10 SEPTEMBER 4-10, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | The DA’s offi ce appears to have reached the same conclusion. In mid-2024, an in- vestigator told Tverberg’s mother that they “dream” someone will come forward with a confession in the case “because I’m sure that’s what it’ll take,” according to an email exchange reviewed by Westword. “I can’t understand why they would sweep this under the rug. It’s a murder case and you know who did it,” Gonzales says. “This is felony murder. I want everybody charged, everyone who was involved in this.” Bringing charges against all three sus- pects for allegedly participating in or con- cealing the murder would be a decision for the DA’s offi ce, Martinez says. “I am frustrated that we aren’t going forward with charges,” Martinez adds. “But I do understand where they’re coming from and what they’re saying. We’d be leaving it in the hands of a jury to say he’s guilty or not guilty. ...It gets frustrating when you get to that end, where the only thing [you need] is somebody talking, and nobody is talking.” According to Martinez, none of the three suspects or Chavez have agreed to speak to investigators again since 2020. The last time offi cers contacted Jenson, she was on the streets in the Denver metro area, he says. Vargas is currently serving a 26-year fed- eral prison sentence for committing armed robbery in November 2020. With Vargas and Chavez behind bars, speaking to law enforcement carries a stigma with fellow inmates, Martinez points out. “Essentially, they have nothing to ben- efi t,” explains Sergeant Adam Sherman, public information offi cer with the Adams County Sheriff’s Offi ce. “If something were to happen, it would have to be generated by them, because our facts and our evidence aren’t really going to change.” Though he was not charged with Tverberg’s murder, San- chez was convicted of fi rearm possession by a prohibited person for having the murder weapon. He was sentenced to 37 months in prison and released on parole in Septem- ber 2022. During the federal court case for the fi rearm charge, the murder was discussed at length. Prosecutors sought a sentence enhancement based on the allegation that Sanchez caused Tverberg’s death via involuntary manslaughter, ac- cording to a transcript of San- chez’s sentencing hearing in September 2021. United States District Judge R. Brooke Jackson denied the enhance- ment, noting that Sanchez had not been convicted or even charged with the death. “It is absolutely clear to me, based on my knowledge of the case and the extensive motion hearing that we had, that Mr. Sanchez had some involve- ment in the circumstances surrounding the death of Ms. Tverberg,” Jackson said dur- ing the hearing. “[But] I value very greatly the presumption of innocence that the gentle- man enjoys. “If he com- mitted the ho- micide and gets away with it, I’ll be very sorry that that is the result.” ‘Not a Single Clean Person’ Before she was gunned down in a stranger’s apart- ment, Tverberg dreamed of a better life. She fi lled pages of a composition notebook with positive affirmations and plans for the future. She wanted to set boundaries with friends she viewed as negative infl uences; dedicate more en- ergy to work, music and writ- ing; and “quit the things that changed me.” “CHANGE YOUR LIFE OR YOU WON’T HAVE ONE,” Tverberg wrote in all caps at the bottom of one page, next to a small doodle of a heart. Gonzales found the note- book among her daughter’s things following her murder. In between pages detailing Tverberg’s as- pirations and self-help strategies, a differ- ent person’s handwriting crept into the notebook in mid-2018. Messy scribbles in blue pen tracked dollars owed and paid for drugs, using slang terms like “clear” (code for methamphetamine) and “ball” (code for cocaine). Gonzales claims the writing is that of Chavez, Tverberg’s boyfriend. “He was very abusive, he was an addict, he was [gang] affi liated,” Maestas says of Chavez. “Knowing [Tverberg], she kind of looks past the bad things, and she tries to let the good outweigh the bad. She overlooks all of the negatives in a person and will always see the beauty in someone.” Her daughter had gone through phases of drug use but was always able to seek treat- ment and get clean, Gonzales says, adding that Tverberg was not part of a gang. She speculates that Tverberg may have gotten caught in the middle of dangerous people during her relationship with Chavez. Gonzales spent years meeting with inves- tigators, attending Sanchez’s court hearings, and speaking to anyone who might have information about what happened to her daughter. But after nearly six years without justice, she now suggests that misconduct by authorities may be responsible for the lack of progress in the case. While the DA’s offi ce refuses to discuss the case for fear of harming a potential fu- ture prosecution, details of the investigation were made public record years ago as part of Sanchez’s federal gun possession case, including the arrest affi davit, search war- rant and autopsy report. Gonzales says the documents have spread online among those who knew Tverberg. Gonzales points to individuals involved in the case who were later exposed for wrong- doing in unrelated matters: •Dan Danielson, one of the DA’s offi ce’s investigators who worked on the case, resigned in 2023 after he was arrested in an undercover prostitution sting. •Former Adams County Sheriff Rick Reigenborn, who held the position at the time of Tverberg’s murder until 2023, was convicted of forgery and offi cial misconduct for falsify- ing records for state-mandated law enforcement training that he did not complete, a scheme that also involved the offi ce’s undersheriff and division chief. This year, Reigenborn was also found to have wrong- fully fi red top commanders as political retaliation. •Judge Jackson from San- chez’s federal gun case was found to have violated federal law in 2021 for failing to recuse himself in dozens of cases that involved companies in which he had fi nancial stakes. “In my daughter’s inves- tigation, there is not a single clean person,” Gonzales says. “I think they literally fucked up everything.” In her dealings with the DA’s offi ce and the sheriff’s of- fi ce, she says there seems to be confl ict and tension, with each side insinuating blame for the stalls on the other. Gonzales has also butted heads with investigators. She expresses frustration over mistakes such as the search warrant incorrectly reporting that she hadn’t seen her daughter since May 2019, and authorities allegedly not following up on leads she provided regarding people with information about Tverberg’s move- ments leading up to the murder. Detective Martinez denies any confl ict with the DA’s offi ce, describing the situation as a professional disagreement and reiterat- ing that he understands the perspective of the DA’s offi ce. “There’s a difference between feeling that this is what happened, as opposed to proving a case beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury,” Sergeant Sherman adds. “The burden of proof, the standards are super high on their end.” “I don’t want Irene or anyone to think that I didn’t give [the investigation] my all and my 100 percent attention,” Martinez says. “Did I give it my everything? I know that I did. I just wish that it was a different outcome. ...I wish that I could bring her a guilty verdict and show her who killed her daughter and bring Alicia justice.” Martinez says investigators continued interviewing individuals regarding the mur- der, but if they were not in the room when it happened, their testimonies are largely hearsay, which offi cials cannot build a pros- ecution on. That is a hard pill to swallow for Tver- berg’s loved ones. They have spent the last fi ve-plus years listen- Tverberg continued from page 8 continued on page 12 Adalberto “Beto” Chavez’s inmate photo at the Sterling Correctional Facility. COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS Alicia Tverberg and her mother, Irene Gonzales. COURTESY IRENE GONZALES
