Man wanted on suspicion of murder in 25-year-old cold case in Colorado’s Western Slope arrested

DENVER A man who was sought by law enforcement for a quarter of a century in connection with a murder in Colorados Western Slope has been arrested, closing the chapter on a decades-old cold case.

James Daniel Bishop was arrested Thursday in Naturita, about 53 miles northwest of Telluride, by deputies from the Montrose County Sheriffs Office and officials from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Bishop was a wanted man in the murder of Dale Williams, who on May 27, 1999, was reported missing to the Nucla Marshals Office.

Two months later, on July 4, the investigation was assumed by the Montrose County Sheriffs Office. That same day, deputies found Williams truck fully submerged in the muddy waters at the confluence of the Dolores and San Miguel Rivers.

There have been countless interviews and hundreds of hours of investigation poured into this case. It has taken an entire team effort of law enforcement, family and concerned citizens to bring the case to where it is at today, said Montrose County Sheriff Gene R. Lillard. We are grateful for the in-depth investigation over the last 25 years by the Agents of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Investigators and Deputies of the Montrose County Sheriffs Office.

CBI officials obtained an arrest warrant for Bishops arrest on Oct. 14, setting his bond at $1 million cash-only for charges of first-degree murder, a Class 1 felony.

He was arrested three days later.

The Montrose County Sheriffs Office is grateful to the investigators, the community, and the Williams family for their tireless efforts to begin the closure process for a case that has affected us all, Lillard said.

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