DALLAS -- Christopher Brian Colbert was first accused of masquerading as a Dallas homeowner to fraudulently sell his house.
Now he’s accused of murder in the death of Ronald Shumway, whose remains were found encased in concrete in his back yard this past September. Colbert was Shumway’s one-time roommate.
Colbert, 43, was arrested in Los Angeles on March 3 by a U.S. Marshals task force. He was initially charged with tampering with a governmental record and secure a document by deception, both charges related to the sale of Ronald Shumway’s house.
Shumway's remains were not identified through DNA until last month. Authorities have said he died from "homicidal violence." He disappeared last spring.
Colbert remains held in the L.A. County jail, pending extradition back to Texas. Detectives traveled to California to speak with Colbert.
Colbert, a former Dallas Voice photographer, told police that after he had moved out that he and Shumway went back to being just friends. He told detectives that, one day, Shumway was drinking and that led to an argument. He framed what followed as self-defense.
“He claimed that complainant Shumway came at him and tried to strangle him,” the warrant says. “He stated that he thought the complainant might tie him up and kill him. According to Suspect Colbert, they bought began choking each other.”
Colbert told police that Shumway struck his head against the wall and that he could not breathe. He said he ended up choking Shumway with his hands.
“He stated he was in shock,” the warrant says. “He acknowledged that he bought bags of concrete at the Home Depot store on Fort Worth Avenue.”
Colbert said he might have tied Shumway up, but said he did not remember because he “blacked out from fear and shock.”
Police said Colbert’s statement matched evidence found at the crime scene, but they said that evidence found during the autopsy did not match Colbert account of how Shumway was killed. The autopsy showed his hands and feet were found with neck ties. There were also several ligatures around his neck, indicating that he had been strangled with something.
Shumway had lived in the house on Winnetka Avenue for decades. Neighbors say he lived there with his mother and grandmother, who are now deceased. Shumway was known as a loud, but reclusive neighbor.
No one seemed to notice when the DART bus driver disappeared last spring.
On April 24, a day after he was last seen, a new profile picture was posted on his Facebook page. That same day, DART officials received an email from someone claiming to be Shumway resigning from his job as a bus driver.
A broker told police that he was contacted through a Craiglist advertisement on May 17 by a man wanting to sell the house on Winnetka. The man was in a hurry to sell.
He met the man – now identified as Colbert -- three days later. Police say the man drove Shumway’s SUV to the meeting. Colbert signed a contract to sell the house for $145,000 using Shumway’s name, the records say.
On May 23, the broker received an email from Shumway’s email address asking questions about how fast the house could be sold. The broker says Colbert wanted to sell the house quickly and wanted to lower the purchase price to $130,000.
The broker later identified Colbert from a lineup.
On June 22, 2015, an escrow officer for Chicago Title Company and the broker met the person purporting to be Shumway to close the sale of the property. The man did not have ID on him, but left and later faxed a Texas commercial driver’s license to the escrow officer.
The escrow officer is the one that notarized the transfer of the deed for the house to the new owner, deed records show.
Police believe that Colbert had super-imposed his picture on top of Shumway’s license.
Two days after the closing, the Chicago Title Company wired about $110,000 to Shumway’s account. Police later found that Colbert was using Shumway’s debit card to withdraw money from the sale of the property.
Over the next couple of months, the house would pass through several more deed transfers. The new owners would make a grisly discovery on Sept. 24.
They began smelling “a strong odor of decomposition” in the back yard and eventually discovered a “cement rectangular structure.” The new owner broke open the cement and found a black plastic bag embedded in the cement, the records say.
WFAA.com's Marjorie Owens contributed to this story.