WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — The Wheat Ridge Police Department arrested a second person in connection with the November 2023 death of an antique shop owner.
Peter Damian Arguello was shot and killed inside his shop, Peter Damian Fine Jewelry & Antiques, during a robbery on the morning of November 29, 2023.
Surveillance video shows a suspect pulling a gun on Arguello and attempting to handcuff him, according to court documents. Arguello resisted and the suspect shot him three times.
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Investigators found three zip-tie handcuffs looped together with a Latex glove in front of a safe where silver coins were stolen. DNA from the flex cuffs matched that of 41-year-old Charles Robinson Shay, according to the affidavit.
Officers found the suspect vehicle on Dec. 1 in Centennial. Wheat Ridge police said the truck was set on fire and heavily damaged. In the back seat, investigators found two partially burned hats that matched the ones the suspects were wearing in surveillance videos, according to the affidavit.
After reviewing street cameras in the area of the burned-out vehicle, investigators noticed another truck following it. That truck belonged to a man who was dead, but investigators learned the owner and a relative were Facebook friends with Shay, the affidavit states. The truck — which was reported stolen to the Littleton Police Department on Dec. 4 — was found at Shay's house.
The affidavit states investigators placed a GPS locator on the truck. The locator tracked the truck to the antique store on Dec. 24 and Dec. 26, according to court documents.
The store's security alarm was triggered on Dec. 26 and the safes were opened, according to the affidavit. Court documents state the safes were empty and unlocked before the Dec. 26 burglary.
According to the affidavit, Shay admitted to prying open a door to the business on Dec. 26 but said he didn’t take anything because there wasn’t anything to take.
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On March 7, investigators issued an arrest warrant for Shay's alleged accomplice, 50-year-old Michael McCormack. He was arrested in the Black Hawk area Wednesday.
McCormack faces charges of second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, aggravated robbery and second-degree motor vehicle theft. He also faces crime of violence sentence enhancers.
Shay has been in custody at the Jefferson County Detention Facility since Dec. 27 on charges related to the Dec. 26 burglary. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder on Jan. 18, according to Wheat Ridge police.
