Nathan Collin “Nate” Leon, a 27-year-old Caucasian male, was working to support his family on the evening he was killed. On Sunday, March 17, 2013, Leon, a resident of Commerce City, Colorado, was working as a delivery driver for a Domino's Pizza in North Denver to supplement his income from his primary job. That evening, he was dispatched to deliver a pizza to a deserted industrial area in Denver after an order was placed from a nearby payphone.
Leon never returned from the
delivery. He was kidnapped by his assailant, forced into the trunk of a car, and driven approximately 18 miles to Golden, Colorado. There, in a field, he was shot multiple times and left for dead. His body was discovered later that evening. The investigation revealed that the primary motive for the murder was the theft of his Domino's Pizza uniform. His car and phone were left behind.
The man responsible for Leon's death was identified as Evan Ebel, a 28-year-old recent parolee with ties to a white supremacist prison gang. Ebel had been released from prison early due to a clerical error and had removed his home monitor days before the murder. Two days after killing Leon, Ebel used the stolen uniform to pose as a pizza delivery driver to gain access to the home of Tom Clements, the chief of the Colorado Department of Corrections, whom he then murdered.
Ebel's spree ended a couple of days later in Texas. After a high-speed chase and a shootout with law enforcement, he was fatally wounded. Evidence found in Ebel's vehicle, including a pizza box and a Domino's shirt, linked him to Leon's murder. While Ebel was the direct perpetrator, some investigators and Leon's family believe the murders may have been part of a larger conspiracy involving the prison gang. The case officially remains open. Leon was a husband and a father to three young daughters.
