Husband Charged With Murder 14 Years After Wife Disappears

GREELEY, Colo. -- A man who was the last person to see his wife when she disappeared in October 1995 was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree murder.

John Sandoval, 44, was arrested in his Las Vegas home on a warrant out of Weld County. He and his wife used to live in Greeley.

Kristina Sandoval met with John Sandoval on Oct. 19, 1995. She had filed for divorce 17 days before and told her family she was scared about seeing her estranged husband, Greeley police said. However, he had not yet returned the divorce papers and had promised to pay her the money he owed for taxes, her family said.

As a precaution, Kristina, who went by the name of "Tina," arranged to call her sister after her morning meeting with Sandoval, her family said.

She never made the call and has not been seen or heard from since that day.

She was 23. The state of Colorado issued a death certificate for her on Feb. 12, 2002.

The Greeley Police Department and two dogged detectives have continued investigating this case since 1995, and an arrest warrant was presented to the district attorney’s office earlier this month. On June 10 the warrant was signed by a Weld County District Court Judge and sealed until Sandoval's arrest.

The two officers who originally responded to investigate the case when Kristina disappeared were with Las Vegas officers when they arrested Sandoval around 9 a.m. Thursday. Sgt. Keith Olson and Lt. Brad Goldschmidt have been on this case since 1995, Greeley police said.

Sandoval is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center in Nevada without bond and is waiting extradition to Weld County. Court dates will be set in this case following Sandoval’s return to Weld County.

Tina met Sandoval at AIMS Community College where she earned an associates degree in nursing. They married in December 1991. In August 1995, Tina left her husband and sought a divorce. She learned he was a convicted felon on parole from California and had stalked women and burglarized their apartments.

Hours after Tina disappeared, Olson, who was familiar with Sandoval's criminal history, started investigating and questioning witnesses. Goldschmidt staked out Sandoval's house with another detective.

Sandoval returned by dawn the next morning and immediately went to shower, according to the police report. One of the officers looked into Sandoval's car and saw a shovel still wet with mud and a white 5-gallon bucket with a white plastic bag, according to the arrest affidavit.

The officers then spotted Sandoval scrambling out of the bedroom window. Sandoval ran around the house and directly toward another Greeley officer, who ordered him to the ground. Even though it was 20 degrees outside, Sandoval was barefoot, police said. He also had fresh scratches on his chest, shoulder and neck, consistent with wounds inflicted from fingernails, according to the arrest affidavit.

Sandoval was arrested on Oct. 20, 1995, on an outstanding warrant for criminal trespass unrelated to Tina's disappearance. While in custody, Sandoval continued to clean his fingernails and bite his nails, according to the arrest affidavit. Even when restrained, he maneuvered his chair and continuously bit and inspected his fingernails refusing to let officers collect the fingernail scrapings, police said.

Sandoval was convicted on the criminal trespassing charge and served four years in Buena Vista and Cañon City. He was paroled in 2000.

Sandoval's neighbor reported hearing a gunshot on the morning that Tina disappeared. Inside Sandoval's car, officers found a 9 mm semiautomatic Taurus handgun loaded with five bullets next to the front seat. Officers also found a red flashlight fashioned into a necklace so it could be worn around the neck and a 1/4-inch thick nylon rope about 4 feet long, with it end tied up like a lasso or noose, according to police.

In Sandoval's home, police found two rifles, including an SKS 7.62 mm assault rifle and numerous rounds of ammunition. His clothes and boots left in the bathroom were muddy and dirty.

Tina's credit cards were found in the shower Sandoval used before he ran and on top of the dresser in the bedroom, according to the affidavit.

Police said despite strong circumstantial evidence, no charges were ever filed because Tina's body was never found. It's not clear what has changed.

Tina was working as a nurse at Northern Colorado Medical Center.