Colorado Springs man offered to help woman before raping, killing her: Affidavit

Oct. 13—A Colorado Springs man faces a first-degree murder charge after police say he raped and killed a woman before hiding her body in his garage, according to an arrest affidavit.

Gregory Alan Whittemore, 39, was arrested Monday, hours after an argument and ensuing fit of "rage" led him to kill 27-year-old Allison Scarfone, Colorado Springs police said Thursday.

Scarfone's death was one of three killings reported within the same hour Monday.

Just before 8:20 p.m., police responded to a call from Whittemore's roommate, Jerome Fisher, reporting a dead body in their residence on the 500 block of Erie Road, near Memorial Park. Officers found Scarfone's body hidden in a black storage container in the garage, arrest records show.

Whittemore was not home when police found Scarfone's body. He was at the Peak View Behavioral Health clinic on Sisters Grove in northeast Colorado Springs, where he was later taken into custody. At the time of the arrest, Whittemore was with Michael Field, 50, a friend of Whittemore's who had driven him to the clinic.

Field told police that Whittemore called him around 1:30 p.m. Monday, saying he needed to talk and that it was urgent. Field said he went to the home on Erie Road to meet Whittemore, who "was crying and would not make eye contact," the affidavit said. When Field went to the garage to get a drink, Whittemore told him twice not to enter the garage.

Whittemore then asked Field to drive him to Peak View and reportedly texted friends and family that "they would not hear from him again." Field said Whittemore told him he'd "done something," then said that he had met Scarfone and tried to give her clothes because she was homeless, the affidavit said. An argument arose during the interaction, when Scarfone called him a "rapist."

Whittemore then reportedly choked the woman, who called him a rapist again after she recovered. This "triggered" him and sent him "into a rage" that led him to hit Scarfone, cut her clothes off, then rape and suffocate her, arrest records show.

The exact location of the killing is unclear, police said in the affidavit.

That day, Whittemore also made a confession to his roommate, Fisher, and told him that the victim's body was in the black container in the garage. Fisher told police both he and Field encouraged Whittemore to turn himself in before Fisher called 911 himself.

Whittemore has a history of violent sexual assault and other criminal activity spanning a number of states, records show.

He told police he is a convicted sex offender and is on parole for a case involving the attempted murder of a female in 2012 in Colorado Springs. According to online court records, Whittemore was charged with a slew of violent assault and sexual assault counts in connection with that case and was convicted of fourth-degree felony sexual assault.

Sometime during court proceedings regarding that case, Whittemore escaped to Mount Pleasant, S.C., in 2016 as a wanted sex offender and was found living out of his car with a 16-year-old runaway girl, according to reporting by the Post and Courier in Charleston.

The newspaper reported that Whittemore had brought the girl, who at the time was listed in the National Crime Information Center as a missing person from Colorado, across the country and encouraged her to "break into several motor vehicles at multiple locations and steal items" as well as use stolen credit cards around Mount Pleasant.

This week, Whittemore told police that he was recently fired from his job at a 7-Eleven convenience store because he was "acting inappropriate" toward customers, the affidavit said, and police noted that Whittemore was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of his questioning.

Whittemore also told police that he had been diagnosed with "several mental health disorders," which were redacted from the affidavit, and described having "psychotic and crazy thoughts."

Whittemore is being held at the El Paso County jail without bond, records show. His first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 27.