{"id":50958,"date":"2020-10-09T15:38:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T21:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/riddle-sentenced-to-15-years-for-mancos-murder\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:53:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:53:59","slug":"riddle-sentenced-to-15-years-for-mancos-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/riddle-sentenced-to-15-years-for-mancos-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Riddle sentenced to 15 years for Mancos murder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Riddle
Riddle was sentenced to 15 years in prison for second-degree murder.<\/span>Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Debra Gaylyn Riddle was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison plus five years on parole for the second-degree murder of her common-law husband, David J. Mooney on July 3, 2019.<\/p>\n

The sentence was handed down by 22nd Judicial Judge Todd Plewe and was part of a court-approved plea agreement between Riddle and the 22nd Judicial District Attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Relatives of Mooney and Riddle attended the sentencing hearing in person and virtually but did not to speak. A letter about Riddle from her sister was read in court.<\/p>\n

The Mooney family \u201cis devastated. There is no way to restore what was lost, and the impacts to the family are long lasting,\u201d said Assistant District Attorney Matt Margeson. \u201cThe family demands justice, and that justice will be to keep Riddle away from society for a significant amount of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riddle, 57, who has been jailed since her arrest, attended the sentencing hearing in person, wearing a face mask and yellow jail jumpsuit. She was handcuffed, and her legs were shackled.<\/p>\n

In a brief statement, Riddle apologized and asked for forgiveness. She has been jailed in the Montezuma County Detention Center since her arrest in July 2019. Her bail initially was set at $1 million, then reduced to $500,000, but she never posted it.<\/p>\n

As part of the plea deal, Riddle was required to submit a statement of her guilt. It was read out loud in court by Margeson.<\/p>\n

Riddle said July 3 she and Mooney had argued about an upcoming road trip at their RV residence at 7850 County Road 37, according to the statement.<\/p>\n

Afterward, she said Mooney was lying down at their residence and snoring. At some point, Riddle reached into a pistol bag, took out a handgun \u201cand fired not intending to strike,\u201d according to her statement.<\/p>\n

Riddle want to bed and called 911 in the morning.<\/p>\n

An autopsy showed Mooney had been fatally shot once in the head and once in the back, according to the Montezuma County Coroner\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing I can do or say that can restore the damage. A life has been lost. The defendant acknowledged her guilt,\u201d Plewe said.<\/p>\n

According to the facts of the plea deal, \u201cRiddle unlawfully, feloniously and knowingly caused the death of David Mooney. Further, the offense was committed under circumstances where the act causing the death was performed upon a sudden heat of passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the plea deal, Riddle was required to reveal that the weapon used was a small snub-nosed pistol with a wood handle, Margeson said, and that she last placed the gun in a gray corduroy bag inside the camper. But the gun was not found.<\/p>\n

Riddle and Mooney lived together in the fifth-wheel trailer west of Mancos. He was a truck driver for L,D. Baugh of Mancos, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

During the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office investigation, a history of jealousy and violence between the couple appeared to surface.<\/p>\n

Mooney\u2019s son, brother and mother said the plea agreement was appropriate, said Margeson, who added that Sheriff\u2019s Office detectives agreed.<\/p>\n

According to an obituary in the Paonia High Country Shopper, Mooney loved the outdoors, especially fishing, camping and riding ATVs. He was known for his culinary skills and shared recipes with his family. He worked for Baugh for 10 years and was respected for his work ethic, skills and generosity, Baugh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a solid employee, very trustworthy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mooney also was the company\u2019s main mechanic and managed its 15 drivers and payroll in North Dakota.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d run the whole thing and knew how to solve problems, I could trust him,\u201d Baugh said.<\/p>\n

When work was unavailable, Mooney worked as a driver in Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was even-tempered and had a lot of friends here and in Arizona,\u201d Baugh said. \u201cWhen a job needed to be done, he would be there. We\u2019re all ranchers too, and he\u2019d help with the cattle or build fence.\u201d<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

admits killing man<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,168,13,28,83,29,76],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-crime","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-mancos","tag-newsletter","tag-u-s-22nd-judicial-district"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87861,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50958\/revisions\/87861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50958"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}