Affidavit texts: Developer’s house robbed to pay drug organization
A woman incarcerated in Pitkin County Jail on a $100,000 bond faces felony allegations that she stole Rolex watches, jewelry and airsoft pistols from a prominent Aspen real estate developer so she could pay off a drug organization.
Authorities arrested Eleanore Louise Davis, 28, on Friday after an investigation that led them to suspect she broke into the house of Nikos Hecht while he was vacationing in the Bahamas.
Hecht, in text messages with sheriff’s investigators, had said he was afraid because Davis and possibly others who committed the burglary have connections to violent drug organizations. Hecht also said that more than $5 million in property was taken, including valuable coins.
“I don’t feel safe in the house now and my kids are upset,” Hecht texted authorities Aug. 16, eight days after the break-in allegedly occurred. Portions of those text messages were included in an arrest warrant Pitkin County District Court released Monday.
A judge advised Davis at a hearing Friday that she faces felony charges of second-degree burglary and theft. As of Monday she remained in custody and had yet to retain counsel, a court clerk said.
Davis’ arrest came after a Pitkin County deputy learned about a possible burglary at Hecht’s Owl Creek Road home in the early morning hours of Aug. 6. That deputy called sheriff’s investigator Brad Gibson to the scene, where they saw what appeared to be a basement-level window that had been smashed.
A security company also had responded within 17 minutes of notification but found no one on the scene, the affidavit said.
Gibson later that morning reached Hecht, who was on a boat in the Bahamas, by cellphone and received his permission to enter the house to see whether a person had illegally entered the house or the culprit was possibly a bear.
“Inside the home, we did not see any evidence of a bear break-in,” said the affidavit that Gibson prepared. “We did see evidence of a burglary.”
That evidence included an empty, large jewelry box as well as a broken keypad on a gun safe in the house.
Upon further investigation of the site, Gibson learned from one of the house’s workers that her late son had previously dated Davis and she was familiar with the house’s layout.
The worker said she had been in indirect contact with Davis on Aug. 6. And during a follow-up talk Aug. 14, the worker told authorities she had spoken to Davis, who admitted to being involved in the burglary.
Meanwhile, Hecht had been communicating with Davis, who he apparently knew, about returning the stolen goods.
According to text messages printed in the affidavit, Hecht asked for the return of the coins and watches. He also offered to pay cash to Davis, ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
“If you can give me the watches and the coins, I can give you that, and I’m happy to give you more in addition,” said one of his texts to Davis. “Like, I have never let you down money-wise. But this is crazy. Like it’s nuts.”
Davis replied that she wouldn’t be able to get the coins without paying for them.
Hecht remained in contact with investigator Gibson, and Aug. 16 said he had received back 17 of the stolen items but they were in poor condition.
Judge Erin-Fernandez-Ely signed the warrant for Davis’s arrest Aug. 18. Davis is due back in court Sept. 8.
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