ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — An Arapahoe County grand jury has indicted Jeffery Beier for the murder of Charlene Voight, a Littleton woman who went missing in 2016.
Beier, 46, faces nine charges in connection to Voight's murder. He is currently in custody in Russia. The 18th Judicial District announced the indictment Monday.
"Nobody should be able to walk away from murder. I will do everything in my power to bring a perpetrator to justice. I am pleased that in the death of Charlene Voight, there is now a process in place to accomplish that," said District Attorney George Brauchler in a statement.
Voight, who was 36 at the time, was reported missing by family members in July of 2016. She had just moved to Colorado to live with Beier after graduating from California State Polytechnic University. Family notified police about their concern after not hearing from her for more than a week.
She was last seen by witnesses on June 30, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
According to the indictment, the couple had some friends over to their apartment on the night of June 30, where they drank and did cocaine. Beier invited one of the women into the bedroom with him and then allegedly violently raped her, something witnesses said they heard.
Earlier in the evening, multiple witnesses claimed Beier had hit Voight in the face and told her to shut up.
Beier faced sexual assault charges for that alleged rape, but they were dropped when investigators say they didn't want to reveal too much information about the ongoing murder investigation. Along with facing first-degree murder charges, Beier is now facing new sexual assault charges for that encounter.
After the alleged incident, the friends left the home, which was the last time Voight was seen alive.
Voight's car was found abandoned shortly after she was reported missing, and was linked to a property that Beier had bought days before Voight was last seen. Denver7 Investigates first reported there was suspicious blood spatter on a headboard inside an apartment police searched in regards to the case. In addition, according to authorities, a mattress was missing from the apartment, and a portion of carpet had been cut out and removed.
Beier was identified as a suspect in the case as he was in a relationship with Voight, and she was living with him at the time of her disappearance.
According to the indictment, investigators found several areas inside the couple's apartment with her blood.
Littleton police conducted an extensive investigation of a landfill in Commerce City for roughly four months. Authorities did not find Voight's body but did locate several pieces of evidence.
According to the indictment, the evidence included several pieces of Voight's clothing. The indictment featured pictures of the clothing that was found along with old photos of Voight wearing them. A decapitated dog (believed to be Voight's chihuahua named Toby) was also found wrapped in a sweater in the landfill.
Beier, who ran a dumpster business, had been placed at the landfill around the time that Voight disappeared, Denver7 Investigates previously reported.
Investigators were also able to use cell phone data to track Beier's movements in the days immediately following Voight's disappearance. Those movements include pulling out $7,000 in cash from a bank, buying lighter fluid from Home Depot, driving to an abandoned farm, and stopping by the landfill.
The indictment also reveals that while investigators were searching the landfill for voight's body in November 2016, Beier had moved to Moscow, first crossing the border into Canada, catching a flight to Europe, and then taking several trains to Russia.
He met a woman there on November 4, 2016, and married her February 14, 2017, and the couple had a child together. The wife called Littleton police in July 2019 and told them Beier had been beating her. She also told detectives he had brought his new girlfriend to come live with them, so she filed for a divorce.
He has a history of domestic violence — he pleaded guilty to threatening to kill his ex-wife in 2007 and served jail time for domestic violence against Voight in 2013.
A grand jury returned a murder indictment for Beier on Aug. 9, 2019, but authorities did not release the indictment until this week.
Beier faces one count of first-degree murder with deliberation, one count of felony first-degree murder, one count of sexual assault, two counts of attempting to influence a public servant, two counts of animal cruelty and one count of third-degree assault.
"I am proud to be able to tell the family of Miss Voight that the men and women of my department worked for four years to see this day," said Littleton Police Chief Doug Stephens in a statement. "My heart goes out to them, knowing that they are mourning the loss of their sister and daughter. I hope this arrest is a step that will help them move toward healing."
If convicted of the murder charges, Beier will face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
It's unclear when Beier will be extradited from Russia to face charges. No court dates will be scheduled until he is physically in the Arapahoe County Detention Center.
Beier's booking photo is not yet available.