A Castle Rock man pleaded guilty on Monday to stabbing his mother to death before setting a house on fire in 2022.
Matthew Buchanan, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder, one count of criminal attempt to commit murder in the first-degree and one count of criminal attempt to commit aggravated cruelty to animals — the latter for leaving dogs inside of the house before setting it ablaze.
Ten other counts were dismissed as part of a plea deal, including one first-degree murder charge, two animal cruelty charges, three first-degree arson charges, one charge of tampering with a dead body, one charge of tampering with physical evidence, one charge of criminal mischief and one charge of threatening or obscene harassment via telephone.
“It’s despicable to learn a son would kill his own mother in a brutal act of violence,” said John Kellner, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, in a news release. “This plea avoids a lengthy, gruesome, and emotional trial.”
Kellner added that he’ll push for the maximum sentence under Colorado law, with a second-degree murder conviction resulting in up to 48 years in the Department of Corrections.
Buchanan is scheduled for sentencing on July 24.
His mother, Elizabeth Bjorlow, was found dead by Castle Rock police in her kitchen on the afternoon of April 26, 2022, after officers and fire personnel originally responded to a house fire on Dove Valley Place near Paint Pony Circle, according to the news release.
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Bjorlow had sustained trauma on her face, head and hands, with investigators determining that “her clothes appeared to have been set on fire and were partially burned.”
However, emergency responders rescued a relative from inside of the home — a paraplegic man, who recalled a “verbal disturbance” between the mother and son before the fire was set.
Surveillance footage from a neighbor’s doorbell camera revealed that a white minivan drove away from the house before the fire was reported, and relatives identified the vehicle as Buchanan’s, the news release reports.
One week after the crimes, Buchanan was arrested in Monroe County, Fla., before getting extradited to the Douglas County Jail and booked on several charges.
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