Men Took Turns Strangling Woman, Accomplice Testifies

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A man who fired his attorney and represented himself during a first-degree murder trial has been found guilty of murdering a university student.

A jury found Ryan James Krueger, 31, guilty Wednesday, in the 2001 murder of Patricia Ann Elliott, 19.

Krueger was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and was immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Elliot's nude body was found in the bathtub of her Colorado Springs townhome on April 12, 2001.

A man charged in the crime testified against Krueger in court, saying Elliott was killed when she was hit in head several times by a weightlifting dumbbell and then strangled with a blanket.

Benjamin David Gunvalsen told police that Krueger became tired while strangling her and asked Christopher William Allen to take over -- and when Allen got tired, Krueger took over, the court documents said.

The men tried to erase forensic evidence by cleaning the corpse in bleach, the court documents said.

Gunvalsen testified that Krueger wanted to "take care" of Elliott because she was snitching to police about their drug activity.

Elliot was a freshman at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and was selling drugs bought from Krueger, according to court documents.

Allen was sentenced to life in prison without parole after he was found guilty of first-degree murder in February.

Gunvalsen was given a four-year prison term after he plead guilty to accessory to murder, as part of a plea agreement that required him to testify against the other two men.

Police spent two years investigating the slaying before making arrests in the case.

Krueger was a former soldier at Fort Carson Army Base.