ALAMOSA — Two of three men facing murder charges for the Aug. 9 death of Alamosa resident Mathias Fritz, 40, made their first appearances in court on those charges on Thursday.
Shem M. Brown, 26, of Monte Vista, and Shawndon J. McVey, 25, appeared in Alamosa County Court on Nov. 1st. A third defendant, Robert P. Martinez, 29, of Del Norte, also faces murder charges in relation to Fritz’s murder. He is being held in Rio Grande County.
Brown appeared in person with a court-appointed attorney. In addition to the class one felony murder in the first degree charge, he also had a protection order issued against him.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Brown on January 11th, 2019 and for McVey on January 14, 2019.
All three defendants face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery, felony menacing and multiple crimes of violence enhancers in connection with the assault and shooting of Alma Salazar, who survived, and the death of Fritz, who was beaten and shot in an East Alamosa apartment.
Investigation is ongoing, and further suspects may be charged.

Arrests
According to Detective Sergeant Sam Coffman of the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office, Martinez was in the Rio Grande County Jail where he had previously been held on other charges, McVey was apprehended by Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agents in Colorado Springs on Monday, Oct. 29 and by Monday evening the third suspect, Brown, had been taken into custody.
Coffman stated that on Oct. 29 felony no bond warrants were issued for the three men in connection with Fritz’s murder and the assault and shooting of Alma Salazar, who is recovering in an undisclosed location in another part of the state. Salazar had been flown out for treatment following the assault.
“It was a very violent crime,” added Alamosa County Sheriff Robert Jackson.
The crime occurred in the early morning hours of Aug. 9 in an apartment above the Extreme Graphics office near Vendola Plumbing & Heating in East Alamosa. Neighbors reported the shooting after finding the female victim wandering around with gunshot wounds. Authorities found Fritz deceased at the scene.
Detective Sergeant Coffman has been following leads and processing evidence with the CBI, which has assisted with the investigation along with the Colorado State Patrol. Information provided through Crime Stoppers led to the identification of the three suspects.
Coffman added that multiple search warrants were served on Facebook and cell phone accounts that provided information to charge the three men with murder and related charges. The CBI crime lab is also analyzing multiple pieces of evidence.
“We are waiting for more test results,” Sheriff Jackson said.
Coffman said one of the tests pending with the CBI is ballistics on the firearm used in the fatal shooting. A gun, bullets and casing have been recovered in connection with the crime, Jackson said. Other weapons were also recovered.
The sheriff said many man hours have gone into this investigation. Coffman explained that reviewing and processing information and evidence has been time consuming.
The sheriff’s office requests any information regarding this case be called in to Crime Stoppers, 719-589-4111 or to the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division, 719-589-6608.