Colorado man living in Russia indicted for murder of missing ex

The former boyfriend of a Colorado woman who vanished in 2016 has been indicted for her murder after being arrested in Russia, where he has been living with his new wife and child. 

The Arapahoe County Grand Jury issued its indictment charging Jeffrey Beier, 46, with first-degree murder and other counts in the disappearance of Charlene Voight, 36, back in August 2019, but it only announced on Monday following the suspect’s arrest overseas. 

According to the indictment, Beier was in a relationship with Voight and she was living with him in Littleton, Colorado, at the time of her disappearance on June 30, 2016.

Jeffrey Beier, 46 (left), has been indicted for murder, sexual assault and evidence tampering in disappearance of his girlfriend Charlene Voight, 36 (right)

Voight vanished from Littleton, Colorado, in June 2016, and Beier later relocated to Russia and married another woman there 

Voight is presumed dead but her body has not been recovered. 

Her case was featured in Dateline NBC’s Missing in America series in 2016.   

Beier is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation; first-degree felony murder; sexual assault; attempt to influence a public servant; tampering with evidence; aggravated animal cruelty, and third-degree assault. 

The animal cruelty count is related to the corpse of a beheaded dog, believed to be Voight’s pet Chihuahua, Toby, which was discovered among her personal items that Beier had disposed of in a landfill just days after the woman’s disappearance. 

The head of the decapitated dog was never found. 

‘I am proud to be able to tell the family of Miss Voight that the men and women of my department worked for four years to see this day,’ stated Littleton Police Chief Doug Stephens. ‘My heart goes out to them, knowing that they are mourning the loss of their sister and daughter. I hope this arrest is a step that will help them move toward healing.’ 

Voight was last seen in Littleton on June 30, 2016. Her parents last heard from her on June 29, and reported her missing on July 8.

Beier is suspected of killing Voight and beheading her Chihuahua, Toby. The animal’s corpse was later  found wrapped in his owner’s sweater in a landfill 

Police later found the woman’s car abandoned in a dirt lot, which Beier reportedly had purchased just days prior. 

When police searched an apartment located just steps away from the dirt lot, they reportedly found blood spatter on the bed headboard, a mattress missing and a piece of carpet that had been cut out and removed, according to the indictment. 

Four days after Voight was reported missing, Beier was arrested for first-degree sexual assault and third-degree assault involving another woman. 

According to the indictment in that case, on the night of June 30, when Voight was last seen alive, she and her boyfriend had friends over to their apartment, where they drank alcohol and used cocaine.

Witnesses allegedly stated that Beier invited one of the female guests into the bedroom to discuss a business matter, where he beat and raped her, leaving her bloodied.

Voight moved to Colorado in 2015 to be with Beier after completing her studies in California

Earlier in the evening, multiple witnesses reported seeing Beier hit Voight in the face and tell her to shut up. 

In September of that year, the charges against Beier were dropped after prosecutors concluded that pursuing the rape and assault charges against him would adversely affect their investigation into Voight’s disappearance. 

According to the indictment, investigators looked into Beier’s activities in the days following Voight’s disappearance, and discovered he had withdrawn $7,000 in cash from his bank account, bought lighter fluid, drove to an abandoned farm, and stopped by the landfill in Commerce City, where four months later police would find the woman’s dead dog wrapped in her red sweater.   

Beier moved to Moscow, Russia, in November 2016, possibly after crossing the border into Canada, and married a woman there on Valentine’s Day in 2017. The following year, the couple welcomed a baby daughter together. 

In July 2019, his new wife contacted police in Littleton, Colorado, and reported that Beier had repeatedly beaten her and strangled her, including while she was holding their infant in her arms, and had brought a new girlfriend to come live with them, which prompted her to file for divorce.

‘[Russian wife] stated that Jeff told her he came to Russia because he was told there is no extradition treaty,’ according to the indictment. 

Records indicate that Beier and Voight had a history of domestic violence dating back to 2012

Voight had previously lived with Beier in San Clemente, California. In February 2012, she filed for a restraining order after he grabbed, slapped and choked her and dragged her around the house. 

Beier, who had a history of abuse dating back to 2007 involving his ex-wife, pleaded guilty in the domestic violence incident and served jail time for it in 2013. 

The couple later reconciled and moved to Colorado. Voight returned to her native California in 2015 to complete the final year of her degree in landscape architecture at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. 

After graduating in the spring of 2016, she returned to Colorado and moved in with Beier.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Beier faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole under Colorado law.

It is unclear when Beier will be returned to Colorado to face the charges against him; no court dates will be scheduled until he is physically present in the Arapahoe County Detention Center.

‘Nobody should be able to walk away from murder,’ stated District Attorney George Brauchler. ‘I will do everything in my power to bring a perpetrator to justice. I am pleased that in the death of Charlene Voight, there is now a process in place to accomplish that.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk