A Colorado man who was recently arrested in connection with a fatal road rage incident had previously been investigated for murder twice, including the infamous 2017 double murder in Delphi, Indiana.
The Colorado Springs Police Department issued a press release announcing the arrest of 39-year-old Daniel Nations, who is accused of running over 35-year-old Jacob Martinez during a July 24 road rage incident.
According to police, officers responded to calls at 11:25 a.m. that day about a pedestrian being run over by a vehicle, which then drove away. Police identified Nations as the car’s driver.
Martinez was transported to the hospital in critical condition, and an investigation into the incident began. Nations was arrested and charged with assault in the first degree. Nations was charged with first-degree murder after Martinez died from his injuries on July 27.
However, Nations’ name has appeared in several murder cases.
According to local CBS affiliate KCNC, Nations was investigated after the homicide death of Timothy Watkins, a 60-year-old cyclist whose body was discovered in a shallow grave off a popular bike trail in September 2017.
Nations was investigated in connection with Watkins’ death, which was ruled a homicide, but he was never charged. Watkins’ case has since gone cold.
According to KCNC, Nations pleaded guilty to charges of threatening two hikers with a hatchet near the same trail as Watkins, earning him the nickname “Hatchet Man.” These threats occurred around the same time that Watkins went missing, in September 2017. Nations pleaded guilty to menacing and weapons charges, receiving a short jail sentence and three years probation.
Nations’ name was also linked to the February 2017 murders of 13-year-old Liberty German and 14-year-old Abby Williams; Nations was reportedly living in Delphi, Indiana, at the time of the murders, close to where both girls’ bodies were discovered. He was eventually cleared as a suspect.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to KCNC that Daniel Nations was the same person under investigation in 2017.
Nations is charged with first-degree murder. He is currently detained without bail at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center. His next court date is set for October 8.
