Bloody shoe print led police to roommate in slaying

Faced with the absence of any weapon, investigators have turned to a bloody K-Swiss shoe print to link a 20-year-old man to the stabbing death of his 26-year-old roommate.

The evidence was detailed in an arrest affidavit for Emilio Ruiz, who was charged with first-degree murder Monday in the stabbing death of his roommate Franklin Chandler.

Chandler’s other roommate, Joshua King, found his body about 6:30 p.m. Friday in the blood-spattered bathroom of their residence at the Greencrest Apartments, 3315 Austin Bluffs Parkway.

Ruiz was arrested about 7 a.m. Saturday after running from a shed behind a house at 3846 Vaquero Circle N.

When pressed by investigators, he denied knowing Chandler or living in the apartment, saying he had only knocked on Chandler’s door the day he was found dead.

Investigators have not found the knife used in the killing and no clear motive was stated in the affidavit.

His statements, however, ran counter to what neighbors said they saw before the body’s discovery.

King told police he and Chandler shared the apartment with Ruiz, and a neighbor said they saw Ruiz moving out of the apartment earlier in the day. One woman said she saw him carrying two duffel bags and “speed-walking” across Austin Bluffs and away from the apartment about four hours before Chandler’s body was found.

When investigators arrived a short time later, they found the shoe print on a sheet covering Chandler’s body, which bore similar characteristics to Ruiz’s K-Swiss tennis shoes. The shoes, police said, still had a “reddish stain” imprinted on them Saturday.

Police also found pieces of mail and a pay stub belonging to Chandler in the shed where Ruiz was arrested Saturday morning.

Chandler’s death is the 13th homicide this year in Colorado Springs; there were 15 homicides this time last year.