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A former Decorah man accused of murdering a teenage girl in 2017 has entered a plea of not guilty in the case.
James David Bachmurski is accused of killing 15-year-old Jade Marie Colvin in late March of 2017. The 65-year-old was officially charged with second-degree murder last month, after being extradited from Georgia earlier this summer. Bachmurski is currently being held at the Winneshiek County Jail on multiple charges.
A criminal complaint filed on Aug. 12 said Colvin was reported missing to the Des Moines Police Department on June 10, 2016. The U.S. Marshal Service contacted the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office in May of 2022 regarding the case, saying Colvin was believed to have come to Winneshiek County prior to her disappearance. The Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office then launched an investigation with the aid of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Winneshiek County Attorney’s Office.
Teen was brought to Iowa from Arizona
Information from the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office said Colvin’s mother brought the teen to Iowa from Arizona to live with Bachmurski in the early spring of 2017. Investigators found Bachmurski “had encouraged and participated in a one-on-one relationship with Jade Colvin via electronic messaging for approximately 30 days prior to her coming to stay at his residence.” A criminal complaint said Bachmurski told authorities Colvin’s mother was unaware of their communicating, and “he had used some of his own money to facilitate Jade Colvin being brought to his residence in March of 2017.”Investigators also discovered Colvin had “extensive conversations with friends her age, and that they planned to communicate immediately after her arrival in Iowa in late 2017.” A criminal complaint said Bachmurski told law enforcement the 15-year-old’s cell phone had no service once she arrived at his property in the 2000 block of Skyline View Drive in rural Decorah. Bachmurski told authorities he allowed Colvin to use his phone — which records confirmed, according to the complaint. “The messages sent by Jade Colvin from the defendant’s cell phone during the early morning hours of March 30, 2017, were the last messages ever known to be received by any person,” the criminal complaint said.Court documents said Bachmurski allegedly lied to investigators at some point, saying Colvin had gone elsewhere after her final recorded text, and the 65-year-old allegedly made “false and contradictory statements to others, including investigators and his son.” Interviews with Bachmurski’s son indicated Colvin had been at the family’s rural farm property in southern Winneshiek County in March of that year, according to court documents, and the son observed Colvin’s property at the farmhouse “a few months after Jade Colvin was gone.”
Bachmurski previously charged with abusing sons
Full article available in the September 5 Decorah Leader.
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