telling police, “I guess it wasn’t worth murdering over money,” and “I’m going away for a long time.”
The Daily Sentinel was in the courtroom to hear Vieira’s grieving family speak during the sentencing, including his brother, who said, “It’s unfortunate the State of Colorado has done away with the death penalty.” Assistant DA Jessica Waggoner told the court that Vieira had given Shelton a chance “to change his stars” by giving him a job when no one else would, “And this is the thanks he gets.”
When the defense spoke, Vieira’s family left the courtroom. Citing her responsibility to provide Shelton with legal defense, his co-counsel Anya van Soestbergen noted that her client had admitted responsibility from the start. She stated that Shelton had “snapped” when he killed Vieira, and he was upset after committing the crime. Shelton did not speak at his sentencing.
Delta District Judge Steven Schultz told Shelton that what he did was “a truly evil act. The fact you couldn’t control yourself on Jan. 4, 2024 is unforgivable.”
Schultz ordered Shelton to serve his sentences consecutively, for a total of 56 years.
