In the quiet southwest corner of La Plata County, the life of 27-year-old Jamison McMaster, a male resident of Durango, Colorado, came to a tragic and violent end on November 22, 2021. His death, the result of a gunshot wound, was not a random act of violence, but rather the culmination of a volatile and deteriorating friendship with Nicolo 'Nico' Tonelli.
The two men, who considered each other as close as brothers, had a relationship that had become marred by heavy drug use, financial disagreements, and physical altercations.
The events leading up to the fatal shooting were fraught with tension. The night before, a physical fight had broken out between Tonelli and McMaster, during which Tonelli allegedly struck McMaster in the head with a rock, leaving a significant gash on his forehead. On the morning of his death, McMaster documented his injury in a nine-minute Instagram Live video, telling his followers, 'Nico smashed my head with a rock last night.' The video captured the strained atmosphere, showing a downcast Tonelli and another man who appeared annoyed with McMaster. In the video, McMaster also spoke of plans to travel to Africa and China to help save the world, acknowledging his own somewhat confused state of mind by saying, 'I still don't know exactly what I'm talking about.' He also mentioned a past traumatic brain injury that he felt might be affecting his coherence.
Later that day, the conflict escalated into its final, fatal confrontation. Tonelli, then 24 years old, armed himself with a 9mm Glock pistol and shot McMaster in the driveway of their rented house on Dream Catcher Lane. McMaster was unarmed at the time of the shooting. Two other men who were present at the scene immediately fled and did not contact the authorities. It wasn't until around 3 p.m. that a caretaker for the property discovered McMaster's body in the back of a Dodge Durango and called 911. Investigators determined that McMaster's body had been moved after he was shot. Tonelli, for his part, did not call for help. Instead, he removed a digital video recorder connected to the home's security system in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence.
Nicolo Tonelli was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and tampering with a corpse. During the trial, his defense attorneys argued that he had acted in self-defense, portraying McMaster as a bully whose personality had been altered by drug use, making him erratic and dangerous. The prosecution, however, contended that the shooting was motivated by a dispute over a large tub of marijuana that McMaster was attempting to leave with. They pointed to Tonelli's actions after the shooting—wiping the gun clean, removing the DVR, and moving McMaster's body—as evidence of his guilt and not the actions of someone who had acted in self-defense.
In January 2024, a jury found Nicolo Tonelli not guilty of the more serious charge of second-degree murder, but convicted him of the lesser charge of reckless manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence. He was acquitted of tampering with a corpse. In March 2024, Tonelli was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in the death of his one-time friend. During the sentencing, McMaster's family spoke of their profound grief and the loss of their son, who they said was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of his death. His father, through tears, questioned why Tonelli, if he had been a true friend, had not called for help after the shooting, concluding that his son was dead 'because of money and greed.'
