Police didn't expect violence at eviction despite man's past

BAILEY, Colo. -- Authorities brought numbers in case of trouble, but they never expected a long-delayed eviction would turn into a deadly shootout with a Colorado man who peacefully refused to leave his foreclosed home two years earlier.

Martin Wirth ranted against law-enforcement corruption and beat a murder charge more than 20 years ago, but officers who followed him inside the mountain house did not expect he would turn his rifle on them. When the smoke cleared, three deputies had been shot, one fatally, and Wirth was dead.

The 58-year-old was a political activist whose life was pocked with violent outbursts and run-ins with the law that culminated in Wednesday's bloodshed. But the eight officers who came to oust Wirth were more concerned he would run away than shoot at them, Sheriff Fred Wegener said Thursday.

"We did not force a violent confrontation yesterday," said Wegener, who joined deputies at the scene of the botched eviction. "Mr. Wirth did."

The shootout shocked the community of Bailey where the slain deputy, Cpl. Nate Carrigan, was a familiar face. It also stunned some of Wirth's friends, who recalled him as a well-intentioned activist worn down by years of fighting for his home.

In a video, Wirth said he refused to pay his mortgage because he claimed lenders were criminals who had defrauded homeowners. The government-controlled mortgage company Fannie Mae took ownership of his home in 2014.

It was not clear why Wirth was allowed to remain for two more years. Wegener said a previous attempt to evict Wirth in 2014 ended peacefully after he talked to the sheriff's office. Deputies finally posted the eviction notice on his door Feb. 16, the sheriff said.

They returned Wednesday, instructed to remove Wirth and his property, a Jan. 25 court order shows.