A former employee of a Colorado sheriff’s office pretended to be a U.S. marshal, kidnapped a Vermont man and killed him as part of a convoluted, multi-state murder-for-hire plot, federal pros…
A driver’s license photo of Jerry Banks, as seen in the affidavit for his arrest.
Banks was certified by Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Board and worked for the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office between Aug. 15, 2017, and Feb. 14, 2018, POST records show.A clerk with the sheriff’s office who declined to give her last name said that Banks worked in the detention center. She didn’t know what date he stopped working there, but said he called one day and said he wasn’t coming in anymore. Banks’ arrest affidavit states he held a part-time job with the agency.
“Between 2018 and 2022, the government investigation remained covert,” a court filing states. “The co-conspirators… likely thought that they had gotten away with the murder. In April 2022, the government chose to take overt steps.” Banks was friends with Ethridge, who was friends with Eratay, who worked for Gumrukcu, according to prosecutors’ court filings.