8 NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | www.innerbeatyoga.com ONLINE YTT During their investigation, authorities learned that Smith was romantically in- volved with a woman before knowing she was married to Apostol, according to CBS. “Upon learning [the woman’s] forwarding address — 7315 East 17th Avenue — detectives realized this was the same address where [detectives] had contacted Apostol the day of the shooting and asked him about the video surveillance on the exterior of the house,” says Apostol’s arrest affi davit. “The house is located on the northeast corner of E. 17th Ave. and Quebec Street,” it adds. “The front door faces E. 17th Ave. There is a detached two-car garage north of the residence, and a driveway north of the detached garage. North of the driveway is a white single car garage. ... Detectives observed that you can access this north driveway from the north gate. This is also the gate where the second Ring doorbell camera was located. Additionally, this north driveway is easily accessible to the alley and is directly west of where the spent 9mm cartridge casing was located and recovered. According to Google Maps, the spent 9mm cartridge casing that was recovered from the alley was approxi- mately 55 feet from the rear gate to where the 9mm spent cartridge casing was recovered.” Apostol’s wife admitted to police that she had met Smith outside their residence “early in the morning” of September 10 while Apostol was asleep inside, CBS reports. Investigators say Smith and Apostol’s wife engaged in at least eight months of conversation “including up to the time of the murder, where they planned to meet outside the house for drugs and sex,” according to Apostol’s arrest affi davit, which was heavily redacted and missing his wife’s name when it was released by the DPD on November 17; CBS confi rmed her involvement through a “document from the DPD investigation.” Investigators say Apostol’s wife denied having sex with Smith before his murder. According to CBS, they fi rst learned of their relationship through a tipster, who informed them that “the only time [Smith] could see her” was when Apostol “was out of town.” Apostol and his wife fl ew to Florida the same day that Smith was murdered. “Upon her arrival in Florida on September 10th, her cell phone stopped working and she had to factory reset her phone on the trip due to having issues with it,” the arrest affi davit says. “This caused her to lose all of her text messages between her and Smith.” That trip was part of the mounting evidence that led DPD investigators to search Apos- tol’s home on September 21, 2020, when they stumbled upon a marijuana shed and nearly a dozen fi rearms, according to the affi davit, prompting the drugs and weapons case. Earlier in the day, Apostol had “voluntarily responded” to DPD headquarters and agreed to a video interview, the affi davit says; cops subsequently got approval for a search warrant. One of the smoking guns in the murder case was the black robe that Apostol was wearing when he answered the door to speak with cops on September 10, after Smith’s murder; investigators later found gunshot residue on it. Another major piece of evidence came in the form of a “gun trace” conducted by the DPD, which matched a Canik 9mm handgun that Apostol had purchased with a bullet fragment found inside Smith’s head, according to the arrest affi davit. “The bullet that was recovered during the autopsy of Smith was analyzed and compared to the recovered Canik 9mm,” the affi davit says. “The Crime Lab indicated that the spent bullet had the same class and characteristics to the Canik 9mm that was recovered.” Apostol is currently facing charges of fi rst-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He was taken into custody in Lake- wood just two and a half months after getting out of prison for his 2022 case. His bond was set at $3 million; he has an appearance slated for Friday, December 1, in Denver District Court. When asked about his brother’s criminal history and current situation, a spokesperson for Strings told Westword: “No comment.” Email the author at [email protected]. News continued from page 6 Denver musician Zackary Smith (left), a member of Autonomix, was murdered on September 10, 2020. TAYLOR JOERGER
