Victims Identified:
https://www.cpr.org/2022/12/28/thornton-jehovahs-witness-murder-suicide-update/
"Local authorities on Tuesday identified Enoch Noah Apodaca, 46, and Melissa Susanna Martinez, 44, as the deceased in a murder-suicide and apparent attempted arson at a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall on Sunday in Thornton.
Thornton Police responded around 9 a.m. to a structure fire at the worship hall, where they found that Apodaca had fatally shot Martinez before killing himself, they said. Authorities also found three “incendiary devices” that were “rendered safe and collected.”
There may have been earlier warning signs of violence. Court records show Apodaca was fired from his employment with Sturgeon Electric Co. in June 2021. Later, he reportedly told a union representative that he would shoot his wife and the rep before coming “after the people responsible at Sturgeon.”
The conversation with the union representative was recounted in court filings made by a representative of Sturgeon, who asked a court for a protection order against Apodaca in Dec. 2021."
(see link for more information)
Another link:
The married couple who was found dead on Christmas inside a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall in an apparent murder-suicide has been identified as former congregants.
The Office of the Coroner of Adams and Broomfield Counties identified the couple Wednesday as 44-year-old Melissa Susanna Martinez and 46-year-old Enoch Noah Apodaca.
An autopsy has been performed on the pair and their causes of death are currently under investigation, the coroner’s office said in a press release.
Police in Thornton, about 10 miles north of Denver, said the two were former members of the congregation. The husband fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself.
Martinez and Apodaca were discovered at the Federal Heights Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall around 9 a.m. Sunday morning.
Along with the couple, authorities discovered three “suspicious devices,” which are currently being investigated by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Hazardous Materials Unit."
