GUILTY CO - Melinda Yager, 34, murdered in her Paonia home, 7 Jan 2011

This is horrible. This is not far from me, it has been all over the news. Their 1 year old daughter is now left with no parents .


Paonia woman found dead, estranged husband arrested

PAONIA, Colo. (KKCO) - A Paonia man is in the custody of Delta County authorities, accused in his wife's death.

Nathan Yager, 39, was arrested after turning himself in to Montrose Police around 3:15 p.m. Friday. His mug shot has not yet been released.

Acting PIO and Mayor Neal Schwieterman says around 1 p.m. Friday an officer was dispatched to 427 Delta Avenue on a trespassing call. The officer was then notified of a homicide by a witness who was friends with the victim. The officer found a woman dead, in her late 30s dead. Officials have not released her name.

http://www.nbc11news.com/home/headlines/113112414.html

Paonia Police Investigating First Murder In 17 Years


PAONIA, Colo. -- A city on the Western Slope is investigating its first murder case in 17 years.

A woman was found dead in the back yard of a home on Delta Avenue on Friday, Mayor Neil Schwieterman told 7NEWS. Schwieterman is a former police officer who serves as the city's public information officer.

The victim is a woman in her mid-30s, but her name is not being released, Schwieterman said. The cause of her death has been determined yet.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26407975/detail.html

Coroner: Paonia woman bled to death, husband held on first degree murder charge


DELTA COUNTY, Colo. (KKCO)_ The Delta County Coroner's Office has identified a Paonia woman that was found dead Friday.

Deputy Coroner Kevin Lucy tells 11News that 34-year-old Melinda Yager bled to death from mulitple cuts to the neck. Her death has been ruled a homicide. Lucy didn't know what object may have been used to cut Melinda's neck.

According to authorities at the Delta County Jail, Nathan Yager, Melinda's husband, is being held on charges of First Degree Murder and Domestic Violence.

According to a birth announcement the couple have a daughter that was born Oct. 7, 2009

http://www.nbc11news.com/localnews/headlines/113139759.html

Investigation Continues in Paonia HomicideCoroner Releases Cause and Manner of Death
Tami Brehse tbrehse@kjct8.com
POSTED: 5:18 pm MST January 8, 2011
UPDATED: 5:45 pm MST January 8, 2011


PAONIA, Colo. -- The Delta County Coroner's Office has released the cause of death in the homicide of Melinda Yager. The official cause is listed as "multiple incised wounds of anterior neck with multiple hemorrhages".

The coroner's office tells KJCT News 8 the cut-like wounds are consistent with some sort of sharp object.

In the neighborhood where the body was found, the investigation is still in full swing. Authorities say a messy divorce battle may have led up to the apparent murder.

Investigators from CBI, the Paonia Police Department, as well as the Delta and Gunnison County Sheriff's Offices were all on the scene Saturday.

Police were called out to Delta Avenue Friday afternoon, where they found a woman dead near the railroad tracks. A few hours later her husband, Nathan Yager, turned himself in.

http://www.kjct8.com/news/26413178/detail.html

Updated: 7:47 PM Jan 8, 2011

Neighbors stunned over young mother's murder

PAONIA, Colo. (KKCO) - Paonia police and CBI continue to investigate what appears to be a disturbing divorce turned deadly.

Delta Avenue, a typically quiet street, has been stunned by what police describe as a deadly domestic dispute.

"It just blows me away, right next door," says Robert Noonan, who lives next door to the victim and her estranged husband.

38–year–old Nathan Yager turned himself into authorities yesterday. He's now in Delta County Jail, held on charges for murdering his wife, 34–year–old Melinda Yager.

"She was just always really bubbly and really sweet and super nice with her child," says neighbor Gabriella Pevec, who lives across the street from the family.

Melinda's body was found near train tracks down the block from her home Friday afternoon. Her neck was cut, causing her to bleed to death. Investigators secured the area, scouring for evidence

http://www.nbc11news.com/home/headlines/113145009.html

Updated: 8:18 PM Jan 10, 2011

Family of murdered mother sets up Web site for young daughter


PAONIA, Colo. (KKCO) - The family of a young mother murdered in Paonia is asking for help, raising money for her young daughter.

The family for Melinda (Tackett) Yager has set up a web site (click the link below under Related Links) which will take donations for her daughter Kaylee

http://www.nbc11news.com/regionalne...up_Web_site_for_young_daughter_113212219.html

Updated: 1:25 PM Jan 10, 2011

Arrest affidavit released for Paonia man accused in wife's death

PAONIA, Colo. (KKCO) - Authorities have released the arrest affidavit for 38-year-old Nathan Yager, the Paonia man arrested for his wife's death last Friday.

According to the affidavit, Yager's mother called a friend who lives in the area, asking her to help alert authorities after her son called her to tell her he'd killed his wife. Yager's mother, Julie, lives in South Dakota and asked her friend to request help from local authorities in checking on Melinda Yager's welfare.

Paonia Police responded to Yeager's mutual residence at 427 Delta Ave. to investigate. No one was home, so officers expanded their search. The couple was estranged and occupied separate homes.

The affidavit says before the phone call to Delta Dispatch, Melinda and a friend returned to Paonia from Delta, where she and Nathan had attended a restraining order proceeding, the order kept Melinda from contacting Nathan. The two were "engaged in a bitter divorce proceeding and had lodged a number of complaints against one another with the Paonia Police Department and the Delta County Sheriff's Office surrounding harassment and child custody issues" according to the affidavit. Both were seeking custody of their young daughter, Kaylee.

Melinda and her friend were told by a third friend Nathan's white Toyota Tacoma was near their mutual home on Delta Avenue. The affidavit says Melinda asked the first friend to take her to the house so she could photograph his truck parked there, documenting the incident. They found the truck near a storage complex nearby and Melinda got out of the truck to find Nathan on foot.

Both of Melinda's friends continued searching for Nathan in their cars. The second found Nathan walking along the railroad tracks bordering the 400 block of Delta Avenue, the affidavit says this is near where Melinda's body was eventually found

http://www.nbc11news.com/regionalne...nia_man_accused_in_wifes_death_113219149.html

Affidavit: Paonia slaying suspect confessed to mother


A Paonia man suspected in the stabbing death of his estranged wife allegedly confessed to his mother in a phone conversation, according to an arrest affidavit.

A “distraught” Julie Yager, a South Dakota resident and mother of 38-year-old Nathan Yager, had called a friend Friday in Delta County to report her son’s alleged admission and sought the friend’s help in contacting Paonia law enforcement. Officers responded around 1:15 p.m. to a home at 427 Delta Ave., which Yager once shared with his wife, 34-year-old Melinda Yager, but found nothing then canvassed the neighborhood.

Investigators later learned there was an active restraining order prohibiting Melinda Yager from contacting Nathan Yager, the affidavit said. They were embroiled in a bitter divorce, while each had filed multiple complaints against one another with various law enforcement agencies over child custody and harassment issues. Both were also seeking control of their former home, and full custody of their young daughter, the affidavit said.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/breaking/articles/affidavit-paonia-slaying-suspect-confessed-to-mother/

RIP...........

Melinda Tackett Yager

Woman killed in Colorado graduated from Arroyo Grande High School


Community members are mourning the loss of a former Central Coast resident police say was murdered over the weekend.

Investigators say 38-year-old Nathan Yager killed his wife Melinda Tackett-Yager Friday afternoon in Paonia, Colorado. Melinda graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 1995 and moved to Colorado in 2008. The couple had been going through a divorce. Investigators say Melinda had tried to get a restraining order against her husband.

An arrest affidavit says the two were in court Friday morning

http://www.ksby.com/news/woman-killed-in-colorado-graduated-from-arroyo-grande-high-school/

From February 2013:

http://www.montrosepress.com/breaki...cle_33d29702-77c8-11e2-ae24-001a4bcf887a.html

Nathan Yager was sentenced this afternoon to 42 years in prison for the slashing death of his estranged wife, Melinda Tackett Yager...

A jury previously convicted Yager of second-degree murder after his insanity defense was rejected at the eleventh hour.

Click to expand...