Wheat Ridge, CO – January 8, 2024 – Investigators have reason to believe that a man suspected of burglarizing a jewelry store, a month after its owner Peter Arguello was shot and killed, could be tied to the homicide.
On November 29, 2023, Peter Arguello, the owner of a jewelry store in Wheat Ridge, CO was shot and killed. The killer fled the scene. A stolen red Chevrolet Silverado was found burned two days after the homicide.
While investigating Peter Arguello’s murder, investigators found three flex cuffs on the floor in front of the store’s safe, where silver and coins had been removed. According to an affidavit, surveillance footage showed a male suspect tried to use the cuffs on Arguello, but Arguello resisted, and the suspect shot him.
The Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab conducted a DNA test on the flex cuffs, and on December 8, 2023, found the DNA on the cuffs matched the DNA profile for 40-year-old Charles Robinson Shay.
On December 26, 2023, at approximately 5:00 a.m., a month after the homicide, a subject broke into the jewelry and antique store formerly owned by Peter Arguello. The subject set off the store’s alarms and did not steal anything. Authorities also discovered a stolen vehicle was parked nearby and was linked to Shay.
Following his arrest, Shay admitted to burglarizing the store on December 26th. According to the affidavit, Shay reportedly told investigators, he “saw it as a crime of opportunity, knowing that the business was boarded up and not occupied.”
When a detective informed Shay that his DNA had been found on the flex cuffs from the scene of the homicide, police indicate that Shay stopped talking.
Shay had previously been convicted of motor vehicle theft, drug possession, vehicular eluding, identity theft and theft. He is currently being held at Jefferson County Jail on suspicion of aggravated motor vehicle theft and second-degree burglary.
Charles Robinson Ray, 40. Image Credit: Wheat Ridge Police Department
The deceased jeweler, Peter Arguello, is pictured below.
Watch videos below of those who knew Peter Arguello.