Mother found dead in trash can, former partner accused of murder shortly after jail release

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (KUSA) - A man suspected in a Colorado homicide was released from jail a week before the victim went missing.

It’s hard for Adam Larson and his wife, Analisa, to comprehend the details about his sister’s death.

Larson said they tried to protect her from years of abuse.

“I don’t know if a lot of people understand that it changes your brain, so she would let him back,” Analisa Larson said.

A newly released arrest affidavit states the man accused of killing a 37-year-old Westminster mother, Annette Marie Valdez, carried around her body for days before telling a witness he left her by a creek.

“They even said that he was pushing her around in a shopping cart to get her from place to place,” Adam Larson said.

Police found Valdez’s body in a trash can near Willowbrook Park on Dec. 4.

The next day, authorities arrested her ex-partner, Thomas Perales, initially on suspicion of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and violation of a protection order.

Perales told police he killed his wife and “paraded her around,” according to the arrest report.

“I had a feeling it was him,” Adam Larson said.

Police records show repeated domestic violence cases involving Perales and multiple violations of Valdez’s protection orders against him.

In the most recent case, officers said Valdez called her mother scared as she watched Perales through her Ring camera. He allegedly tried to break into her apartment, damaged the door and smeared the camera with paint, all while her three daughters were sleeping inside.

Perales was sentenced to probation and released from jail on Nov. 21.

One week later, Valdez was reported missing, last seen with Perales.

“We tried so much to get her away from him, and every single time she went right back to him,” Adam Larson said. “All she could say is, ‘That’s my kid’s father.’”

Now, Valdez’s three children are heartbroken that their mother is gone.

“And it’s about to be Christmas. We don’t even know what to say to them right now,” Analisa Larson added.

The Adams County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that Perales was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, domestic violence, and violation of a protection order.

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