A man in Pueblo, Colorado, has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder three years after the remains of his roommate, Steven Robinson, were discovered in a shallow grave. The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of the 43-year-old man on September 26. He is not being named because formal charges have not yet been filed.
The investigation began when a property owner contacted authorities on September 25, 2022, after finding human remains buried on their land. An autopsy determined that Robinson died from blunt force and sharp force trauma, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Robinson’s case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), which serves as a national resource for law enforcement and other professionals handling missing or unidentified persons cases. Despite this effort and the creation of a DNA profile in 2023, no matches were initially found.
Deputies also released a reconstructed image of the victim to the public with little success in generating leads. With assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), investigators turned to genetic genealogy—a method that combines DNA testing with traditional genealogical research to establish family connections.
A DNA sample from Robinson was sent to Othram Inc., where scientists used advanced genome sequencing to develop a forensic profile. This information was provided to CBI’s forensic genetic genealogy team, who then generated new leads in the case.
By 2024, detectives identified the remains as those of Steven Robinson, originally from South Carolina but living in Pueblo since 2017. Authorities learned that at the time of his death, Robinson had a roommate who told friends and his landlord that Robinson had died from pneumonia in January 2022.
The property where Robinson was buried belonged to one of the roommate’s family members. Investigators found that over $75,000 had been withdrawn from Robinson’s bank account after his death; his military disability payments continued to be deposited for more than a year following his killing.
In addition to murder charges, deputies said the suspect faces counts of identity theft and theft.
Sheriff David J. Lucero commended Detective Vanessa Simpson for her work on the case: “(Simpson) worked tirelessly not only to identify the victim but also to investigate the homicide and identify a suspect,” Lucero said in the release. “Bringing closure to this case is a testament to modern science and solid investigative police work.”
Pueblo is located about 110 miles south of Denver.
