Charles Moises Gonzales, 47, who killed a man who had been inducted to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison, court records indicate.
Gonzales, 47, burglarized the home of mountain biking pioneer Michael Damian Rust, 55, and shot him in the back of the head on March 31, 2009.
Gonzales was convicted Thursday of first degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering or destroying evidence, burglary and theft following a plea deal with the Pueblo District Attorney’s Office.
Gonzales, who had a skull tattoo necklace and also went by the alias “Shari Jean Towner,” buried Rust’s body. Rust’s remains were discovered Jan. 8, 2016 in Saguache County between Colorado 17 and U.S. 285.
Rust’s brother, Carl, identified the remains based on a unique bicycle-sprocket belt buckle found with the body. The bones were found only 5-miles east of his brother’s home.
“You could see this place from Mike’s house,” Carl Rust said at the time.
