Arrest made in cold-case murder of prosecutor

A 70-year-old man has been arrested in the 1999 murder of an Arapahoe County prosecutor whose death was staged to look like a suicide.

Robert Williams was arrested Tuesday for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of Rebecca Bartee, 41.

The tip funneled through KCNC-Channel 4 investigative reporter Brian Maas led investigators to new evidence, including the identification of the alleged killer, according to a news release from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.

Bartee was a deputy district attorney in the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office when she was murdered in her apartment, according to a sheriff’s office news release Wednesday.

Williams and Bartee were living in the same apartment complex in the 6500 block of South Dayton Street when her body was discovered on June 7, 1999.

Williams was still living in the same complex when he was arrested.

The arrest affidavit has been sealed. However, The Denver Post previously reported the case as part of a series of cold-case profiles.

Investigators said the killer staged the murder to look like a suicide, placing a bottle of anti-depressant medication on the bathroom sink next to the nearly overflowing tub where Bartee’s body was found.

Bartee’s family said there also was a glass of wine filled to the brim and left on a small table in the living room. There were no finger or lip prints on the glass, they said. An autopsy revealed there was no wine in Bartee’s body. Authorities also did not discover any wine bottles in the house.