The District Attorney — 18th Judicial District
  • Our Office
    • About Us
      • Meet the District Attorney
      • Mission Statement
      • Law Enforcement Partners
      • Unified Metropolitan Forensic Crime Lab
      • Forms and Brochures
      • Organization Chart
    • Contact Us
    • Employment
    • General Courts
      • District Court
      • Juvenile Court
      • County Court
    • Specialized Units
      • Conviction Integrity Unit
      • Cold Case
      • Appeals
      • Vehicular Homicide Unit
      • Diversion Counseling Program
      • Special Victims Unit (SVU)
      • Domestic Violence Unit
      • Human Trafficking Unit
      • Elder and at Risk Unit
      • Economic Crime Unit
      • Problem Solving Courts
    • Support Units
      • Finance Unit
      • Communications
      • Human Resources
      • Technology
      • Investigations
      • Victim Witness Unit
      • Central Services
      • Victim Compensation
  • Newsletter
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Victim Services
    • Victim Witness Unit
      • Victim Impact Statement and Restitution Information
    • Victim Rights
    • Victim Compensation
    • Domestic Violence
      • Domestic Violence Fast Track
    • Sexual Assault
    • Sex Offender Locator
  • Community Outreach
    • Newsletter
    • Consumer Fraud Protection
      • Community Presentations
      • Wage Theft
      • Fraud Alerts
      • Bad Check Restitution Program — DISCONTINUED
    • Outreach
    • Events
      • Senior Law & Safety Summit: May 21, 2022
      • Second Chances Warrant Clearance
      • Community Conversations
      • Citizen’s Academy
    • Volunteer
  • Reports
    • Data Dashboards
    • Financial Reports
    • Media
    • News Releases
    • Records Request
    • Officer-Involved Shootings
    • Peace Officer Credibility Disclosure Notification
  • Prosecution
    • Criminal Justice Glossary
    • Courtroom Diagram
    • Records Request
    • Docket Search
Judges sentences man to life in prison for...
Highlands Ranch mom sentenced to 4 decades in...
Judge sentences man to 85 years in prison...
Man who shot Waffle House cook over COVID...
Elbert County teen enters guilty plea in school...
Colorado District Attorneys’ Council honors trial team for...
Ex-Taekwondo instructor sentenced to five decades in prison...
Report of June 1, 2023 officer-involved shooting in...
Enrollment open for Fall 2023 Citizen’s Academy
MS-13 gang member sentenced to life in prison...

The District Attorney — 18th Judicial District

  • Our Office
    • About Us
      • Meet the District Attorney
      • Mission Statement
      • Law Enforcement Partners
      • Unified Metropolitan Forensic Crime Lab
      • Forms and Brochures
      • Organization Chart
    • Contact Us
    • Employment
    • General Courts
      • District Court
      • Juvenile Court
      • County Court
    • Specialized Units
      • Conviction Integrity Unit
      • Cold Case
      • Appeals
      • Vehicular Homicide Unit
      • Diversion Counseling Program
      • Special Victims Unit (SVU)
      • Domestic Violence Unit
      • Human Trafficking Unit
      • Elder and at Risk Unit
      • Economic Crime Unit
      • Problem Solving Courts
    • Support Units
      • Finance Unit
      • Communications
      • Human Resources
      • Technology
      • Investigations
      • Victim Witness Unit
      • Central Services
      • Victim Compensation
  • Newsletter
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Victim Services
    • Victim Witness Unit
      • Victim Impact Statement and Restitution Information
    • Victim Rights
    • Victim Compensation
    • Domestic Violence
      • Domestic Violence Fast Track
    • Sexual Assault
    • Sex Offender Locator
  • Community Outreach
    • Newsletter
    • Consumer Fraud Protection
      • Community Presentations
      • Wage Theft
      • Fraud Alerts
      • Bad Check Restitution Program — DISCONTINUED
    • Outreach
    • Events
      • Senior Law & Safety Summit: May 21, 2022
      • Second Chances Warrant Clearance
      • Community Conversations
      • Citizen’s Academy
    • Volunteer
  • Reports
    • Data Dashboards
    • Financial Reports
    • Media
    • News Releases
    • Records Request
    • Officer-Involved Shootings
    • Peace Officer Credibility Disclosure Notification
  • Prosecution
    • Criminal Justice Glossary
    • Courtroom Diagram
    • Records Request
    • Docket Search
Tag

Rebecca Bartee

Robert Williams

Inmate death ends prosecution in Rebecca Bartee murder case

The death Saturday of Robert Williams, 71, ends the prosecution of the man investigators believe murdered Rebecca Bartee, a 41-year-old employee of the District Attorney’s Office of the 18th Judicial District.

Robert Williams

Robert Williams


“A murdered prosecutor. An untimely, but ultimately brave witness. A DNA match. The only thing missing is justice,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “From the moment we identified Williams’ DNA in the tub of our murdered colleague, our office and ACSO investigators set about to hold him accountable for his inexplicable, cold-blooded murder and attempt to cover it up. We sought justice for Rebecca Bartee. The Bartee family and our community were denied that justice.

“No murderer should escape responsibility for evil conduct. This community and our office can rest assured that the murder of their public servant Deputy DA Rebecca Bartee has been solved. Whatever justice Williams didn’t receive here, he surely will receive now.”

On June 7, 1999, District Attorney employees contacted the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office when Bartee did not report for work.

An investigator responded to her home in the Copper Terrace Apartments on South Dayton Street, where he found her dead in her bathtub. The coroner classified her death as a homicide, caused by drowning and possibly strangulation.

Bartee’s apartment did not show signs of forced entry or robbery. There were no rugs or towels on the racks in the bathroom – they were found wet in the washing machine.

Technicians collected evidence, including fingerprints and hairs. Detective interviewed neighbors and family. People were ruled out as suspects; no one was identified. The case grew cold.

In February 2017 a local news reporter contacted the Sheriff’s Office to say he had been approached by a man who said he had information about an old murder.

Investigators contacted the man, who said he believed his acquaintance, Robert Williams, had strangled a young woman at the Copper Terrace Apartments years before.

The man related that he had seen Williams accosting the woman in the hall of the apartments one day. The man intervened, and the woman left. Williams also had problems with other women in the complex, the man said. Williams made unwelcome advances and looked in people’s windows.

The man knew that Williams had served time in prison in California.

The day the woman’s body was found, the man told investigators, Williams acted strangely.
Investigators reported that the man told them “I am not going to do die not letting that girl’s family know what happened.”

Investigators were able to corroborate much of what the man had told them, including that Williams was convicted in Los Angeles of the 1983 strangulation murder of his estranged girlfriend.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation had been able to extract a DNA profile from one of the hairs found in Bartee’s bathtub, and that evidence was reexamined in light of new information pointing to Williams. Ultimately, CBI analysts determined that the DNA on the hair found in Bartee’s bathtub matched Williams.

Williams was arrested Aug. 29, 2017. He appeared in Arapahoe District Court on Aug. 31, 2017, and was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Rebecca Bartee.

“It is tragic that after 18 years of waiting for an arrest in this case, the family and friends of Ms. Bartee will not have the opportunity to see the man charged with her murder stand trial and be held accountable for this brutal crime,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Wilcox, who prosecuted the case with Chief Deputy District Attorney John Kellner. Both attorneys work in the District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit.

Inmate death ends prosecution in Rebecca Bartee murder case was last modified: August 23rd, 2018 by Eric Ross
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Recent Posts

  • Judges sentences man to life in prison for deadly shooting outside Aurora sports bar
  • Highlands Ranch mom sentenced to 4 decades in prison following her newborn baby’s murder
  • Judge sentences man to 85 years in prison for killing father during violent carjacking spree
  • Man who shot Waffle House cook over COVID mask mandate sentenced to more than a decade in prison
  • Elbert County teen enters guilty plea in school shooting plot
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Footer Logo
  • Our Office
  • Victim Services
  • Community Outreach
  • Media
  • Employment
  • Contact Us
  • Prosecution
  • Disclaimer Policy

© 2022 - DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 18 JUDICIAL DISTRICT