Leon Pantoya

After a tenacious three-year investigation that employed modern forensic science, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) in Colorado has announced an arrest in connection with the 2022 homicide of Steven Robinson, a man whose remains were discovered in a shallow grave.

On Thursday, September 26, 2025—exactly three years and a day after the initial discovery—PCSO detectives and the U.S. Marshals Task Force arrested Leon Pantoya, a 43-year-old Pueblo man, on a warrant for first-degree murder. Pantoya was also charged with identity theft and theft, and has been booked into the Pueblo County Jail.

The complex case, led by Detective Vanessa Simpson, began on September 25, 2022, when a property owner in the 3500 block of 36th Lane reported finding possible human remains in a field. Forensic analysis confirmed the remains were human, and an autopsy later determined the victim had died from blunt force and sharp force trauma, ruling the manner of death a homicide.

Genetic Genealogy Key to Identification

For over a year, the victim remained unidentified, despite being entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database and having a forensic artist’s reconstruction image publicly shared.

The major breakthrough came after the victim’s DNA was submitted to a genetic genealogy database with assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In late 2024, a match with a relative led to the positive identification of the victim as 39-year-old Steven Robinson, originally from South Carolina, who had moved to Pueblo in 2017.

Financial Fraud Uncovered

Investigators soon discovered that Robinson had been living with Pantoya at the time of his death in early January 2022. Detectives learned Pantoya had informed Robinson’s friends and landlord that Robinson had died of pneumonia on January 22, 2022. Further investigation determined Robinson’s remains were buried on property owned by one of Pantoya’s relatives.

Crucially, the investigation also revealed that Pantoya had withdrawn more than $75,000 from Robinson’s bank account. This financial theft continued for over a year after Robinson’s death, as the victim’s military disability payments continued to be deposited into the account.

Sheriff David J. Lucero publicly praised the lead investigator, Detective Simpson. “Detective Simpson has been dedicated and committed to solving this case for years… She worked tirelessly not only to identify the victim but also to investigate the homicide and identify a suspect,” Sheriff Lucero said. “Bringing closure to this case is a testament to modern science and solid investigative police work.”

The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with further information related to this case to contact Detective Simpson at (719) 583-6436.