In a tragic turn of events that shattered a Castle Rock, Colorado community, 15-year-old Ashley Martin was found dead in what investigators determined to be a double-murder suicide. The grim discovery was made in a remote ravine in Lincoln County, where the bodies of Ashley, her mother Jacqueline Blecha, 46, and her stepfather Joseph Blecha, 49, were located.
Ashley and her mother were last seen on September 1, 2006, before the family was supposed to have left for a Labor Day weekend trip to Mesa Verde National Park.
Authorities believe that Joseph Blecha shot his wife and stepdaughter in their Castle Rock home before driving their bodies to the desolate Lincoln County location. Evidence of foul play, including signs of gunshots, was discovered at the family's residence. In the ravine, the bodies of Ashley and her mother were found inside the family's pickup truck, which had been set on fire. Both were burned beyond recognition and were later identified after autopsies determined they had been shot in the head. Joseph Blecha's body was found outside the vehicle, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The motive for the horrific act appeared to stem from escalating family and financial problems. An 80-minute audiotape made by Joseph Blecha after the murders and before his suicide was found near his body. In the recording, he expressed remorse for his actions, citing financial distress and marital issues, including disagreements on how to raise Ashley. He spoke of feeling like a failure and saw no other way out of their mounting debt and personal turmoil. The case concluded with the identification of Joseph Blecha as the sole suspect in the deaths of his wife and stepdaughter, leaving a community to mourn the senseless loss of life.
