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Police arrest Colorado murder suspect

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Members of the Farmington Police Department have apprehended a suspected murderer.

Officers arrested Mark Anthony Whatley, age 21, on a warrant at a home on Oak Street on Aug. 21. They say Whatley was taken into custody without incident.

Court records obtained from the Trinidad Police Department, in Trinidad, Colo., show Whatley was wanted for the May 15 stabbing murder of 33-year-old Jeremy Alex Popoff. Police here were notified that Whatley might be living in Farmington, and that there was a felony warrant issued for his arrest.

According to documents, police in Trinidad were called to a home at about 12:12 p.m. on May 15. On arrival they found a man lying in a fresh pool of blood on the floor in the front room of the home. Emergency workers arriving at the scene determined Popoff had succumbed to multiple stab wounds.

A suspect was not immediately determined in the case. It took nearly three months of following leads before a warrant was issued for the arrest of Whatley. By that time he was living here in Farmington.

Police here received word of the suspected murderer possibly living on Oak Street on Aug. 21. Several officers were attending a training session at the police department at that time. An officer drove by the address and saw a vehicle with Colorado license plates sitting outside the home. A team of officers armed with the necessary equipment and a copy of the murder warrant went to the address.

Whatley answered the door and surrendered without incident. He was taken to the county jail for processing and to await extradition back to Colorado.

Further details surrounding the charges against Whatley are not available at this time, according to a Trinidad Police Department spokesperson. The affidavit used to procure Whatley’s felony murder arrest warrant has been “sealed” by the court system.

It is known that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist with the investigation and collection of evidence in the case.

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