Shawn Geerdes appeared in Elbert County District Court on Jan. 11 for his scheduled arraignment on one count of first-degree murder, one count of arson, and a series of other charges relating to the slaying of Jason Dosa, a 44-year-old Parker resident.

Geerdes’ public defender requested a delay for the arraignment, citing the need for more time to review new discovery released by the prosecution the previous week.

Prosecutor Doug Bectel raised no objection, and Judge Jeffrey K. Holmes granted the delay, setting a new arraignment date of Feb. 22.

Geerdes was arrested in Douglas County on Sept. 23 and was originally charged in Jefferson County for the murder of Dosa. He was later charged in Elbert County when investigators declared that the slaying had occurred a few miles west of Agate.

According to the affidavit filed in the case, Dosa, who was allegedly a partner with Geerdes in a marijuana grow in Elbert County that had “fallen apart,” was shot at least five times with a .22-caliber firearm. His body was left in the trunk of a Nissan Maxima, which was found in a ravine in Deer Creek Canyon (Jefferson County) fully engulfed in flames just before noon on Sept. 20.

Jefferson County investigators tracked the license plate and the VIN to a known associate of Dosa, and Dosa’s physical description was similar to the body found in the trunk of the Nissan. Investigators later found Dosa’s iPhone at his residence and were able to use the metadata attached to a photo stored on the phone to pinpoint the location of the greenhouse used for the marijuana grow near County Road 162 near Agate in Elbert County, a property co-owned by Geerdes.

In partnership with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County investigators served a search warrant on the property, and found blood in various location inside the greenhouse along with two .22-caliber shell casings in proximity to the blood. In the nearby house, they found a box of .22-caliber hollow-point bullets similar to the five recovered from Dosa’s body.

A witness living near the residence also reported that he heard “a series of 10 small-caliber gunshots” coming from the property in the early hours of either Sept. 19 or 20.

Geerdes is being held without bond at the Elbert County Jail in Kiowa pending his arraignment and trial.