Episode Transcript
Amanda: Hey there all you true crime fans. I'm Amanda.
Kori: And I'm Kori.
Amanda: And welcome back to Colorado crime. You know the drill. We're just two best friends who want to chat about all things true crime. This week is another one from our home state of Colorado. So without any further ado, let's jump into this week's joke.
Kori: Are you ready?
Amanda: I'm always ready.
Kori: This joke was sent into us by Annie.
Amanda: Hey Annie.
Kori: I know. She's sending us all the worst and best jokes. So this one what do you do if you're attacked by a clan of clowns?
Amanda: I don't know. What?
Kori: Go for the juggler. Get it? Terrible. They're juggling and juggler. Never mind.
Amanda: It's sound was awful.
Kori: It was pretty terrible. Reminder please. If you want your jokes read on this beautiful podcast, please either DM us or email us. Or if you're one of the lucky ones, send us a text message.
Amanda: Yeah, Emerson had you. She was supposed to call you and she forgot. Oh, she'll send it to you though.
Kori: Okay, I'll text her.
Amanda: Okay.
Kori: I'm going to do it right now while you're talking.
Amanda: Okay.
Kori: Because I'm old and I'll forget.
Amanda: That's fair. Me too. My COVID brain is still there.
Kori: I'm sorry about your COVID brain.
Amanda: Oh, that's okay. It just takes a little longer to jump start. It's like a pull start lawn mower. It's not like a riding lawn mower. It doesn't start right away. It takes a minute, but it's alive.
Kori: That's good. Just so you know, I'm not coming to you live from the car cast today. I know some of you will be disappointed about that and I apologize. But I don't need to be in the car. I am in my spare room. I'm going to record these podcasts from every room in my house these next two weeks.
Amanda: I was thinking about that today and I was like, could I do a podcast? And I was like, no. Why do you need you?
Kori: You have a perfectly fine closet.
Amanda: I know. My microphone is attached and every time I try to mess with it, it gets all ****** up and then I'm all bummed and it takes me 30 minutes to mess with it and then I spend the rest of the episode messing with it.
Kori: Well, apparently my goal in life is to have somebody doing something to my house every day for the next decade.
Amanda: I love that. I love that for you.
Kori: Thank you. I don't love that for me.
Amanda: I love home renovation stuff.
Kori: I know. My sister was asking me, do you think I could ask Amanda about home renovations and what she thought? And I'm like, yeah, you should text her about it because she's painted something every day the last two weeks. So sure, send me a message.
Amanda: It's so funny. I know. I'm excited when I'm not like and whatnot?
Kori: She was going to help her do her kitchen or something like that.
Amanda: I know.
Kori: Just paint your cabinets like that is a thing, and it is perfectly fine to do that.
Amanda: Heck yeah.
Kori: It's so much cheaper and more cost effective way.
Amanda: Unless your cabinets are, like, falling apart, it's so much easier just to paint them. Yeah, and just use a good quality paint.
Kori: Exactly. Sherwin Williams or Bear.
Amanda: I'm a Sherman.
Kori: Not flat. No, not flat paint. No one should paint with flat paint, ever. No, it is not allowed. Or even satin finish. I think that is also horrible use of nice semigloss all the time.
Amanda: Oh, that's funny. I like satin.
Kori: I don't.
Amanda: That's funny. I really love satin. I don't like semigloss unless it's for a bathroom.
Kori: Oh, I like semigloss because I have pets, and sometimes my dogs like to pee on the walls, and it's so much easier to wipe off.
Amanda: I have girl dogs. They don't pee on the wall, but sometimes our old dog used to leave marks on the wall from where he would lay on the wall.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: Well, welcome to our DIY Podcast.
Kori: Crime and serial killers. Send us your questions, and we'll answer them live on the air. Want to know about paint? Or how to podcast from your car?
Amanda: Or your closet?
Kori: Yes. Or your closet or whatever room in your house?
Amanda: We've got you covered. We're a multifaceted podcast. We don't like to limit ourselves with labels.
Kori: Don't label us.
Amanda: Oh, God. Well, shameless plug time. I'm sure you guys have heard us say this 100 times, but we have a new series, and it airs every Tuesday, and it's called Serial Killer Tuesday. So we do a month long we do a month long deep dive into a different serial killer's life. So this month we are discussing Dean Coral, aka. The Candy Man. So make sure that you guys tune into that every Tuesday at our special upload time at 02:00 P.m. To find out what makes some of the most prolific serial killers tick. And now that we got that out of the way, let's go ahead and jump into some true crime updates. So, this week, Paul Flores, who was found guilty of Kristen Smart's murder back in October, was sentenced to 25 years to life. And if you aren't familiar, Kristen Smart, she went missing back in 1996 from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, and she was last seen walking with Paul Flores back to campus. And then in 2019, before Flores and his father were both tried for the murder, there was an investigative journalist. His name is Chris Lambert, and he released a podcast that brought a ton of attention back to the case. So if you guys are interested in this podcast, it's called Your Own Backyard, and it was sensational. Chris did a phenomenal job and is really, like, the main reason that Flores was looked into again. So Ruben Flores, who is Paul Flores dad, was found not guilty of accessory after the fact, even though it's highly believed that Reuben helped his son Paul hide Kristen's body. Actually, like in his backyard under a deck. Yeah. Crazy, crazy case. But Paul's been accused of drugging and raping other women since Kristen's disappearance and some of those women were actually interviewed in that podcast. So, I mean, if you guys are interested, really check it out. It's a great podcast. But I'm just glad that he is finally behind bars because just like not a good guy ever, even as a teenager.
Kori: So it was October of 2022 when he was convicted.
Amanda: He was found guilty back in so.
Kori: They just now sentenced him. That is a long *** time.
Amanda: Holy cow. Yes. That's what I thought.
Kori: Wow.
Amanda: I think maybe they were waiting for his dad to be finished with the I don't know. I'm not sure. I just know he was sentenced this week. Interesting. I'm really glad because he is not a good guy.
Kori: At least that's one more person that will kind of get off the streets.
Amanda: I know. But Kristen's remains still haven't been found, which is really sad.
Kori: That is sad for her family.
Amanda: It does. And he's that like schlubby kind of a person who he will take will never say yeah.
Kori: My update is coming to you from Boulder. Yeah. So apparently back in 2006, some hikers were hiking in Boulder because that's what hikers do and they stumbled across a body buried in a shallow grave. The body was later identified as Angela Wilde. She was found near yellow ski pants, a sleeping bag, and a pillow. And those were all found like neatly folded near her gravesite. And I guess during the initial investigation, they had collected enough evidence to arrest a gentleman by the name of John Enger. This was in 2010. And they had apparently found his DNA inside the sleeping bag. And then several people had seen the pair together, but apparently the judge didn't feel like that was enough evidence for probable cause. So he dismissed the case without prejudice so they would be able to try him again if they needed to or arrest him again or whatever. So for the past 13 years, boulder county has still been working on this case because it was a horrific murder. They've been speaking to acquaintances of angers and all those people have described him as volatile. And one witness had reported that they saw him strangle an ex girlfriend of his in early 2006. They also covered uncovered information that Angela and John were both at a hotel between December 2005 and January of 2006. And they also discovered that he frequented a cave in the St. Vrain area and often camped there near where her body was found. He went camping there on daily weekends and hiking and camping and all kinds of stuff right outside of there. So they were able to get that evidence and the DNA evidence and some more witnesses and ex girlfriends and finally had enough evidence to present to the grand jury again. And on February 16, he was indicted for second degree murder, and he was arrested where he was living in Anchorage, Alaska, and is now facing extradition. So hopefully he'll actually get convicted this time, and he will go to jail for that murder.
Amanda: What a bad dude.
Kori: Yeah. I guess it's good that they were able to better find the.
Amanda: You have.
Kori: To kind of see where the judge is coming from because just like, his DNA inside the sleeping bag and them being seen together doesn't necessarily mean that he killed her. You know what I mean?
Amanda: Right.
Kori: Because he could have explained that away. I had sex with her. People saw us together because we were dating or whatever the case may be.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: But now you have that coupled with the fact that he strangled an ex girlfriend, and I guess he also said that he was going to kill another one of his ex girlfriends and that sort of thing. So he has a history of being violent, so they were able to get those charges to actually stick this time, which I think is amazing and fantastic for her case.
Amanda: I agree. And he also had face tattoos.
Kori: Right? I know. Don't get facet on your face. Like, get a tattoo if you want. Tattoos are cool.
Amanda: Yeah, but not on your face.
Kori: Not on your face.
Amanda: Don't let me tell you how to live your life, though. Do you want to get prison tattoos on your face?
Kori: I have tattoos. I have tattoos, but not on my face. You'll still be able to get a job or whatever. Fine. We're not trying to be your mom. We're a 95 year old lady.
Amanda: I'm 84 in real life.
Kori: I know.
Amanda: I don't care.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: Okie dokie. Well, that brings us to the main event this week star wars. I like it. It's fun.
Kori: It is fun. I didn't really sing the whole theme song, so I don't think they can.
Amanda: Oh, good. Don't get us Star Wars, Disney. We didn't mean to.
Kori: Mind your own business.
Amanda: Yeah. Well, this week we are discussing the case of Paige Bergfeld. So Paige Bergfeld was a 34 year old mother of three and self made entrepreneur. She ran several successful businesses, a dance studio. She actually sold baby slings, and she sold Pampered Chef. So for those of you who are lucky enough to not have friends in MLMS, pampered Chef is a multilevel marketing company that sells, like, a ton of kitchen gadgets, don't get me wrong, because some of them are really cool. My mother in law has, like, this cake pan that you can put it in the microwave, and then you put in the cake mix, and you follow the directions, and then you scoop the frosting in, and then it's all still wet, and you put it in the microwave, and you've got, like, a lava cake. Oh, my God. It's amazing.
Kori: I have a piece of stone from there. And then I had one of those hamburger choppers that you see on TikTok.
Amanda: I want one.
Kori: No, I didn't like it. I ended up giving it away when I moved, I was like, this thing sucks. It doesn't really look like that. It looks all easy on TikTok. It's not like that.
Amanda: Good to know.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: All right. Well, anyway, back to Paige. You're totally fine. Chef is cool.
Kori: Paige Meredith Bergfeld was born on April 27, 1973, to Frank and Suzanne Bergfeld in Atlanta, Georgia. Paige had one brother, craig. Craig. And Paige, who was a successful pediatric plastic surgeon nice. Who lived in Seattle.
Amanda: And not the kind of fixes broken kids like, oh, my child has a funny nose, and we want them to.
Kori: Look more like a clutch palette kind.
Amanda: Yeah. And, like, if they got my dog, things like that. Very successful.
Kori: Nice. So Paige had attended the University of Florida to become a nurse. While she was there, she married her high school sweetheart, Ron Begler. Paige dropped out of college, and the couple moved to Colorado, where Ron was from. Paige had always dreamed of being a mother. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't ready. So after two years of marriage, the couple called it quits. Paige, now single, decided not to go back to college. But she knew she needed to do something to bring in some money, so she did what any struggling woman do, and she went to work. Paige went to work stripping under the name of Madison at the Mile High Saloon in Denver and quickly became a fan favorite. Paige was gorgeous, but she was also kind and personable. She even met her next husband while on the job.
Amanda: Rob Dixon was a wealthy entrepreneur, and the couple quickly married and moved to Grand Junction. Soon after, babies followed. They have Taft, Trigger and Jess. And they were born. To the happy couple who lived in the big house with the nice cars, life seemed to be none too sweet for Paige and her family. The family who once lived the sweet life was now struggling. This is when Paige went back to work, and she was very successful. Success seemed to come to page with ease, something that seemed to really get under Rob's skin. His financial frustrations turned into physical pain for Paige. Rob began acting erratic. He threatened to kill Paige and the kids. This sort of tense living situation continued. Paige even had to call 911 to report that she had left her children with their father when she went to work. And Rob informed her that when she got home, he would have already murdered the children. So Paige finally made the difficult decision to file for divorce in 2006. Rob left the family and moved back to Philadelphia, while Paige remained at the family home, continuing to pay the almost $6,000 mortgage paige paid for the home, private school, food, and all the other.
Kori: Expenses while she was opening a dance studio and doing Pampered Chef. I've never known anybody to make $6,000 a month doing that, but okay.
Amanda: We'Ll get more into that later. Paige began talking to her first ex husband again.
Kori: Oh, they're exes for a reason.
Amanda: I know. And they have the same name. There's Ron and Rob.
Kori: Well, that's easy. That's probably easier when you have to yell somebody.
Amanda: That is true.
Kori: It's under our name. R O. You just have to remember which the last letter is.
Amanda: Right. Maybe just call them R. Yeah, like, hey, row honey instead of Row babe sugar.
Kori: I mean, you can do that with it.
Amanda: Platypus.
Kori: Platypus. I'm going to use that.
Amanda: Sometimes you just got to throw a wacky one out there.
Kori: Humanity.
Amanda: Oh, my God, I'd be so offended.
Kori: I couldn't think of any other ocean animals at the time.
Amanda: This be so mad. Wow. God, that was funny. Well, back to Paige and Ron. They actually decided to meet at a rest point in Eagle, Colorado, which was halfway between both of their homes. So the two met midday on June 28, 2007, and enjoyed a picnic together. After a wonderful time, Paige and Ron went their separate ways. And Paige called close to 09:00 p.m.. That evening to tell Ron that she was almost home, but she informed him that she had to meet with a client first.
Kori: Oh, her Pampered Chef client at 09:00 P.m.. Like he needed to pick up some of that great dip that they always make, because that stuff really is good.
Amanda: Hey, Pampered, chef is like source business. Maybe they needed one of those meat squishers quick. I don't know.
Kori: A pizza stone.
Amanda: A pizza stone? It's really that lava cake.
Kori: Hankers and pizza.
Amanda: Sure wish I had my pizza stone.
Kori: You know what? I know someone who sells pain for chip. Oh, God, don't come for me. I also did multilevel marketing. I quit doing it because I apparently suck at sales. Hey, you want these leggings? You can just have them. I don't care.
Amanda: That's about how I bought all my leggings from you.
Kori: You get these on a five for $25.
Amanda: Emerson was like, mom, can I go with you? No.
Kori: I love that kid. She was my best customer.
Amanda: She really was.
Kori: And Robin robin was also Stephanie, my mother. Thanks, guys.
Amanda: Thanks, guys.
Kori: I thought of another one. You can call your person what you're like. Hey, sexy baby. Hey, Narwhal.
Amanda: Hey, Narwhal. Hi, buddy. I hope you find your dad. Thanks, Mr. Narwhal.
Kori: I love a good narwhal. You.
Amanda: Anyway.
Kori: Pamperchev is a serious business, people. You may need to meet your clients at 09:00 P.m.. You don't know when they want to make pizza or lava cake in the microwave. You don't know their lives.
Amanda: You don't know their lives. Well, Ron tried to reach Paige on herself for the next two days, but her phone kept going to voicemail. Finally, after worrying, got the best of him. He actually called Paige at home, and he just had to confirm that she was safe, even if she didn't want to see him again. But to his surprise, Paige's nanny picked up.
Kori: So she has a nanny and a $6,000 mortgage payment.
Amanda: Maybe lots of people like lava cake. You don't know?
Kori: How do you do a dog nanny? Is that a thing? Because I would enjoy that a lot.
Amanda: I just would like a nanny to come and take care of my children, pick them up and maybe make dinner. But I don't want to pay you. Well, I feel like honesty is the best policy here. It's fine. I don't know where we were anyway. The nanny informed Ron that she never returned home after their date. So anyone who knew Paige knew that this was completely out of character for her. She'd promised her daughter that she'd be home by nine on that evening, and it was now the 30th, and no one had heard from her. So immediately police were called and Paige was reported missing. Ron became the prime suspect right out of the gate. As far as anyone knew, including Ron, he was actually the last person to see Paige alive. He was brought in for questioning and told investigators everything that had happened during their date. He explained that it went well and the two were looking forward to rekindling their romance. So police actually checked Paige's cell phone records and confirmed that Paige was in fact, on her way home. And she had called Ron that evening on the 28th, and it showed that she was headed towards her house. And his phone records proved that he was hours away as well. So his alibi was secured.
Kori: Oh, that's good. I mean, they always look at your romantic partner.
Amanda: They do.
Kori: So when you have a multitude of romantic partners, you go to the next one. So the next person was Paige's second ex husband, Rob. There was proof that the two had a tumultuous relationship and that the divorce having recently been finalized, it wasn't a far stretch to assume that Rob was ****** off and lashed out. On June 22, 2007, just days before Paige went missing, she had attended a pool party at a friend's home and appeared upset when the friend pressed her for answers. Page explained that she had just been really worried recently and felt that Rob was going to hurt her and take the kids away. Friends brushed it off, but clearly Paige had been worried. So Rob was brought in for questioning, but it was apparent he didn't know where his ex wife was. He was living in Philadelphia at the time and was seen by several witnesses providing an airtight alibi for him. Police had nothing and no leads of where the mom of three could be. That's sad.
Amanda: It is sad. This is a really sad case.
Kori: It really is.
Amanda: On July 1 of 2007, pages 2005 Ford Focus was found completely engulfed in flames. By the time police arrived, the car was completely destroyed. It was apparent that foul play was at hand. The driver's seat was pushed all the way back, and Page was only five four. So police tested the vehicle for accelerants and found that there were petroleum type accelerants used to burn the inside of the vehicle, destroying any possible evidence left behind. The most damning evidence found inside the vehicle was Paige's Daytimer, that friends and family were adamant she would never have left willingly. Missing from the planner, though, were the days june 26, 27th, 28th, and 29th, the same days that Paige had been missing. So on July 14 of 2007, a massive search party was launched. People came from miles away. Over 150 people searched for any sign of Page. About 15 miles from where Page's burned car was located, a motorist with a flat tire came across some of Page's belongings. Credit cards, a checkbook, and business cards were found. Paige was trying to leave a trail. Each item was thrown out one at a time. Each check was ripped out one by one and left like little breadcrumbs while just a few items were found. It opened the door to a side of the investigation that no one was expecting. Paige Bergfeld was working under the name Carrie as an escort.
Kori: That explains a $6,000 mortgage, right?
Amanda: Paige being the businesswoman that she was, she didn't just work for anyone. In 2005, she actually opened her own escort agency called Models, Incorporated. She advertised massage services, but some clients wanted more to say people were shocked would be an understatement. Few people knew about Paige's days as a stripper, and those who did thought it was behind her. Even less people knew about her thriving escort business, which Paige lived a relatively public life, and she was well known in the community, and she was well liked, so no one knew the lengths that Paige had to go to provide for her family. So.
Kori: I have some questions about that escort service being private because she lived in Grand Junction, correct?
Amanda: Correct.
Kori: And most of her clients held came from Grand Junction, probably, or the surrounding areas, maybe Denver, because it's quite a drive. Four or 5 hours, right?
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: Okay, so you can't tell me that no man in that whole town was surprised. They're like, oh, my gosh. I didn't know she had an escort service. Bullhonky back. Page was a thing you knew. You just didn't want your wife to know. So now you're like, oh, I didn't know she was like that. That's so crazy. That doesn't make any sense. You know what I mean?
Amanda: Right.
Kori: Because if you were John Doe and they interviewed you as her friend, maybe not her, like, her friends, but, you know, other people in the town knew she had an expert service, and they saw her around, and they were like, hey. And she's like, not here.
Amanda: Right?
Kori: They're like, okay, because nobody wants to be caught up in that.
Amanda: No. Well, she did that. Yeah, that's how yeah, that was a big thing.
Kori: She ratted on a lot of famous people who were like, I would never use Ashley Madison. And then turns out they were they.
Amanda: Were like, oh, these accidentally leaked all these names. Josh Dugger.
Kori: Right? So, before any of you listening to this podcast get any new business ideas, we should chat about how dangerous sex work really is. According to HG.org, prostitution is one of the most dangerous professions in the country, worse than Alaska fishermen or loggers or oil rig workers. As of 2021, the prostitution death statistics is 204 out of every 100,000, which is almost more than twice the risk of john's or male paying customers or fishermen. It is 129 out of 100,000. Also, the average prostitute gets physically but non lethally, attacked approximately once a month. That's scary. In fact, the US. Prostitutes get busted more often than john's or pimps by a huge margin. Every year in the US. Between 70 and 80,000 people are arrested for prostitution. That is a huge, huge amount of people, costing the taxpayers approximately $200 million. The breakdowns of arrests are as follows 70% are female prostitutes and madams. 20% are male prostitutes and pimps, and just 10% of the johns, which is not really fair, because if you're paying for sex work, you should go to jail, too.
Amanda: I agree. Takes two to tango, right?
Kori: So that equates to nine prostitutes and pimps being arrested for every one customer. Let me be clear paige was not a prostitute. As an escort, Page was well within her legal right to run her business. The moment that sex is exchanged for money is when it becomes illegal. Selling your time is not illegal. In fact, that's what most Americans would call a job. Anyway, let's jump back into Page's case.
Amanda: So, this is where the investigation got a little bit tricky. Not many of Carrie's clients were too keen on talking to police.
Kori: Of course not.
Amanda: Paige was living a secret life, and to say that complicated things was an understatement. The searches went on for weeks. There were no suspects, no clues, and no theories about what could have happened to the well liked mother of three. A friend of Pages told investigators that Page had an encounter with a person who drove a white truck, and it really unnerved her. She was leaving her office one evening and headed downstairs to her car. A white truck parked directly behind her and blocked her in. She put her car in reverse as quickly as possible and sped away as fast as her minivan would take her. The white truck sped off as quickly as it had pulled in. It wasn't much, but it was a start. As a last ditch effort, police brought in cadaver dogs to search where Paige's car had been found. One dog caught a scent he led his handler across the street to a store, a store that was managed by Lester Jones. So Lester Jones is a bit of a character. He was 55 years old, living in Grand Junction at the time. He was a local RV mechanic and desperately wanted to be one of Carrie's clients. He came on too strong, and Paige was scared of him. He had called Paige several times in the days leading up to her disappearance. Lester also had a criminal history. He had been arrested previously for sexual assault and kidnapping. Not to mention he just so happened to drive a white truck.
Kori: Paige also had a friend who sometimes worked for her. We'll call her Linda. Linda only offered massages, but one day, Lester repeatedly called Paige, and she asked Linda if she wouldn't mind taking him as a client for the day. Linda was reluctant, but knew Paige wouldn't ask if she didn't need the help. Linda hesitantly accepted. She walked through the door, and he immediately said, I want sex. I looked at him and said, then you should probably call another escort service, because that is not going to happen with me. He says to her, I was told you'd give a massage. And Linda said, well, that's probably the extent of what I would do. So I gave him a light one. I didn't really want to touch him, she said. Linda described Lester as a very large, overpowering person. Investigators noticed the proximity between Paige's burn car and the shop that Lester worked at. It was too coincidental to ignore. Lester was described by his employer as a good employee, honest, hardworking, and well liked by customers. He had a good sense of humor and could easily talk to customers to put them at ease. I mean, so do I, but whatever. On July 5, 2007, investigators asked Lester if he wouldn't mind answering a few questions for them, and he was like, sure. So that began their two and a half hours of questioning. Lester cooperated fully. He gave his DNA, his fingerprints, and even handed over the keys to his white Dodge pickup. He obviously denied any involvement in her disappearance and claimed to know nothing about her whereabouts.
Amanda: Well, a separate cell phone was discovered that Page used for her business. On the day that she went missing, she received several calls. The last call happened around 09:00 p.m., and that call was from a track phone. This specific number was activated on Wednesday morning, and it made five calls during the time it was active. The number appeared on Page's phone log several times on the day she disappeared. Lester Jones denied owning a track phone. Police decided they had enough evidence to search Lester's home and workspace. So, along with the typical mechanical tools and belongings, investigators also discovered a woman's bra, several men's wigs, a gas can, condoms, ******, and inside of a trash can, they found the box for a track phone. Right. A track phone that Lester claimed he never had owned.
Kori: It wasn't his. He found it in those pants.
Amanda: Those aren't his pants.
Kori: That's not his purse.
Amanda: So investigators were actually able to use the packaging of the phone to find where the phone was purchased. So they discovered that it was purchased at a Walmart on north Avenue in grand Junction. They pulled surveillance video, and it showed none other than Lester Ralph Jones himself purchasing the phone, wearing the same clothes he was wearing during the first interview. So again, police brought Lester back in for questioning. This time, he denied that he was even the man in the video.
Kori: That's not me color.
Amanda: He really stuck to his story that he'd never purchased a track phone, and he was not involved in anything pertaining to Paige Brookfeld.
Kori: So after investigators finished processing his vehicles, they called Lester to inform him that he could pick him up. The phone call took a strange turn. Jones said, so I can come pick him up? The officer said, yeah, you bet. Jones said, I don't think so. The officer responded, mr. Jones, I'm not following you. And he says, you're asking me where I would bury a body, jones said. And the officer was like, excuse me. I'm sorry. And he says, you're asking me where I could bury a body? He said, again, he's like, when did I ask you that? The officer said, this time, there was no response from Jones. That is a weird conversation. Like, what the hell? Nobody said anything about a body. You weirdo, right? So investigators knew that Lester was their man, so now they needed to prove it. Again, a scent sniffing canine was brought to Pages burned vehicle. This time, they picked up Lester scent as well as the scent of a dead body in the backseat. This felt like a slam dunk. Investigators knew they were on the brink of solving the case. They thought that for five years, while the case stalled, it's hard to prove a circumstantial case. And without a body, authorities were reluctant to charge Lester Jones. I mean, it really is hard without a body. For five years, page's poor family waited for answers. For five years, Page's children waited for their mom to come home. For five years, investigators watched Lester. And for five years, everyone just waited.
Amanda: It wasn't until March 6 of 2012, around 12:30 p.m.. That a hiker found the skeletal remains of a female about 30 miles from where Paige's car was found. On November 21, 2014, lester Jones was arrested for the death of Paige. He was charged with first degree murder, second degree murder, and kidnapping. It would take two trials to convict him. Though the first trial ended in a mistrial on September 9, 2016. His second trial began November 21, 2016, two years after he was initially arrested. And just two days after Christmas that year, lester Ralph Jones was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Page Meredith Bergfeld. Lester Jones, now known as inmate number 102296, will live out the remainder of his life behind bars at the Fremont Correctional Facility in Canyon City, Colorado.
Kori: Paige's children are now adults. All Paige ever wanted was to be a mom. She missed watching them grow up, graduate high school, and tour colleges. Paige will never see her children get married or become parents themselves. Paige will never be a grandparent. Paige Birchfeld will always be a hardworking 34 year old loving mom of three who had her whole and entire, like, life in front of her. And that is a wrap on this week's episodes, people.
Amanda: How sad.
Kori: It is. Sad. I want to go back to sex work here for a minute. Not because I'm interested in that or anything. I don't have the body for sex work either, but I have a face for radio. I don't have a body for sex work. I want to go back to the fact that she was an escort. And I think you're right that escorting is something that's also one of those things that people, like, scoff on. But you're right. She's not paying. They're not paying for sex. A lot of nine times out of ten, people who hire escorts aren't using them for the purpose of sex. They're using them for events that they need to go to. Someone may just need a friendly ear to talk to, massages, things like that. It's not necessarily always sex work, and I think I feel bad for her because she probably did get a lot of less press or a lot of more press because they were like, oh, she's missing because she was a sex worker. No, she was missing because a guy was crazy and decided that that was going to be his obsession. Didn't have anything to do with her job as a sex worker. It just decided he wasn't getting what he wanted and decided to take it out on her.
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: I don't want people to think that prostitution is one thing, but escorting is different.
Amanda: Right. As I was researching this, it was hard to not find. You can't find an article that doesn't mention the fact that she was an escort.
Kori: Right. That's not her identity.
Amanda: That's not who she is. I agree. I think she needs to be the woman trying to move her kids right. By herself. Right. Who didn't want to move her kids because they were rooted in Grand Junction and they had a whole life and everything there for them.
Kori: So she did her best to make it work, and probably with Linda support from her kid's dad, if we're being honest.
Amanda: Well, I mean, he did not seem like a very nice guy.
Kori: No.
Amanda: So I'm not surprised that he was looked at pretty seriously as a suspect at first.
Kori: It's not surprising.
Amanda: No. This was a sad one. This was I know it's now.
Kori: I'm going to have to play The Sims and kill some people. It's just a game. Come for me.
Amanda: Lincoln used to watch.
Kori: Oh, that's such a cute movie.
Amanda: Oh, my gosh, it's so good. And when he's like battling the other the dinosaur is battling like the other guy and he's like, I name him, I keep him Murderer. Oh, God, it gives me the giggles. I love that movie.
Kori: It's so cute.
Amanda: Oh, it's so sad. I cry every time. It's a good one.
Kori: It is a good one.
Amanda: All right, crime fans, until next time. Thank you so much for joining us today. Please keep the case requests coming. If you haven't already, please subscribe so you can be notified every time we upload. If you enjoy listening to us every week, which you should, please leave us a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Again, we will pick another listener next week for another shout out. Next week, we are actually going to discuss a child who murdered his mom. So that'll be fun.
Kori: You have a good child, mom.
Amanda: Murderer.
Kori: I don't know. That didn't make any sense. Whatever.
Amanda: You're doing great.
Kori: Thank you. Pretty.
Amanda: New episodes are released every Friday at 10:30, a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Please follow us on Instagram at Colorado Crime Pod or on Facebook at colorado Crime podcast. Information on next week's episode as well as other true crime happenings. We hope you have a beautiful day wherever you are, and as always, stay safe.
Kori: This is Corey, not coming to you live from the car, but live from the spare bedroom. Until next time, podcastians. Have the weekend you deserve.
