Three men have been arrested in connection with a killing that had gone unsolved for five years in which a Colorado Springs woman was beaten and strangled in her home.
   Patricia Ann Elliott, 19, was killed because the suspects thought she’d informed on them about selling drugs, according to court documents released Monday.
   Elliott bought drugs from one of the suspects and was dealing them, the arrest affidavit said.
   The arrests came after Colorado Springs police detectives began reinterviewing people last year about the killing. One of the suspects confessed last week.
   “They say if a case isn’t solved in the first few days, it’s doomed to be a cold case,” Elliott’s mother, Connie, said Monday. “I guess I never really thought it would come to this day. Now I’m just trembling.”
   Benjamin David Gunvalsen, 25, told police Thursday how Elliott was killed. In exchange, the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office agreed not to file a first-degree murder charge against him, court documents said.
   Gunvalsen, who lives in North Ridgeville, Ohio, was arrested on suspicion of accessory to the crime, a felony. He was arrested after flying to Colorado Springs to give his account of what happened.
   The other two suspects, Ryan James Krueger, 29, of Colorado Springs, and Christopher William Allen, 27, who moved to Pahrump, Nev., were arrested Friday on suspicion of first-degree murder. Allen was picked up in Nevada and is awaiting extradition.
   Krueger and Allen could face life in prison or death if convicted of first-degree murder. Gunvalsen faces up to six years in prison.
   Gunvalsen and Allen were Fort Carson soldiers at the time of the slaying but are no longer in the military.
   The three were identified as suspects within days of the killing because Elliott’s friends told investigators she was supposed to meet her drug source, named Ryan, the day she was killed, court documents stated.
   “We never stopped looking at them — just didn’t really have enough at that time to arrest and have a successful prosecution,” said Colorado Springs police detective Derek Graham, who went to Nevada twice and Ohio once to work on the case.
   Elliott’s nude body was found April 12, 2001, inside her town house in the 5500 block of Denmark Court near North Academy and Dublin boulevards. An autopsy showed she died from skull fractures and hemorrhages.
   She was a freshman at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Elliott was selling drugs — including methamphetamine, ecstasy and marijuana — and bought drugs from Krueger, according to court documents.
   On April 11, 2001, Krueger told Gunvalsen and Allen that he needed to “take care of” Elliott because he believed she was snitching about their drug trafficking, court documents said.
   Krueger told Allen to buy a dumbbell from Wal-Mart, and Allen got a metal one weighing 2½ or 5 pounds, Gunvalsen told police.
   The three men met Elliott in a parking lot, then followed her home. On the way, Krueger told Gunvalsen and Allen that they were going to hit her in the head with the dumbbell, the court documents said.
   After Allen used the restroom, he allegedly struck Elliott repeatedly from behind while she was on the couch, court documents said. Elliott slumped over and, Gunvalsen told authorities, he heard her ask, “Why are you doing this?”
   Krueger allegedly said, “It’s just business,” before grabbing a blanket to strangle her, the court documents said.
   Gunvalsen told police that Krueger became tired while strangling her and asked Allen to take over — and when Allen got tired, Krueger took over, the court documents said.
   Gunvalsen told police he also grabbed the blanket and helped strangle Elliott. They carried her body to the tub and cleaned it with bleach, court documents said.
   Gunvalsen told police they spent about an hour cleaning.
   The dumbbell was tossed into a field off Interstate 25, the court documents said.
   Krueger allegedly told Gunvalsen and Allen he’d pay them $10,000 each to help him kill Elliott — but they were given $1,000 each, the court documents said.
   “She didn’t deserve to die like that, no matter what she was doing,” Elliott’s mom said. “You can’t go back and raise your child any differently. You try to do the best you can, try to instill the best values. There’s no vaccination that will ensure they will do the right thing out on their own.”
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   anslee.willett@gazette.com