Mar. 21—CHEYENNE — A Carpenter man was recently arrested by the Laramie County Sheriff's Department on a first-degree murder warrant out of Weld County, Colorado, for allegedly shooting his friend on a northern Colorado county road in 2017.

The main question investigators have at this time is "Why?"

Mark Dean Switzer, 71, is accused of shooting his friend, Nathan Thomas Combs, who was 49 at the time, twice in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. Switzer is now in custody, and the investigation is ongoing.

What's unclear at this time is whether the killing came at Combs' request, since he was scheduled to begin his prison sentence for making and receiving child pornography a year earlier, as outlined in the affidavit of probable cause obtained Friday from the Weld County Court.

On the afternoon of May 18, 2017, Weld County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to Weld County Road (WCR) 136 and WCR 77 on a report of an "industrial accident" or "traffic crash involving a semi truck." Law enforcement discovered Combs upon arrival.

Sheriff's deputies were able to recover .22-caliber shell casings, as well as a disassembled Ruger model 10/22 .22-caliber rifle from Switzer's residence and truck in early 2018. The casings had "U" stamped markings similar to the casings located at the scene of the crime.

The case was revived after these recovered casings were sent to the FBI for forensic analysis in July 2020. In October of 2022, the analysis report was completed, confirming that the casings were a positive match to those recovered from the scene.

Prior to receiving this analysis, much of the case was built around text messages and alleged conversations held between Switzer, Combs, Robert Dean, and Comb's wife, Rebecca.

According to Rebecca Combs, she and Switzer spoke at Switzer's residence about a week after her husband's death. During the conversation, Switzer allegedly told Combs that he had killed Nathan Combs, only that he had shot him with a .38-caliber bullet, different from what was recovered from the crime scene.

In a pre-text phone call, a process used to draw incriminating statements from a suspect, Rebecca Combs asked Switzer why he killed Nathan Combs, to which Switzer replied, "Why would I kill my friend?"

However, this statement was followed by Switzer adding that "(Combs) wanted (me) to kill him, but (I) refused." He also said that the person who probably killed him was "some guy that he'd met up at the truck stop."

It was also reported in the affidavit of probable cause that Switzer had relayed to Dean just two days after the murder that Combs was shot with a .22-caliber bullet. However, this information had not been released outside of select law enforcement.

Rebecca Combs only learned where her husband had been shot four days after his death, and was never told the caliber of the bullet.

On two other occasions, as detailed in the affidavit, Switzer stated that he heard this information from someone at the truck stop, a man name "Joshua" and another unnamed "acquaintance," neither of which could be located. A follow-up investigation at the Antelope truck stop, where he said these conversations took place, "did not reveal anyone who corroborated the defendant's statements."

After his death, it was learned that Nathan Combs was arrested on two counts of sexual exploitation of a child-using a child to make pornography and sexual exploitation of a child-receiving child pornography in April 2016.

The girl was 16 at the time. She told Laramie County Sheriff's deputies that the relationship was consensual.

Nathan Combs, who was ultimately convicted, was scheduled to serve his prison sentence at the end of May 2017.

In the affidavit of probable cause, exchanges between Combs and friend Charles McLean detail Combs' wariness of serving his sentence. He allegedly stated that he "wasn't going back to jail," and "I know what they do to people like that," in reference to sex crime offenders.

But Combs also added, "Don't tell anybody but I've got it arranged," though he did not elaborate.

Over a year later, McLean received a phone call from Combs, during which he said his friend was acting "way different." Normally, Combs was talkative, but on this call, he spoke very little — leading him to believe that Combs intended to take his own life.

During the call, Combs told McLean to "Look after Becky, stop in and say hi to her, and see how she's doing."

In the months prior to his death, Combs activated a $50,000 life insurance policy, then upped the coverage to $100,000 a month later. On April 25, he signed a will "leaving his worldly possessions to Rebecca."

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.