A man was arrested on murder charges on Friday in the death of a Colorado dog breeder who was found shot to death in his Idaho Springs home on Saturday, the authorities said.
The man, Sergio Ferrer, 36, had been “considered a person of interest” in the death of the breeder, Paul Peavy, 57, within hours of his body being found, the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado said in a statement. Mr. Ferrer was arrested the same day for failing to appear in court on an unrelated weapons charge out of Nebraska.
On Friday, the sheriff’s office charged Mr. Ferrer with first-degree murder, felony murder and aggravated robbery in Mr. Peavey’s death.
The case has received widespread attention, in part because as many as 10 of the breeder’s Doberman puppies were missing and the authorities believed that finding them could help in the investigation.
The sheriff’s office declined to provide additional details about the murder case, including why Mr. Ferrer had been considered a person of interest, or a potential motive. Court records were not immediately available.
It was unclear if Mr. Ferrer had legal representation. Efforts to reach relatives of Mr. Ferrer on Friday were not immediately successful.
Mr. Peavey, 57, was last heard from on Aug. 19 and was reported missing on Aug. 21, the sheriff’s office said. A search party found him dead at his home on Aug. 24 in what the authorities determined to be a homicide caused by a gunshot wound.
“Paul was a wonderful person,” Meredith Mazutis, a Doberman breeder and friend of Mr. Peavey, said on Friday.
Ms. Mazutis said she was relieved that there had been an arrest in Mr. Peavey’s killing but said the authorities needed to do more to find the missing puppies.
“Paul’s gone,” she said. “We’re never going to bring him back.”
Mr. Peavey bred European Dobermans on a 110-acre property in Idaho Springs, a town about 30 miles west of Denver. Although his three adult Doberman dogs were found safe on the property, as many as 10 puppies were reported missing and are “still unaccounted for,” the sheriff’s office said Friday afternoon.
An investigation into the dogs’ location is continuing. The authorities said that anyone who had bought a puppy from Mr. Peavey’s business since June should contact them.
For buyers in the United States, a European Doberman puppy typically costs $3,000 to $4,500 from a breeder.
“There absolutely has been an increased demand in the past few years,” John Walter, a Doberman expert who runs DobermanPlanet.com, said of European Dobermans, adding that Dobermans are great family dogs. “Dobermans are the only breed that were bred for the sole purpose of protecting humans.”
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