Donthe Lucas trial for Kelsie Schelling's murder enters 11th day
March 3, 2021
On the 11th day of the Donthe Lucas homicide trial, another woman who first heard about the disappearance of Kelsie Schelling and Lucas’ possible involvement in the case said she became romantically involved and intimate with Lucas after contacting him to try to obtain information.
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Lauren Suhr,
who began her testimony Tuesday, said she was “playing the role” of Lucas’ girlfriend after first contacting him on Facebook in 2016 to learn more about Schelling’s disappearance, then meeting up with Lucas several times to hang out and eventually, becoming intimate.
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Another woman, Jessica Martin,
told a similar story about her experiences with Lucas earlier in the trial.
“I would say things got romantic,” Suhr said.
“In the back of my mind I knew what I was doing and what it was for (to gain information) but I would say there was romance involved.”
While she was meeting with Lucas, Suhr said she was communicating what he told her about the case to a friend, who Lucas’ defense attorney David Lipka said was passing the information to Schelling’s mother, Laura Saxton.
All the while, the romantic element of her relationship with Lucas continued to develop.
At one point, Suhr testified, Lucas proposed marriage.
She said she told him she needed to think about it but did accept Lucas’ ring and later told agents with the
Colorado Bureau of Investigation she would often wear it.
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Torres also outlined the wire tap operation that was being conducted on members of the Lucas family beginning in November 2017.
He said Lucas family members’ phones were tapped for monitoring and police attempted to stir up chatter on their communication devices by attempting to initiate new interviews and conducting several searches throughout Pueblo at locations that could be tied to the case.
On Nov. 12, Sara Lucas purchased a one-way plane ticket for Donthe to Phoenix. The following day, Donthe Lucas was placed in custody at Denver International Airport before he could board his flight.
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Melea Lobato was living in Lucas’ former home on Manor Ridge in April 2017 and testified that on April 7, she had just gotten home when she heard a knock on the door and opened it to find Lucas, whom she recognized from photos in the media.
Lobato testified Lucas told her he knew someone who lived in the home and didn’t know what Lucas was doing there. She said he was continuously looking toward the back yard as he spoke with her, which she said was actively being dug up by law enforcement authorities looking for evidence.
But Tameler asked Torres about the timeline of the investigation as it related to Lobato’s encounter with Lucas.
Torres testified that ground penetrating radar and a cadaver dog had been used to identify a potential area of interest in the Manor Ridge backyard, which is what was occurring on the day Lucas allegedly appeared.