DENVER — Denver Police said they don't have any evidence to suggest that two people who were fatally shot along the South Platte River bike path in September knew the suspect accused of killing them.
Tanner Fielder, 32, faces first-degree murder charges for the shootings that killed Jeremy Hutcheson, 43, and Lluvia Robles-Banuelos, 31.
Robles-Banuelos was killed just after midnight Sept. 6 in the area of East 45th Avenue and North Washington Street, police said at the time. Hutcheson was shot and killed while riding his bike three days later, late at night on Sept. 9, near South Platte River Drive and West Florida Avenue.
From September: Arrest made in South Platte bike path murders
Few details have been shared about the cases. On Monday, 9NEWS Investigates learned more about how investigators tracked down their suspect.
Very early on, investigators thought the shootings were connected.
An investigator who testified during Monday's preliminary hearing said there's no evidence these were attempted robberies. The victims most likely didn't know who killed them. The investigator who testified said there's nothing obvious about the suspect's motive.
The investigator said shell casings found at the two crime scenes were fired from the same gun, and officers found shell casings in Fielder's car that tied him to the homicides.
Exactly how Denver Police narrowed in on Fielder isn't clear yet, but multiple witnesses helped during the investigation.
About five years before the shootings, Fielder's mom filed for a protection order against him. She wrote, "Tanner is bipolar" and "he is not of right mind." His mom decided to dismiss the protection order in 2021 – sharing a desire to "help him get treatment."
The preliminary hearing on Monday was meant to help a judge decide whether there's enough evidence to move forward with the case. Testimony lasted for hours and will continue at a hearing in August. Fielder's bond is set at $5 million.
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