A Fremont County judge sentenced 48-year-old Anthony Fogle to 25 years in prison this week for his role in the 2022 killings of Ryan Roth and Rodolfo “Rudy” Santillan-Reyes, whose bodies were found down a steep cliff along Phantom Canyon Road. Fogle, who agreed to testify against co-defendant Toni Gurule in exchange for a reduced sentence, told the court, “I'm sorry for not fighting for your sons,” addressing the victims' families directly during the hearing.
According to the Canon City Daily Record, District Judge Lauren Swan handed down the sentence in district court, and the report identifies Riley Selleck as Fogle's defense attorney. Assistant District Attorney Stacey Turner had requested the maximum 25-year sentence, citing 10 felony convictions in Fogle's criminal history, while the Wet Mountain Tribune reports his record actually spans at least 12 prior felony convictions accumulated over roughly 30 years, including armed robbery, federal drug charges, and weapons offenses, according to Wet Mountain Tribune.
A Grand Jury Indictment Rooted in a Social Media Feud
Fogle, Toni Gurule, and Suzzete Salyer — who is married to Gurule — were indicted on April 30, 2024, on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree kidnapping, all classified as class 1 felonies, per the Canon City Daily Record's reporting. The indictment attributed the killings to personal animosity stemming from slanderous songs or statements sent through social media to Gurule. Trial evidence, as detailed by SECO News, established that Roth had recorded songs insulting Gurule and Salyer and sent them to Gurule just hours before the attack.
Gurule and Salyer then enlisted Fogle to provide physical “muscle” for the abduction, according to the same SECO News account. The defendants gathered firearms and zip ties, drove to one victim's home, and took Roth and Santillan-Reyes at gunpoint before driving them to a secluded location, per the Canon City Daily Record. Both men were bound with zip ties, and the defendants ultimately shot them, causing both victims' deaths.
Forensic Details and the Discovery of the Bodies
Roth, 25, and Santillan-Reyes, 36, both Fremont County residents, were found dead on February 8, 2022, near mile marker 10.5 of Phantom Canyon Road, County Road 67, after their bodies were spotted down the cliff. SECO News reports that three citizens discovered the scene after noticing a bright piece of clothing Roth was wearing. Forensic evidence later showed Santillan-Reyes was shot three times with two separate firearms and struck on the head with a metal wrench found down the cliff, while Roth suffered a single fatal gunshot wound through his skull, according to the same outlet.
Investigators used DNA evidence and phone pinging to identify the suspects, placing them near the victims' residences and the crime scene, the Canon City Daily Record reported. After the killings, Gurule and Salyer took the victim's vehicle and cleaned it out, and investigators later found items addressed to each victim in the pair's trash, along with the defendants having placed the victims in a car belonging to one of the men before driving to the canyon.
Fogle's Deal, His Testimony, and the DA Controversy
Fogle agreed to help Gurule and Salyer during the abduction, and he was later indicted alongside them, but he agreed to testify for both co-defendants and pleaded guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence, according to the Canon City Daily Record. He was officially served with his murder indictment on May 5, 2024, while held in federal custody in Englewood, Colorado, on separate drug and weapons charges, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office confirmed at the time. He is now serving a federal sentence at United States Penitentiary Beaumont in Texas.
Fogle's history with the 11th Judicial District Attorney's Office added another layer to the case. Before the homicides, he faced decades in prison in 2021 before then-District Attorney Jeff Lindsey offered a plea deal that reduced his felony charges to a careless driving infraction, according to Wet Mountain Tribune. Court records revealed Lindsey granted that deal so Fogle could act as an unrecorded confidential informant for local sheriff's detectives, the outlet reported.
That relationship came under scrutiny in July 2026, when District Judge Lauren Swan reduced the murder charges against Gurule from first-degree to second-degree and disqualified the entire 11th Judicial District Attorney's Office from the case, citing a systemic pattern of discovery violations, according to Colorado Politics. The judge cited at least 23 instances where prosecutors failed to disclose evidence to defense attorneys across multiple cases, the outlet reported. Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly was then appointed as special prosecutor just three weeks before Gurule's trial after the defense refused a continuance, with jail calls obtained by investigators showing defense attorneys believed a small rural district attorney's office could not adequately prepare for the complex double-homicide trial in that timeframe, according to KRDO.
Conviction, Sentencing, and a Judge's Warning
Toni Gurule's trial ended in a conviction on September 2, 2026, after a Fremont County jury found her guilty on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of accessory to murder, deliberating for less than two hours, per KRDO's reporting. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 6, 2026. Suzzete Salyer had already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder before Gurule's trial and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the same term Fogle ultimately received, according to the same KRDO account.
Selleck, Fogle's defense attorney, said his client accepted accountability and argued that Fogle's contribution was the singular difference in the prosecution's success. Selleck further argued that without Fogle's testimony, Salyer's trial may have ended in another mistrial or no conviction at all. During sentencing, Judge Swan expressed concern about Fogle's abuse of the community and urged him to make different choices moving forward. Gurule and Salyer were apprehended on June 1, 2024, when a Mohave County Sheriff's Office SWAT team used chemical agents during a standoff at a home in Topock, Arizona, according to The Standard Newspaper.
