Blue River murder suspect Daniel DeVito has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and six other charges for the July 7 slaying of Breckenridge bartender Jordan Labarre.
Labarre’s family tuned into this morning hearing from across the country. They said nothing. DeVito said little, except to approve a later date for his trial. His defense attorney, Rachel Oliver, confirmed the not guilty plea for him. He is accused of first-degree murder, felony menacing, illegal discharge of a firearm and more.
DeVito’s murder case will be joined with a kidnapping and torturing case involving a different victim. Another woman was allegedly bound, gagged and cut by DeVito and an accomplice, William “Parks” Coleman, just four days before Labarre was found dead.
Oliver and the prosecuting attorney, assistant district attorney Jeanine Svoboda, agreed to join the cases. Both violent incidents happened at the same Blue River home where gunshots rang out on July 7. It is where cops found DeVito incoherent and afraid. Inside, they found two handguns with fired rounds and Labarre, 32, dead of a gunshot wound to the head. She was inside of a bathroom with a broken door. It appeared kicked in.
That same home is the target of a civil suit involving DeVito and his wife. Labarre’s mother is suing to freeze their assets, including the Blue River home, in a wrongful death suit. She seeks $25 million. That case is back in Summit County court March 10.
The next hearing in DeVito’s murder case is mid-July for a motions hearing. His jury trial begins months after that on Oct. 2.