Lakewood Man Charged With Murder In Woman's Strangulation

LAKEWOOD, CO — A Lakewood man is facing a first-degree murder charge in the strangulation death last year of a 22-year-old woman at a local motel. On Tuesday evening, agents with the Lakewood Police Department arrested Matthew David Williams, 27, for the killing of Olivia Margaret Hector, the department announced Wednesday on its Facebook page.

On Nov. 8, 2018, Hector was found dead by cleaning workers in a room at the Motel 6 at 480 Wadsworth Blvd. in Lakewood.

Officers who responded to the scene determined that her death appeared to be suspicious, and an autopsy found that she died "as a result of strangulation," the Lakewood police said.

The police launched a months-long homicide investigation that led to the arrest of Williams. However, after the autopsy on Jan. 30, the police learned that Hector's death could not definitively be ruled a homicide, according to KMGH-TV Denver7.

A police detective obtained a second opinion from a strangulation expert. The physician determined that Hector died from asphyxia caused by strangulation, "and the manner of her death is homicide," Denver7 reported.

Williams is being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail and is scheduled to attend a court hearing on Thursday, Denver7 reported.

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