Episode Transcript
Amanda: You. Hey there, all you true crime fans. I'm your host, Amanda Russell, and this is Colorado crime. I cover cases from coast to coast with a special emphasis on cases that happen right here in colorful crimefield Colorado. If you're new here, welcome. If you're turning, welcome back. Last week's case took us to Delphi, Indiana. There is currently a petition circulating in order to keep the probable cause affidavit sealed. I'm going to try to link it in my link tree for you. If you haven't already. I would appreciate it if you took the time to sign it. Eventually, all this information will be released, but until trial, I think it should stay sealed, at least to keep the integrity of the case. Ultimately, the goal is to get a conviction. So as always, I will keep you updated as that case progresses. This episode is definitely more on the chatty side. Let me know if you enjoy this style or if you enjoy a more direct approach that gets right into the case this week, the case we're discussing is back in Colorado. Our case today occurred in November of 2011, became front and center for me in February of 2012. I had been working at the Weld County Jail for a few months at the time. Working in a jail is such a different experience. I loved it. As weird as it sounds, I felt super safe working there. I worked in booking, which meant after a person was arrested, I was the first person they talked to and the individual would come in to be booked. They'd be interviewed, classified, processed, and then they'd be sent to their housing unit or they would bond out if they made a point to never look at the charges. When someone would come in, I just didn't feel like it was my place to pass judgment. So I would gather my papers, head back to my desk, and I would wait for them to come in to finish the booking process. There I would ask the basics name, date of birth, any military affiliation, right or left handed, religious beliefs. It has to do with food. And then I would ask who they would like us to call in case of an emergency. That was it. That was the extent of my interaction. And then the person would go get to use the phone. From there, I would enter the charges, whether it was a bench warrant, an arrest warrant, or new charges like driving without a valid operator's license. It was probably one of the coolest jobs I've ever had. And I would go back in a heartbeat if I could guarantee that I would have the holidays to spend with my kiddos. A little fact about me, I love Christmas. Like, I am totally that person that waits for Countdown to Christmas on Hallmark. It starts in October, if you're wondering. It's going to be November 11 when this is released. And just know that I already have multiple Christmas trees up. Don't judge me, okay? You can judge me a little, but don't hold it against me. Researchers say people who put their Christmas trees up early live longer, I think. And if they don't see that, I think they should, because it makes me so happy. But I digress. Now that I got that out of my system, let's go ahead and jump right into today's case. Thomas Bashline was a 42 year old certified athletic trainer when he was murdered. For ten years, he was a trainer at Brighton High School, which is actually where I graduated from. I didn't know him, though, because I basically lack all athletic ability. But from what I've seen and what I've heard, he was very good at his job, and he was incredibly well liked. Many of his former athletes recalled his passion for helping others, the pride he showed in his work, and how he was always smiling and happy. He also went on to be an athletic trainer for the Harlem Globetrotters. For those of you like me who didn't exactly know what the Globetrotters did, it's a basketball team that combines comedy, athleticism and theater, but they do actually play basketball games. He started the Valley Rodeo Association and was actively involved in high school rodeo. He also owned his own business, where he tested athletes for performance enhancing drugs. Early on in the investigation, investigators thought that might have something to do with it, that maybe it was a scorned athlete that had murdered him. But they quickly realized that wasn't the case at all. Our case began on the afternoon of November 4, 2011. Around 04:30 p.m.. Weld county sheriff's office was dispatched to Thomas Bashlane's Frederick home for an unresponsive mail. When deputies arrived, they met Yvette Reyes, Bashlane's girlfriend. She explained to deputies that she arrived home to find her boyfriend Tom dead in his bedroom. When she was interviewed, she told deputies that she became concerned when his 1999 Chevy S Ten wasn't parked in front of the house. The vet also informed police that she could not locate Thomas's new black roper boots, the keys to the missing truck or Thomas'cell phone anywhere in the house. Deputies, paramedics and firefighters descended on the house and discovered Thomas Bashline in his bedroom naked, facedown with a large amount of blood around him. Aside from the blood, it wasn't apparent what had happened, and no weapons were recovered from the scene. That evening, at around 06:51 p.m.. A Bolo or a Be on the Lookout was issued for Thomas's missing truck. This is a typed message, also known as a teletype, that goes out to law enforcement, notifying them of something to be looking for, in this case, a blue 1999 Chevy S Ten. Boulder Police Department received this teletype and reached out to the Weld County Sheriff's Office to inform them that this vehicle had been located in Boulder. It was blocking the driveway, and it was towed. Around 06:10 P.m., weld County Sheriff's Office took possession of the vehicle and had it towed to their impound lot until they could obtain a warrant to search it. The next day, November 5, an autopsy was completed and it was determined that Thomas Bashline had died from a. 45 caliber gunshot wound to the head. But this was no accident. Since no weapon was recovered, suicide was ruled out. There were no signs of a struggle or any form of defensive wounds. Either Thomas was killed in his sleep or he knew his killer. The same day, a search warrant was executed on Thomas's home and vehicle, a laptop was seized from the home, but the majority of the evidence collected came from Thomas's truck. Inside the vehicle, a backpack was discovered in the passenger seat. Underneath the backpack was an Ithaca 19 11 45 caliber handgun. The backpack contained a box of 45 caliber ammunition, computer wires, and a Colorado license plate sticker for the year 2012. The Identifier for the sticker was later searched, and it showed it was issued to a 2002 Subaru that was owned by Justin Christopherson, a Boulder resident. Justin's address was conveniently half a mile from where the S Ten was located. Also found in the vehicle was a receipt for fuel from a safeway in Firestone. This store was located only one, 8 miles from Thomas's home. It showed that $25 worth of fuel was purchased using a $50 bill on the Fourth, around 03:54 P.m., just shortly after Thomas was murdered. Police went on to request a copy of the security footage from the gas station and discovered a white male in his early twenties paid for the fuel and then reentered to purchase a pack of cigarettes. He was wearing a black hoodie over his head when he paid for the fuel, but removed the hood when he came back in for the cigarettes. Weld County Sheriff's deputies met with the Boulder Police Department to follow up regarding the license plate sticker. It turned out that Justin Christopherson reported a burglary. According to the police report filed by Justin, he told officers he was away from his home all day, but returned later in the evening around 11:30 P.m. And discovered that his front door was unlocked and there were items missing. He reported a backpack with his laptop computer inside was missing, as well as an Ithaca 19 11 45 caliber handgun and his license plate tag. Boulder Police had collected fingerprints and palm prints from the scene. On November 7, Boulder Police entered the fingerprints into a database called APHIS, which is the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, and found that the prints actually had a match. Asus is actually really cool. It's created in the FBI and back in 74, computers took up, like, entire rooms. The only key identifying features were saved. As technology advanced, entire fingerprints and palm prints were able to be stored, and now it's widely used by law enforcement to compare prints quickly. The fingerprints matched to Drayton. Philip Mayors. Born October 31, 988. On November 2011, Drayton. Mayors was actually listed as a work release inmate in the Boulder County Jail and failed to return. On November 4 at around 05:30 p.m.. Just hours after he committed the murder, he was arrested at Silver Mine Subs. When he went to pick up his paycheck. He was then booked back into Boulder County Jail for escaping work release. Police began connecting the dots and realized the proximity of the S Ten and the burglary at Justin Christopherson's home. It was then decided that Drayton's jail belongings would be looked at when a suspects booked into custody. All their belongings were taken and stored in a bag to be returned upon their release. When reviewing the contents of Draighton. Mayor's property, police found blue pants, a black jacket sized ten and a half, black roper, boots, a cell phone, a black wallet, a brown belt, and keys labeled S Ten. Things started to line up pretty quickly after this. On November 8, it was confirmed that the keys collected from Draighton. Mayor's inmate property by search warrant were in fact the keys to Thomas Chevy S Ten. A booking photo was compared to the security footage from the Firestone gas station. It was determined that the photo clothing from the inmate property and the security footage were consistent with each other. A search of the laptop found in Thomas home was done, and it was discovered that Drayton. Mayor's name appeared 63 times on the computer in email correspondence. On November 9, Drayton. Mayors was interviewed by Boulder police and Weld County Sheriff's Office. He was read his Miranda rights and waived his right to counsel and to remain silent. Essentially, he didn't request an attorney to be present while speaking with police and agreed to questioning. Drayton. Mayors went on to describe how he knew the victim, who he referred to as Tommy. Drayton told investigators that he met Tommy in May of 2010, when the two met through an ad placed on Craigslist in the man for man personal section. The two quickly began a consensual sexual relationship and on November 4, the two exchanged text messages and Tommy picked Straighten up in Longmont and then the two headed to Tommy's home in Firestone. Drayton stated that the two began to argue after Tommy called Drayton a ******, which is such an offensive word. Don't get me wrong, it's a disgusting word. I don't use it, but it doesn't justify murder. Straighten also claimed that Tommy became abusive towards him, threw him on the bed and demanded access to his body while using a derogatory Spanish term. Mayors told investigators that he was scared of Tommy and the situation reminded him of when he was raped at 17. After this drayton. Mayors was arrested on first degree murder charges as well as second degree aggravated motor vehicle theft. He was transferred from Boulder County to Weld County on February 8, 2012. This is when I booked my first murderer into custody. What an odd thing to say. It's weird that I remember it. I had only been working at the jail for a few months at this time. It was during the early evening hours. And again, I didn't read the charges. I just started asking the usual questions. Okay, I'm going to go off on a tiny little sidebar here. Sometimes I like to just give you guys a little insight into my world. I didn't have a typical childhood. I was the kid that enjoyed going to work with my stepdad. I've mentioned previously that that's where I thought I was going. I was going to be in law enforcement, and I really wanted to be a narcotics agent. And at the time, my dad was actually an undercover narcotics agent in the Denver metro area. So I went on search warrants, drug busts, drug buys. I was Nick certified, which meant I can test narcotics. And I was doing surveillance with an officer one time, you know, like the safe job, because my dad knew my mom would be ****** if something happened to me. Well, the rippy cop spooked the dealer, he took off like a bad out of health. The radio was going off like crazy. And while we're sitting in the parking lot of this drug dealers apartment, he comes hauling *** in. The guy I'm with jumps out of the car, breaks this guy's window with the butt of his gun. There's blood and glass everywhere. Car after car, agency after agency comes rolling in, and I'm just sitting there. And not one of these cars is my dad. I waited. And I waited. And finally, an officer from another agency that I recognized showed up. And I got out, and I told her that I couldn't find my dad. And I knew my dad was the one who was actually making the fake sale. And at that point, after all the chaos, I just knew that my dad, he was just dead. I knew it. I assumed that he had been shot, and that's why everyone was so frantic. And I was there, and now I was going to have to tell my mom. And my head was spinning. Those 10 minutes drugged on, like, Molasses. The officer didn't know what channel they were using, and all my dad's guys were busy. So finally my dad comes in, and I can breathe. This all happened on a Take Your Kid to work day. And I had to write a little paper about what I did because I wasn't at school. So I turned it into my teacher, and she tells me that I watched too much TV. Needless to say, I've been exposed to a lot. So when I began working at the jail, it wasn't a big adjustment. Honestly. It sort of felt normal. What wasn't normal was my idea of how a murderer would act. I thought they would be mean and scary and tough. But this brings me to one of my biggest takeaways from working at the jail. Murderers are always the nicest, women were always mean, and the holidays bring out the worst in people. But that's a story for another episode. Anyway, back to our case straighten. Theirs was no exception. He was polite, timid. Even after I finished my questioning, he was sent over to the carpet, and I started entering his charges first degree murder, second degree aggravated motor vehicle theft. I was shocked, and I followed this case until the very end. At trial, his attorneys never argued that he hadn't murdered Thomas bachelor. They did argue that it was after Thomas demanded a back rub, called him the F word he previously accused Thomas of, and told him that he gave a better massage than his girlfriend. According to Drayton's testimony, this was the first time he heard about Thomas's girlfriend and became enraged. In a recorded interview five days after the murder, drayton said the quote my girl comment was the final straw. He placed a sock over Thomas's eyes, a pillow over his head, and shot him. Then he took the keys to the S Ten and went about his day. The defense argued that this was a crime of passion and not a planned murder. A crime of passion could be the difference between murder and manslaughter. What separates them is the mindset of the killer at the time of the crime. For a first degree murder conviction, the killing must be intentional and premeditated. For a second degree murder or manslaughter conviction, the crime must lack premeditation. Long story short, they carry very different sentences, and the defense attorneys were working to get Dragon the lowest sentence possible, which I always have a problem with, but I totally understand. It's just their job. That's what they're hired to do. But let's not forget, though, that he was actually incarcerated at the time of the murder. He had been sentenced to work release for a previous burglary and escaped. He also committed a burglary after he escaped the same burglary where he stole a murder weapon for the next crime he would commit. Drayton told investigators that he had tried and failed to sell the gun, also a crime, which is why it was in the backpack when Thomas picked him up. I always tease my husband, and I always say, I'm no attorney. I play one in the shower, and I've never lost a case. But the fact that he was of sound mind enough to remember that the stolen weapon was located in the backpack at the end of the bed, even while he was being, quote, verbally abused, still leaves me to believe there was some level of premeditation. Drayton told investigators that the situation scared him and reminded him of a previous rape. Maybe some of you are listening to this and maybe thinking that Drayton could have been afraid. Let me give you an idea of Drayton. Mayor's. He was a 23 year old young man at the time of the murder. He stood about 6ft tall and was about £185. He had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He stood in front of me just months after this occurred. And he is not what I would describe as a small person, definitely not someone I would imagine being afraid of very many people, but that's my opinion. I met him one time also. I'm not victim shaming or murderer shaming. I don't know what he was feeling. I just wouldn't go to a hook up with someone that I clearly had strong feelings for and bring a gun straight and mayor's murder trial began on October 17, 2012 and lasted eight days. On October 25, around 02:00 p.m.. A verdict was reached. Drayton. Mayors was found guilty of first degree murder and immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. For the second charge of second degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, he was sentenced to 40 years. Drayton. Mayor celebrated his 24th birthday as a convicted murderer. He is currently serving his life sentence at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility. Thomas Bash Line was a great man. He left an impression on the world during his short time here. He is remembered fondly by friends, family and former students. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. I'll be back next week with a new case. New episodes are released every Friday at 10:30, a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Please follow me on Instagram at Colorado Crimepod for updates on next week's case as well as other true crime happenings. If you have any cases you would like me to COVID please send me an email at amanda at Colorado Crime Podcast.com. I hope you have a beautiful day wherever you are. And as always, stay safe. Close Video.
