Man fatally poisoned 9-year-old girl with chloroform while trying to sexually assault her
A man was arrested for allegedly killing a 9-year-old girl by poisoning her with chloroform as he attempted to sexually assault her, an arrest affidavit from the Grand Junction Police Department says.
Jeffrey Beagley, 34, was arrested Dec. 14 and is facing multiple charges related to the girl's death as well as multiple child sex charges after police found thousands of pornographic images and videos during their investigation.
On Nov. 9, police responded to a home on Hill Avenue in Grand Junction around 7 a.m. after the affidavit says Beagley called 911 to report he had woken up and found the 9-year-old girl unresponsive.
When police arrived, they found the girl on the living room floor of the house, according to the affidavit. She was not breathing and was unresponsive. The girl was later pronounced dead.
During their investigation, police said they found a makeshift tent made out of a painted tarp inside a shed on the property. The affidavit says that under the tarp, detectives found blankets, pillows, equipment for recording video, multiple computers, a cell phone, masks, balloons, sex toys, lubricants and an empty bottle of chloroform with a rag. There were also reddish-brown stains that a detective believed might have been drops of blood, the affidavit says.
Police obtained a warrant to see what was on the computers and cell phone found in the shed.
The affidavit says police recovered 1,616 total photos and 75 total videos, most of which were pornographic and depicted children.
Some of the pictures and videos were of the victim and had apparently been taken from a hidden camera in the home's bathroom, the affidavit says.
Police also discovered that the bottle of chloroform had been ordered by Beagley and had been delivered on Nov. 8 — one day before the young girl was found dead.
A chloroform-soaked rag can be used by assailants to knock out a sexual assault victim, according to the affidavit.
The girl tested positive for very high levels of chloroform during an autopsy, the affidavit says, and her death was ruled a homicide by chloroform poisoning.
Beagley is being held on the following charges:
- First-degree murder
- Reckless manslaughter
- Child abuse resulting in death
- Sexual exploitation of children
- Attempted sex assault on a child by one in a position of trust
- Invasion of privacy for sexual gratification
