A one-time Breckenridge chef accused of murder in Alma has taken a plea deal for manslaughter.
Benjamin Rector, 36, was three weeks away from a jury trial in Park County when he signed the plea deal on May 27. It comes with up to six years in state prison and restitution for the family of his victim, 56-year-old Thomas Harker Junior.
Rector worked in Breckenridge restaurants and as a private chef. In 2016, as owner of The Mine on Main Street, Rector was charged with selling cocaine to an undercover officer.
Harker Junior, also known as Bramma, or Brahma, was kicked out of at least one property before moving in with Rector, according to court hearings in Park County.
Pack rats and a monk
The fatal dispute began on Nov. 10, when Rector returned home to Alma and found his property in shambles. He had been in Iowa for several weeks and told Park County authorities he did not feel safe with Harker Junior around.
Harker Junior told a deputy he had been living with Rector for about a month. While Rector was gone, he was fixing lights and trying to rid the house of pack rats. He identified as a “monk” and a “very spiritual person,” but Rector told a different story, sharing with deputies disturbing messages where Harker Junior spoke to him as “God.”
Inside the home were “objects stacked everywhere, some of which appeared to be smoking glass, couch cushions tossed to one side of the room, the kitchen in complete disarray, and there was a horrible odor,” according to a deputy’s report.
Rector told authorities that Harker Junior refused to leave. The man was claiming squatter’s rights. When confronted about this he reportedly threatened Rector. The two had never signed a lease, and deputies told Rector his best option was eviction through civil court, which can take weeks in Colorado.
Before leaving that day, Harker Junior told deputies he would gather his things and be gone within two days.
History of threats
The next night, Nov. 11, Rector called 911 around 8:20 p.m. to say he had shot Harker Junior three times when the man came at him with “a bunch of knives,” according to the report.
Deputies arrived to see Rector pacing outside the home. He was visibly shaken, wearing an empty gun holster on his hip and smelling strongly of alcohol.
Inside the home deputies found Harker Junior dead with blood on his shirt from an apparent gunshot wound to the chest. They attempted CPR but could not resuscitate the man. They later found a gun sitting on a dresser in a nearby room.
Rector has been in jail since that night. In January he pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and more.
During a pre-trial hearing in May, his attorneys revealed they had found another landlord who knew Harker Junior. This man claimed the victim had a history of ransacking properties and threatening violence against landlords.
Rector is sentenced June 29.