Victim Kimberly Bell. Credit: Douglas County Sheriff's Office
It’s extremely difficult to work a murder case without the victim’s body, but—with dogged investigation, persistent witness interviews and some digital forensics magic—that’s exactly what the Douglas County (Colorado) Cold Case Team did, culminating in the arrest and indictment of two individuals last week.
Javier Martell, 30, and Jennifer Bremer, 38, were arrested last week for the murder of 51-year-old Kimberly Bell in July 2019. Martell has been charged with murder in the first degree, while Bremer has been charged with accessory to a crime and identity theft.
Missing and murdered
In August 2019, 51-year-old Bell was reported missing by her sister. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was given very little information at the time, with even less evidence as to what may or may not have occurred. However, detectives did not give up, turning the case over to the Cold Case Team in 2021.
“The arduous investigation took years to complete,” said Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly in a press conference announcing the arrests.
Eventually, though, the investigation pointed toward Bell spending her last day with Martell and Bremer—both of whom she knew. In fact, according to the grand jury indictment, Bell and Bremer worked together and even lived together at one point. Martell was Bremer’s boyfriend at the time.
Bell’s remains have still never been found, but, according to the grand jury indictment, Google location data paints a vivid picture of what happened that night—in conjunction with witness statements by Bremer.
Digital forensic evidence
On July 22, 2019, the two suspects were in Bell’s rental car, as she was shopping around for a new one after totaling her last car. According to Weekly, Martell—who was in the backseat on the driver’s side—became “enraged” with Bell at some point, putting his arm around her neck and dragging her into the backseat.
Bremer then moved from the front passenger’s seat to the driver’s seat, and drove around while Martell strangled Bell to death in the back. With Bell’s body in the backseat, the two suspects drove to various locations, including a gas station where Bremer used Bell’s card to gas up and a Home Depot, where Martell went inside to buy an axe.
Later that night, the suspects drove to a remote location near Estes Park where Martell dismembered Bell’s body. He placed her body into trash bags before both suspects disposed of the bags in a vet clinic’s nearby dumpster.
Google location data extracted from Bell’s phone supports this version of events from that tragic day. Additionally, the Cold Case Team found multiple searches from July 22, 2019, in Bell’s search history including, "take a tracking system out of a Ford Focus" and "does phone ping location if off?.” Weekly said this data was crucial for the arrests.
“Despite the grand jury indictment, this investigation is still ongoing,” said Weekly. “We are asking for the public’s help. If anyone knew Kimberly Bell, Javier Alex Martell or Jennifer Bremer aka Jennifer Beasley around July 2019, we are asking them to please contact our Cold Case Team.”