(Photo: ChaffeeCounty.net)
A 92-year-old man died when a homemade device exploded.
At first, the Chaffee County Sheriff’s office suspected Edwin Bartheld died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Turret, a ghost town 12 miles from Salida that has about 50 residents. His body was found Friday in the crawlspace of his home. He’d been dead for several days.
Deputies found a large cache of explosive materials in the home and called a bomb squad. The materials were removed and detonated Saturday.
Authorites say Bartheld is believed to have died “due to a bizarre series of events” that ended when a homemade device exploded.
Investigators believe they found a motive for Bartheld’s explosives but declined to release details, citing an ongoing investigation.
