WARNING: Descriptions of injury may be graphic for some readers, discretion is advised.
(MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo.) — The suspect in a stabbing at the Barr Trail parking lot on Monday, May 22 allegedly used a Swiss Army knife to stab the victim more than 15 times because the suspect was “creeped out,” according to an arrest affidavit from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO).
The arrest affidavit for 24-year-old Million Zimmerman alleges that Zimmerman was given a ride in a pink 1995 Chevy truck by the victim, 60-year-old Eric Snay. The documents show that Zimmerman is homeless, and did not know Snay prior to this encounter.
Zimmerman told detectives that he felt “creeped out” by Snay after they arrived at the parking lot of Barr Trail, where Zimmerman allegedly used a Swiss Army knife with an approximately 3-inch blade and a corkscrew to stab Snay. Zimmerman admitted he didn’t know how many times he had stabbed Snay, and “did not care to know what had happened” to Snay.
Multiple people witnessed the stabbing, several of whom were teenagers. The affidavit states that witnesses were near the trailhead when they heard a loud crash and saw the pink truck about 30 feet away, which had crashed into a retaining wall on the northwest side of the parking lot.
The witnesses stated they could hear the truck’s engine revving following the crash and they saw someone in the passenger seat making hitting or stabbing motions toward the driver. A witness said the passenger, a black man, then got out of the truck holding what appeared to be a lunchbox and walked away, toward Manitou Springs.
Witness accounts state Snay was able to back the truck up from the retaining wall and into the parking lot, where witnesses went to check if he needed help. Snay got out of the driver’s seat holding his neck, which was bleeding heavily.
Responding detectives noted blood inside the truck, as well as a trail of blood on the ground from the driver’s seat to the back of the truck, where Snay was found suffering from more than 15 stab wounds to the head, neck, chest, and shoulders when law enforcement arrived. Another smaller trail of blood droplets was found down the hill where Zimmerman had walked.
Zimmerman was captured on surveillance video walking away from the scene and into a wooded area on Monday evening, according to the affidavit. The next morning, as detectives were leaving the scene following their initial investigation, they spotted Zimmerman leaving the wooded area, still carrying the lunchbox with his hands, arms, and clothes covered in blood.
Zimmerman was taken into custody, and the Swiss Army knife was found inside the bag he was carrying. EPSO said he also had an outstanding warrant out of Aurora.
EPSO said Zimmerman is being charged with Attempted First-Degree Murder and is currently being held on a $1 million bond, based on his “propensity for violence.” He is due in court on June 2.