Former Pierce Town Board Member Found Guilty of Murder

Published on May 22, 2017

GREELEY, Colo. (Weld County D.A.) – Within an hour of closing arguments, a Weld County jury convicted a former Pierce town board member today for killing a woman who disrespected his “gang.”

Daniel “D.J.” Meyer was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He was immediately sentenced following today’s guilty verdict to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 48 years.

“This crime is absolutely senseless,” Assistant District Attorney Robb Miller said during the hearing. “I still can not fathom why they murdered her.”

Tera Lewandowski had been living at Meyer’s home for about a week before she was stabbed to death. According to several co-defendants at the trial - which began last Tuesday – Lewandowski was killed for disrespecting the so-called “21 gang,” which comprised of Meyer, Michael Vassil, Thomas Vassil and Chad Iler.

They, along with two other co-defendants, plotted when and how they would kill the victim and then carried through with the plan. The group stabbed the victim multiple times, wrapped her body in carpet and dumped her nearly 100 miles away in Wyoming. They then burned all of her belongings in an outdoor fire pit. It took authorities nearly six months to find her body.

“The defendant killed his defenseless roommate in a dark room in the middle of the night,” Miller said. “He intentionally stabbed her. He offered to do it all to make a name for this gang – a gang with a bunch of nobodies.”

After five days of testimony and 55 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned the guilty verdict Monday afternoon.

“It took going through all of this to get the answer I already knew,” said Vonda Holt, the victim’s mother. “We got justice for Tera, and she can finally rest.”