By John Colson

Sopris Sun Correspondent

Carbondale police reported on Tuesday that a dead woman was found in an apartment building on Cooper Place on Feb. 16, after a man involved in a car wreck on Highway 133 told police he had killed his wife in that apartment building.

Police were not releasing the name of the victim, or of the alleged killer, as of shortly after 11 a.m. on Tuesday, pending notification of the victim’s family and the issuance of an arrest warrant for the suspect.

An autopsy confirmed that the woman died of multiple wounds from a sharp object, and that the case formally is considered a homicide.

This reportedly is the first homicide case in Carbondale since 2003, when Jessie Brooks was tried and convicted for the accidental shooting death of his friend, Bobby Rogers, according to news stories published at the time.

The suspect in this week’s stabbing case remained at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction on Tuesday, after being airlifted there with what a police statement indicated were “serious injuries” sustained in the auto accident.

According to a statement issued by the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District on behalf of the Carbondale Police Department, the incident started with the car wreck on Highway 133, at 7:15 a.m.

The statement reported that a Toyota 4-Runner rear-ended a semi-truck near Crystal River Baptist Church on Highway 133, and that the driver of the Toyota was taken first to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs before being transferred to St. Mary’s.

It was during the flight to St. Mary’s, according to the police statement, that the driver reportedly told the flight crew he had killed his wife and told the crew where the body could be found.

At about 2 p.m. on Monday, Carbondale police “responded to the reported location” but did not immediately find the body, the statement explained.

After searching nearby apartments, police encountered a woman who said she was heading to her home in the area being searched by police. She declined to allow police inside, but searched the apartment herself and found the suspected homicide victim inside bearing what police believed were knife wounds.

The suspect in the case was placed in “protective custody,” according to the police statement, while he is being treated for his injuries.