Robert Walters

Brittney Brashers was a twenty-two year old woman who had joined the Air Force and did a tour of duty in Iraq. While she was there she met Robert Walters. He too was in the Air Force serving his country. Just before he had deployed Robert had married his long time girlfriend, Elena. While the two were stationed in Iraq their relationship had progressed and either they did not try to hide it, or they did and simply got caught. The Air Force did not take kindly to a married man carrying on with someone while in the military and forbid the two from interacting with each other. They did not seem to listen and carried on with their affair. It continued when both returned to the United States. Brittney was stationed in Colorado Springs were she would work at a dental clinic on the base there and initially Robert was stationed in North Dakota but it was said that within weeks he was discharged from service. It appears neither the Air Force, nor Robert or his family have ever said the reason behind his discharge.

After his discharge Robert returned to his California home where he lived with his parents and his wife but his affair with Brittney continued. In late September of 2009 it seems that Elena was made aware of the affair and she called Brittney's boss, Master Sergeant Arthur Figeroa. According to the information that Elena had Brittney was planning a trip to California to see her husband. Figeroa would later say that he confronted Brittney about this but that she stated it was not true. Despite what she may or may not have told her boss it seems Brittney did go to California and she brought Robert Walters back to Colorado with her where he would stay with Brittney and a roommate.

Friends of Brittney's would later testify that the relationship was a violent one and there was domestic abuse going on. But, if you do not want to listen to Brittney's friends, there is at least one police report to confirm this. On October 24^th the two got into a fight and Robert was arrested. It appears that somewhere in the report it was stated that Brittney claimed that Robert had threatened to make her car crash. The judge in the case ordered that there be no contact between the two. On top of this, despite there already being a sanction from the Air Force, Brittney's boss, Arthur Figeroa also apparently filed an official order banning contact between the two. Still it does not seem to have mattered to either of them.

On November 16, 2009 Brittney and Robert were apparently conversing through text messaging. In one of the messages Robert asked if he could spend the night with her and she said yes but also apparently told him of a photo shoot that she was attending in Denver. He asked if he could go with her and she agreed but told him that he would not be allowed inside the photo shoot. The photo shoot took place at a bar and it appears that a few of Brittney's friends were involved in it also. At some point this became a topless photo shoot and participants would later say that throughout the time Robert would come in and out of the area.

At about 11:20 that night, while still at the club, Robert Walters called Brittney's boss, Figeroa and left a voice message. He sounded very angry and told Figeroa that Brittney had broken the rule against seeing him and that she was at this photo shoot. The voice mail seemed to be all about getting revenge on Brittney. The photo shoot would end and the two would leave Denver, apparently headed back to Colorado Springs. A while later someone would call 911 and report a car accident. The caller would say that they heard a crash and then heard an occupant scream. When authorities arrived at the scene they would find Brittney's car had crashed into two parked vehicles. Robert suffered from minor injuries but Brittney was dead. However, according to authorities the condition of her body told them this was not a simple car crash but an investigation had to be started before anything could be known for certain.

Apparently just after Brittney died Robert headed back to California where it seems his wife was still living with his parents despite the fact that he had seemingly all but moved out. It would take several months but in March of 2010 Elena contact the police and say that within minutes of his return to California he had asked her to go for a walk. It was on this walk that she stated he first confessed to killing Brittney. Over the next several months it seems that he continually told Elena the story and threatened her for her silence. She would provide police with several tape recordings of conversations the two had. According to Elena, and/or the tapes, Robert had decided at the photo shoot that he was going to kill her. He told Elena that while driving back to Colorado Springs an argument had ensued and he had punched her in the face while she was driving. He then grabbed the wheel to get the car off the road. At this point he claims he continually kneed her in the face and then placed his forearm across her throat. He claimed he then unfastened her seat belt and veered the car in a way to hit the parked car and stage the accident. According to authorities the injuries suffered by Brittney were more consistent with the theory that she was beaten before hand than being caused by an accident.

After Elena contacted the police Robert Walters was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder. While he was in jail prosecutors would claim that he attempted to hire someone to kill Elena so that she could not testify against him at trial. By the trial did come around in September of 2011 the additional charge of solicitation to commit murder was added. The jury would find Robert guilty in the murder of Brittney but when it came to the charges pertaining to Elena they were unable to convict him.

When it came to the murder charges the defense would claim that Robert and Brittney had been drinking at the club during the time the photo shoot occurred and that on the way back Robert had fallen asleep only to be awoken when the crash occurred. I found nothing in which they addressed the tapes in which Elena provided to police officers but regardless it is apparent the jury did not believe their theory in that area. As far as the charges for the solicitation of murder against Elena, the claim was that Robert had approached an inmate in the jail and the defense was apparently successfully able to show that the inmate's testimony should be questioned and proved that he had been given a deal for his testimony. In October of 2011 Robert Walters was given a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

Much like the last case I discussed here I was was a bit surprised to have not come across an appeal on this case considering it had been over four years. I try to find them when I can because I feel as if they give the best information pertaining to what was allowed in a trial. The initial appeal in a case almost always gives a background of the case and then issues that were made at the trial. I find these to be the most accurate information as often times I find myself finding contradictory information in news articles and the like. Maybe one day there will be more information available on this case. For now Robert Walker sits in prison without a sign of ever getting out.