Colorado private investigator pleads guilty to misdemeanor harassment in stalking case

By Denver Private Investigator Blogger Emily Palm

A Colorado private investigator charged with two felony counts of stalking after he followed a client’s estranged wife pled guilty last week to a reduced  charge of misdemeanor harassment.

As previously reported in the Denver Private Investigator Blog, Timothy Allen Stitt, 42, was hired by Jeff Schudel to follow  his estranged wife. Schudel and his estranged wife were  in the midst of a child-custody battle. Stitt placed a tracking device on the car of the estranged wife, and told his client where she had been. Schudel then called his estranged wife, told her he knew where she had been, and asked her who she had been having sex with. At the urging of a girlfriend, the estranged wife checked her vehicle, and found the GPS device. She called police. They called Schudel. He said he’d retained an investigator to follow his estranged wife. Schudel then called Stitt and Stitt then called police to acknowledge placing the GPS device.

Stitt’s case concerned private investigators because they are routinely retained to follow spouses and ex-spouses. Stitt was adamant that he’d done nothing wrong.

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Client of private investigator charged with stalking wanted sex info

GREELEY, CO. – The client of a private investigator charged with stalking after following the client’s estranged wife  told his wife he knew where she had been and then asked her whether she was having sex with anyone else, the estranged wife told the police officer investigating the matter.

Forty-five-year-old Jeffrey Scott Schudel of Denver faces one count of stalking in the case, and the private investigator – Timothy Stitt of Greeley – faces two. All the charges are felonies.

Details of the police investigation are contained in an affidavit for warrantless arrest filed in the case, written by LaSalle, Colorado, policeman David L. Miller, Jr.

Schudel and his estranged wife – Shantele Sherman – are in a dispute over the custody of their son.  Officer  Miller writes  in his affidavit that Sherman called police from her LaSalle residence on July 19 to say that while she was visiting a friend in Denver,  her estranged husband called her and told her that he’d spent “a lot of money to know her whereabouts.” He then gave her specific dates and times of where she’d been. He then asked her if she was having sex with anyone else. The affidavit doesn’t indicate whether Sherman answered that question.

Sherman also gave the officer an email from Schudel in which Schudel wrote that he’d “spent a lot of money to investigate what you do” and that he’d been “successful.” Calling the people who he said have financed his investigation “these folks,” Schudel wrote in the email that “These folks will spend whatever it takes to monitor your parenting. Where they’re from, parents don’t make the choices you make. So, if it takes three months or three years, people will be watching how you care for our son.”

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For more information on private investigation services provided by Denver-based Ross Investigations, please visit www.milehi-pi.com.