Man Kills Wife On New Year's Eve, 6 Days After Being Released From Jail

A man suspected of killing his wife on New Year’s Eve has been arrested just one week after he was released from jail. Damon Lamont Mathews, 44, from Ignacio, Colorado is the prime suspect in the murder of his wife Rachel Philips Ream, 47, who was found dead by law enforcement in her home.

Mathews was released from jail on December 25 on a $1,500 bail for domestic violence charges against his wife. The 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office had asked District Judge Jeffrey Wilson to set Mathews’ bail at $10,000. However, Wilson had set Mathews’ bond at just $1,500 saying the charges at the time were misdemeanors. Six days later, his wife’s body was found in a separate building on the property with evident signs of trauma to the head.

In an arrest affidavit, the suspect had relayed to investigators that despite a protection order against him after his release, he was still living in the back house of his wife’s home.

The couple were celebrating New Year’s Eve together but got into a heated fight, the New York Post wrote.

He strangled Ream and went into the main house taking his wife’s money and car keys along with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and shot his wife one time in the head. He then drove to Grand Junction then to the Denver metro area where he admitted to loading up on methamphetamine. One of his car tires blew out on the road at which he called 911. When officers arrived he proceeded to tell them that he may have an arrest warrant for his wife’s murder.

Mathews was arrested on New Year’s Day and has since been held in the Jefferson County Detention Facility.

Court records show Mathews was arrested on Nov. 24 for third-degree assault and domestic violence against his wife. Prior to this, he had also been convicted four times since 2003 on domestic violence-related crimes.

In an article on The Durango Herald, Mathews’ former wife April Shaw said the suspect was in prison in Nevada for the same crimes between 2003 to 2015.

“He was so dangerous, he did the same things to me,” Shawl said.

“I always knew he’d never be stopped until he murdered a woman. It’s haunted me.”

Mathews is now being held without bail but it is unclear when a court date will be set for the charges on first-degree murder.