Less than two weeks away from trial, the defense in a double murder and kidnapping case in Fremont County alleged Wednesday that more evidence was withheld and pointed to a cover-up.

On July 13, 11th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Lindsey and his entire staff were removed from the case of Toni Gurule, a co-defendant accused of participating in the killings of Rodolfo “Rudy” Santillan-Reyes, 36, and Ryan Roth, 25. Judge Lauren Swan found a pattern of neglect by Lindsey and his office due to their failure to share evidence with the defense in Gurule’s case and 22 others since Lindsey took over in 2024. These are known as discovery, or Rule 16, violations.

That pattern was not of neglect, but an intentional cover-up, Gurule’s defense attorney, Josh Tolini, alleged in court on Wednesday.

The cover-up, Tolini argues, stems from what prompted the initial debate about the violations — a plea deal signed by Lindsey and given to a co-defendant in Gurule’s case.

The October 2021 deal was for Anthony Fogle, who was offered a plea that lowered his several violent felony-level charges to a driving infraction.

One month before the deal, Jason Bumgarner was arrested in connection with one of the largest drug and firearms busts in Cañon City. Information provided by Fogle played a major part in the arrest, Tolini said.

At the time, Fogle was unofficially made a confidential informant, which was made official in January 2022. Colorado’s discovery rules require prosecutors to disclose such information, but it wasn’t.

Those facts were hidden for years until July, when Lindsey and Fremont County Sheriff’s Detective Stephen Krueger were questioned about the deal and why Fogle was made a confidential informant. Lindsey testified that he couldn’t remember the specifics of the plea deal that allowed Fogle to walk free before the killings, when he otherwise would have been facing a decade of prison time.

The issue was thought to be resolved after Swan determined Gurule’s defense team was entitled to know about the district attorney’s “favorable” treatment of Fogle and removed Lindsey from the case, but Tolini said there’s more to the story.

What was not disclosed to the defense was a 2024 interview of Fogle admitting to involvement in the killings and a 2022 interview of Fogle sharing more details about it.

“We’re (about) 10 days from trial at this point. I’ve been asking for any of this information since December, and this is the tip of the iceberg,” Tolini told Swan. “Ms. Gurule has been sitting here for two years on charges that she did not commit on an investigation that has been focused much more on protecting Mr. Fogle than getting justice for these victims.”

Tolini argued that his findings support his claim that Lindsey intentionally withheld evidence, rather than it being a pattern of neglect as Swan had determined.

A lack of candor by a prosecutor justifies a dismissal, Tolini said.

“It is the defense’s position that the Bumgarner file finally being disclosed shows that Jeff Lindsey was directing all of this, not to find justice but so that his reputation would not be ruined,” Tolini said.

Lindsey has denied being a major contributor to the Gurule case, saying in the past that he only oversaw it as he would any other case. He’s also said that there was never an attempt to hide anything.

Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly, hired on as a special prosecutor, said that Tolini has all of the evidence she has. She also said that, while Tolini is justified in his initial complaints of Lindsey, he is “overplaying the card” by suggesting there’s been more wrongdoing.

In her response to Tolini’s motion, Kelly said there’s no evidence that suggests Fogle’s dealings with the FBI benefited him via reduced sentencing or dismissal of charges, something Tolini said happened in several of his federal cases. However, she did say, if there was, then Tolini should have been provided it.

Swan ultimately shot down Tolini’s request for a dismissal of Gurule’s case, stating her initial ruling was an adequate consequence. She also denied another request to bar federal agents from testifying.

She ordered that any reports created by a federal agent pertaining to Fogle be disclosed to the defense, as well as any email communication between Kelly and the FBI. If the FBI refuses to turn over documents, then she said she may revisit banning agent testimony.

Kelly noted it may take her a while to obtain all of the requested documents.

Gurule is scheduled for a two-week trial starting Aug. 24.