A former newspaper photographer is a suspect in the mysterious circumstances regarding the disappearance and murder of an Oak Cliff homeowner.
Police found Ronald Shumway’s body encased in concrete five months ago. Now, there are three warrant out for his neighbor’s arrest.
Dallas police aren’t saying Christopher Colbert killed his neighbor--who owned the house in the 700 block of Winnetka Avenue for more than 30 years--but they want to put him behind bars and find out what he knows about what happened.
Police detectives say Colbert is an impostor, a man who sold his former landlord's home by posing as the dead man---an owner who had been killed, police say.
"I would hope [detectives] figure it out, come to a conclusion and catch the guy. That would be best for the whole neighborhood," said Gregory Damman, who lives a few houses away.
Colbert is a former photographer with the Dallas Voice newspaper. He lived next-door to Ronald Shumway-- a former DART bus driver.
Multiple neighbors say Colbert moved in to the duplex in the fall of 2014. Shumway was last seen in April 2015. A new homeowner found Shumway’s body five months after that, in September, encased in a concrete slab near the backyard.
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Colbert is charged money laundering, tampering with government records and deception. Each felony carries a $100,000 bond. He is not charged with any violent crime.
Police say Colbert forged signatures on closing documents and provided the title company with a doctored driver’s license photo---one that had his photo superimposed over his dead landlord's actual license.
"The story gets deeper," Damman said. "It’s a little unnerving, that all this basically happened in my backyard."
Police also say Colbert used Shumway’s debit card last summer to make almost $40,000 in purchases.
"Especially to be buried in your own yard, with the house being flipped and documents forged. Somebody went through a lot of trouble," Damman said.
