Murdered mum’s secret double life
PAIGE BIRGFIELD’S KILLER HAS LAUNCHED AN APPEAL AGAINST HIS CONVICTION
It’s been 14 years since Paige Birgfield went missing, later found murdered, and her loss is still keenly felt by all those who knew and loved her. And now, their wounds are being reopened, as Lester Ralph Jones has launched an appeal against his murder conviction and sentence of life without parole. Here, we revisit what happened that day in 2007.
DISAPPEARANCE
Mother-of-three Paige went missing from her home in Grand Junction, Colorado, on the evening of 28 June. She had left her children with their live-in nanny while she went out, telling them she would be back later. But she never returned. Speaking on ABC News’ 20/20 programme, her friend Carol Linderholm recalled, “I tried to get in touch with Paige and she didn’t return my phone calls, which I thought was rather odd. I thought she was just really busy and I would hear from her later.”
But there was no word, despite her eightyear-old daughter Jess leaving increasingly distressed voicemails for her mother. When Paige had not returned after two days, the nanny reported her missing, and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department notified Paige’s father, Frank. He immediately told them,
“This is a problem. There is a crime being committed here.” He instinctively knew his daughter would never leave her children, as she was utterly devoted to them. “If Paige had two broken legs, she would crawl on her elbows to get to those kids,” he told them. Frank left his home in Denver and drove the four hours to Paige’s home. As the police launched a missing persons’ enquiry, the family hoped they would soon hear that she was safe and well. But their hopes were dashed when a terrible discovery was made. On 1 July, Paige’s abandoned car was found in flames. Dan Rubinstein, district attorney for Mesa County, said, “It was very clear that it was an arson, because there was nothing else around it that was burned. It was just the car itself, and it was parked in a location that Paige had no association with.”
Forensic tests confirmed that an accelerant had been used to make sure the car burned, and – terrifyingly – it was found
‘I THOUGHT SHE WAS BUSY AND I WOULD HEAR FROM HER LATER’
that the driver’s seat had been pushed all the way back to accommodate someone much taller than the petite Paige, who was only five foot four. The family’s fears for her wellbeing grew, as it was getting harder to believe she had not come to terrible harm. “At that point, we at least suspected that she had been kidnapped, and feared that she was also deceased,” said Dan.
Investigators began searching the surrounding area, which included stretches of desert, but it was a monumental task. Sergeant Wayne Weyler, from the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department, said, “Mesa County is 3,300 square miles, and as we began our search for Paige, we had to be
concerned about if there’s a body, and if there’s a body buried.” But, despite their efforts, nothing was found. With very little to go on, investigators started looking into Paige’s relationships, and their attention soon landed on her two ex-husbands.
TWO SUSPECTS
Paige had been married to her former high-school sweetheart Ron Beigler between 1995 and 1997. But the pair were believed to have been growing close again, and had actually spent the day together on 28 June. Ron told 20/20, “We just decided to meet that day. Eagle in Colorado was the halfway point for both of us, so we left at the same time and arrived back in our towns at approximately the same time. She called me to make sure I made it back into Denver and that’s the last I ever heard from her.” But despite being among the last people to see Paige alive, Ron was quickly ruled out of the investigation as analysis of his phone confirmed that he was back home when Paige disappeared.
They also looked at Paige’s second ex-husband, Rob Dixon. The couple had been married for eight years, but it was a relationship punctuated by violence. In one distressing incident in 2004, Paige called the police, telling them, “My husband and I were in a fight, and he was supposed to watch my children while I went to work, and he said that I would come home and find them all murdered.”
A year after that call, Dixon was charged with third-degree assault on Paige following another fight. Though the charges were later dropped, the couple divorced shortly afterwards. However, Dixon was also ruled out of Paige’s disappearance when his phone records confirmed he was out of state at the time she went missing. It seemed police had run out of leads, but then came the break that would crack the case apart.
DOUBLE IDENTITY
Days after the discovery of Paige’s blazing car, a motorist on the same stretch of highway pulled over to change a flat tyre. Miraculously, he discovered several items belonging to Paige strewn by the side of the road, including her insurance card, her health card, and pages taken from her cheque book. Sgt. Weyler said, “One cheque was torn out at a time, one card was thrown at a time. So, it appears she was trying to leave us a trail of breadcrumbs to show us where she was going.” The discovery raised hopes that although abducted, Paige may still be alive, but there was to be another shocking turn.
Paige was a single mother, and was known to be juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet. However, among the items recovered from the roadside trail was a business card for an escort agency called Models, Incorporated. It was soon discovered that, under the name “Carrie”, Paige had been living a secret double life, offering massages and sexual services.
The discovery led investigators to find a phone on which Paige conducted her liaisons. Sgt. Weyler said, “She had received numerous calls that day, and we determined that her last call had happened around 9pm on 28 June… At that point, we had at least seven suspects.”
One of those suspects was mechanic Lester Jones, then aged 55, who was
‘WE CAN SURMISE SHE WAS TIED UP AND TAKEN TO THAT AREA’
known to have previous convictions for kidnap and sexual assault. He had previously booked “Carrie”, but it is thought Paige may have been frightened by his intense interest in her. Just before she disappeared, Jones had tried to book her again, but she asked Carol Linderholm – who, it turned out, not only knew of Paige’s escort business, but also did some massage work for her – to take the appointment.
Carol told 20/20, “The first thing [Jones] said was, ‘I want sex’. I looked at him and said, ‘Then you should probably call another escort service, because it’s not gonna happen with me.’ He says, ‘I was told you’d give a massage,’ and I said, ‘Well, that’s probably the extent of what I would do,’ and I gave him a light one...
I didn’t really want to touch him.” After ruling out Paige’s other clients, the police now had a prime suspect. Not only had Jones tried to book Paige right before she disappeared, but he was also six feet five inches tall – about the height the mystery driver of Paige’s car would have been – and he also worked very close to where the burning car was found.
Jones was questioned by police in July 2007, but it soon became clear it was going to be extremely tough to make a case against him.
Any DNA evidence the car may have yielded had been destroyed in the fire, and although they had him on CCTV buying a phone they suspected had been used to call Paige, they didn’t have anything that would stand up in court. Tragically, what they needed was Paige’s body.
NEW APPEAL
It was in March 2012 that a hiker found human remains close to where Paige’s belongings had been found all those years ago, and dental records and DNA confirmed they had finally found the missing mother. Due to the condition of the body, a cause of death could not be established, but there were signs Paige had been beaten at some point. “We can surmise that she was taken out to that area, tied up and duct-taped to keep silent,” said Sgt. Weyler.
Two years later, in November 2014, Jones was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and kidnapping. At his trial in 2016, it was asserted that Jones had become obsessed with Paige after using her escort service, and was angry that she had not seen him on the night Carol gave him a massage instead. The court also heard Jones had a history of violence – he had attacked his former wife, kidnapping her and threatening to shoot her after she started dating another man.
However, the jury were unable to reach a verdict, and a mistrial was declared. Jones was tried again ten weeks later, and new video evidence was presented that showed Jones driving his wife’s car while calling Paige and trying to book her services. This time, he was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole.
Last month, it was confirmed Jones, 70, is appealing his conviction on the grounds there was no physical or DNA evidence against him. Paige’s family are doubtless praying that it will come to nothing, and he will remain behind bars for the rest of his life. ◼