'Murder Journal' Reveals Gruesome Details Of Planned Killing
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – Police hope the public can help locate the body of a murder victim after his alleged killer committed suicide.
John Cizek was last seen in Alamosa on June 12. He was traveling in a 2016 Minnie Winnie Winnebago. Cizek, 71, was named as the victim in a murder case in Jefferson County.
The suspect, David Little, 40, was arrest on a child sex assault warrant in Edgewater on June 21. When officers tried to take Little into custody, he fired on them more than 15 times, according to court documents, narrowly missing two officers.
Officers returned fire and shot Little in the ear and shoulder. As Little was being taken into custody, he asked that officers get his dog out of his RV. Officers discovered the RV parked in Golden. The vehicle belonged to Cizek.
District Attorney Pete Weir says journals later found in the Jeep that Little was driving on June 21 indicate the suspect was suicidal and homicidal.
According to "murder" journal entries summarized in court records CBS4 has obtained, on June 8, four days before police believe Cizek was murdered, Little wrote: "I am having a really hard time hunting anyone to kidnap, kill, carjack. … I really want to get us an RV, and I'm working hard looking for a great opportunity to grab just the right one, waiting for the crime of perfect opportunity."
Investigators say Little, who is from Golden, has been staying in Alamosa and working at Colorado Gators Repitle Park at the time of Cizek's disappearance. They believe Little was trying to avoid being arrested for sexual assault allegations.
Little goes on, seeming to lament a missed opportunity to steal a family's RV: "I met a family that went to the gator farm today. … So it's sad to say I'm thinking of going into their trailer…"
Then next day, Little writes of other plans: "Yes I'm planning on doing it late tomorrow/Friday night at Peaceful Journey Hot Springs… So know every trip I take in the Jeep is pushing my luck, just as much as continuing carjacking, kidnapping and killing others for their vehicles, cash, etc. needed to accomplish my goals. … Problem is I really don't want to have to hurt or frighten anyone, but I gotta do that I've gotta do."
Investigators say Little shot and killed Cizek inside his RV sometime after encountering him at a McDonald's in Alamosa on June 12. Surveillance images show the two were there at the same time. After June 12, the investigation revealed Little had purchased a shovel, hose and other items from an Ace Hardware store, and used Cizek's credit cards to rack up more than $3,500 in charges, court documents indicate.
On June 13, Little writes again: "Still can't sleep. What a (expletive) crazy day. …Maybe I should have stayed at the church for lunch, then maybe I wouldn't have done what I just did seeing an immediate crime of opportunity because I went into town."
It was after the shootout with police in Edgewater nearly two weeks later, when Little asked them to retrieve his dog, Venus, from the RV he told them he had stolen and left at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, that investigators seized the RV.
Authorities discovered that the RV belonged to Cizek and that the man had not been heard from or seen since June 12. They found blood stains in the RV's shower matching Cizek's DNA, bullet holes in its wall, and a shovel with dirt and grass blades stuck to it inside Cizek's Winnebago, Weir says.
Little was charged with his murder, in addition to attempted murder on police officers and sexual assault. On Oct. 4, and while in administrative segregated custody at the Jefferson County Jail where he was being watched routinely for risk of suicide, Weir says Little killed himself.
Word of Little's death prompted investigators to renew their call for information that can help them locate Cizek's body. His family contributed $10,000 to a Crime Stoppers reward, bringing the total to $12,000 in the case. Weir says analysis of the soil found on the shovel inside Cizek's RV matched soil typically found in the southern regions of Colorado, but investigators believe his body could be anywhere from Alamosa to metro Denver, possibly along Highway 285, where Little traveled.
An attorney for Little declined to comment to CBS4.
Cizek is described as a white male, 6-foot-3, 220 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes. Cizek had come to Colorado from California and told friends that he was planning to pan for gold at 10,000 feet altitude. He was traveling in a 2016 white Winnie Minnie Winnebago.
Lauren DiSpirito reports for CBS4 News at 10 p.m. She covers breaking news and feature stories along Colorado's Front Range. Follow her on Twitter @CBS4Lauren. Share your story ideas with her here.