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Wanted Colorado man convicted of sexual assault in Council Bluffs

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Jesse Smith lived under an alias in Council Bluffs. For years, authorities in Colorado couldn’t find him. Then he resurfaced in Iowa last September after sexually assaulting a woman and leaving her to die. “The investigators who worked the case have never seen anything like this,” said Sergeant John Focht of the Council Bluffs Criminal Investigation Division. A Pottawattamie County jury found Jesse Smith guilty of sexually assaulting a woman while she overdosed on fentanyl. Natalia was a housekeeper at the Super 8. “He harassed her, then left and locked the door on the way out,” Focht said. Prosecutors say Smith closed Natalia’s door, harassed her for nine minutes, then left and abandoned Natalia when she finally died. “We often see bad things happen to people. But this was shocking to us because if he had told anyone, she might have survived,” Focht said. Smith is a three-times convicted sex offender in Colorado. He escaped parole and came to Council Bluffs. For years he lived out of the public eye under the name DJ.Previous coverage: Council Bluffs police arrest suspect in suspicious death investigation, identify victimPolice say he was staying near the motel where he attacked Natalia.“But people there knew him well. Everyone said, oh, that’s DJ. But nobody had any idea that his real name was Jesse Smith and he was a wanted sex offender out of Colorado,” Focht said.Focht said Smith was a master manipulator and likely evaded Colorado investigators by using cash to hide.“And so I think he was able to convince people to do things for him and basically allowed him to live without having to give his true identity,” he said. “There was no ID, no letter, absolutely nothing — none of the bills were in his name.” Focht says Smith was so good at staying under the radar that there was nothing investigators could have done to prevent it. And, he said, there was no loophole in the sex offender registry that Smith would have used to hide. “From everything I know about the case, I don’t see anything that anyone could have done differently, not the authorities in Colorado or the authorities here,” he said. “I would say it’s extremely difficult to live that far from society, but it is possible, and he was obviously very adept at it,” Focht said. Smith was convicted of third-degree assault. Because of his criminal history, that was upgraded to a Class A felony. In Smith’s case, the minimum sentence is life in prison. He will be sentenced in August. Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa —

Jesse Smith lived under an alias in Council Bluffs.

Authorities in Colorado were unable to find him for years. Then he resurfaced in Iowa last September after sexually assaulting a woman and leaving her for dead.

“The investigators who worked on the case have never experienced anything like this,” said Sergeant John Focht of the Council Bluffs Criminal Investigation Department.

A Pottawattamie County jury found Jesse Smith guilty of sexually assaulting a woman while she was overdosing on fentanyl. Natalia was a housekeeper at the Super 8.

“He attacked her, then left and locked the door on the way out,” Focht said.

According to prosecutors, Smith closed Natalia’s door, abused her for nine minutes, and then left Natalia, who eventually died.

“We often see bad things happen to people. But this was a shock to us because if he had told anyone, she might have survived,” Focht said.

Smith is a three-time convicted sex offender in Colorado. He escaped parole and came to Council Bluffs. For years he lived in seclusion under the name DJ.

Previous coverage: Council Bluffs police arrest suspect and identify victim in suspicious death investigation

According to police, he was near the motel where he attacked Natalia.

“But he was well known to the people there. Everyone said, oh, that’s DJ. But no one had any idea that his real name was Jesse Smith and he was a wanted sex offender from Colorado,” Focht said.

Focht said Smith was a master manipulator and likely evaded investigators in Colorado by hiding with cash.

“I think he was able to convince people to do things for him and he was able to live basically without having to reveal his real identity,” he said. “There was no ID, no letter, absolutely nothing – none of the bills were in his name.”

Focht says Smith was so good at staying under the radar that investigators couldn’t have done anything to stop it. And, Focht says, there was no loophole in the sex offender registry that Smith could have used to stay under the radar.

“From everything I know about the case, I don’t see anything that anyone – the authorities in Colorado or the authorities here – could have done differently,” he said.

“I would say it’s extremely difficult to live so independently of the power grid, but it is possible and he has obviously done it very well,” Focht said.

Smith was convicted of third-degree assault. Due to his previous convictions, this was upgraded to a Class A felony.

In Smith’s case, life imprisonment is the minimum sentence. He will be sentenced in August.

Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7

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