An Agate man has been convicted of murder in the shooting death of a partner in a marijuana grow operation.
Shawn Geerdes, 48, was convicted Wednesday by an Elbert County jury, according to a district attorney’s office news release. Geerdes was also convicted of second-degree arson and of setting a wildfire.
A car set on fire in Jefferson County sparked a wildfire on Sept. 20, 2015, and emergency responders found a body in the trunk of the vehicle. The body, later identified as Jason Dosa, 44, of Parker, had been shot five times.
Dosa and Geerdes were former partners in an Agate marijuana grow. Investigators found evidence at the growhouse, including bloodstains and spent shell casings, indicating Dosa had been killed there, his body stuffed in a car trunk and driven to Jefferson County.
“When reviewing a case, our office always evaluates the applicability of affirmative defenses, such as self-defense or defense of premises — commonly known as ‘Make My Day,’ ” Senior Deputy District Attorney Douglas Bechtel said in a news release. “However, the defendant’s actions in this case of shooting the victim, putting the victim in the trunk of his own car, driving the car 80 miles, dousing the car in gasoline and staring a car fire and wildfire shows that the defendant knew this was not a justified shooting.”
Geerdes is scheduled to be sentenced Sept 5. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 96 years in prison if found to be a habitual offender.
