CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A man and a woman have been arrested in the case of 51-year-old Kimberly Bell, who went missing in 2019, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said.
The sheriff's office held a news conference Tuesday announcing the arrests of Javier "Alex" Martell, 30, and Jennifer Bremer, 38, for Bell's murder.
Bremer is charged with one count of accessory to crime and one count of identity theft, both of which are felonies. Martell is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said Bell was reported missing in August 2019 by her sister. Bell had been living with her sister in Franktown and had stopped showing up for work around July 22, 2019.
Bell's case was turned over to a cold case team in 2021.
“A lot of witness interviews were done. This case literally took many years to get to this point. And we sent detectives to Texas. We sent CSIs around the country as well. This case literally took years to solve, to put everything together, to get that grand jury indictment," Weekly said.
On Tuesday, Weekly said that according to witness statements, the suspects, Martell and Bremer, were known to Bell and were in her rental car with her on July 22, 2019. The indictment says Bremer said that she and Bell worked and lived together for a time. Martell was Bremer's boyfriend at the time.
According to the indictments, Martell and Bremer were driving around with Bell after she called them to shop for a Jeep since her previous car was totaled.
After driving around for a bit, they went back to the area near Bell's hotel near the Lincoln Station Regional Transportation District Park-N-Ride, according to the indictment.
Martell "became enraged with Bell" and pulled her out of the driver's seat and into the back seat with him, choking her, Weekly said. Martell then told Bremer to get into the driver's seat and drive. Martell continued to choke Bell until she was dead, Weekly said.
In the indictment, Bremer testified that she asked Martell if he killed her and he said, "I guess I did."
Martell and Bremer then drove to various locations around the Denver metro area with Bell's body in the back of the car, including to a Home Depot where Martell purchased several items, including an axe, Weekly said.
While driving around, Martell told Bremer to drive to a gas station. Bremer then used Bell's credit card to pay for the gas put in Bell's rental car, according to testimony from Bremer in the indictment.
The pair then drove to a remote location near Estes Park where Martell dismembered Bell's body, the indictment says. Afterward, Martell put Bell's body in trash bags and left them in a dumpster at a nearby veterinary clinic, Weekly said.
According to the grand jury indictment, Google location data would paint a picture for investigators about Bell's location that night. Her account history also included searches like "take a tracking system out of a ford focus" and "does phone ping location if off"?
Bell's body has not been found.
“We’ve never had a case quite like this in Douglas County," Weekly said Tuesday.
Weekly said he hopes this break in the case will be the start of giving Bell's family answers.
"We’re glad to get to this point to get some closure for the family," Weekly said.
Weekly thanked the sheriff's office's cold case unit for their years of hard work, as well as many partner agencies. He stressed the importance of law enforcement agencies committing time and resources to solving cold cases like this one.
“You can’t put the price on human life, so we will do whatever we can to solve these cases,” Weekly said.
Bremer has been released on bond, according to court documents. Martell is in custody in Douglas County on a $10 million cash-only bond.
Weekly said despite the grand jury indictment, this investigation is still ongoing. He's urging anyone who knew Bell, Martell or Bremer or anything about what happened that July night in 2019 to contact the Douglas County Cold Case Team at 303-660-7528.
> Watch the full news conference announcing the arrests: