BEAVER, CO – On July 19th 2019 the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to 1984 County Road 31 on a female party that had been shot. It was learned that the female victim, Andrea King, had been shot by her boyfriend, Theron Leppke. The couple had a daughter together that was seven months old at the time of the shooting.
Deputies were told that Theron Leppke had assaulted Andrea King days before this incident. It was also learned that Leppke had become very paranoid and was hallucinating. The people that lived at this address were going to take Theron Leppke to rehab.
Andrea had talked with the parties. They asked that Andrea bring clothes to the house for Theron to take to rehab. When Andrea arrived, she went into the house to talk to Theron. The rest of the people at the address were outside. They reported hearing screaming coming from the house and then heard a gunshot. They saw Andrea coming out of the house with blood on her. Andrea collapsed in the driveway. They started giving aid to Andrea and called 911.
One of the parties got the gun from inside the house and took it outside. They told dispatch that Theron Leppke was still in the house. When deputies arrived they found Andrea King in the driveway unresponsive. Deputies moved Andrea from this location and the deputies began CPR. As this was going on other deputies covered the house. Andrea King was taken to a safe location where the ambulance staff could take over her care. All other parties that were at the house were moved to a safe location.
Contact was made with Theron Leppke in the house. At first he was very upset and claiming that the deputies outside were not real deputies and that they were there to kill him. After several minutes of negotiations, Theron was talked into surrendering. He came out of the house and was taken into custody without incident.
On November 5th 2020, Theron Leppke pled guilty in Morgan County District Court to one count of Second Degree Murder. All other counts were dismissed.
On January 29th 2021 Theron Leppke was sentenced in this case on a charge of second-degree murder. He was given 44 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, bringing this case to a close.