Small-town gang leader given five life sentences for southern Colorado burn pit murders

A 29-year-old Colorado man who identified himself as a gang leader named "Psycho" was sentenced Friday to life sentences for each of the five murders committed in a two-month span in southern Colorado.

Adre Baroz, with the help of his brother and three loyal members of the gang, killed five people between August and October of 2020. The victims' bodies were pitched into "burn pits," leaving investigators scant remains with which to identify them.

The first victim was a 19-year-old woman whom Baroz believed was spreading rumors about being raped by him. Baroz subsequently killed an accomplice in that murder, a 32-year-old woman who was scheduled to testify against him in a drug trial, and a man and woman who came to his apartment to purchase drugs, according to details in an arrest affidavits.

Investigators identified some of the victims by teeth that were found in the burn pits on two rural properties between the town of Sanford and the community of Lasauses, both about 15 miles north of the New Mexico state line near Alamosa. Sanford has a population of less than 1,000.

Blood was found in the bathtub drain of a hotel room where one of the male victims was reportedly dismembered, according to an affidavit.

Baroz received additional sentences for assault, kidnapping and tampering with deceased bodies counts. He pleaded guilty to all charges in February.

At the same hearing in Conejos County, 34-year-old Julius Baroz was sentenced 25 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections on a single count of 1st Degree Murder. Julius Baroz received credit more than 1,200 days already served in jail.

A third member of the group, 41-year-old Francisco Ramirez, received three 8-year prison terms for his handling of victims' bodies.

Ramirez and Julius Baroz had other felony counts dropped as part of plea deals reached with prosecutors.

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A fourth man, CJ Dominguez, was sentenced in February 2023 to 12 years in prison.

Adre Baroz was caught in New Mexico two days after Colorado authorities launched a manhunt.