Colorado husband David Lechner shot 'supermom' wife dead one day before their divorce was due to be finalized after buying gloves, duct tape, zip ties and a tarp - then claimed it was self-defense

A Colorado man has been sentenced to life in jail without parole after killing his wife in a calculated murder plot just a day before their divorce was to be finalized. 

David Lechner, 47, shot his attorney wife, Tracy, 42, at their Arapahoe County house. Her body was found in the garage of their Denver-area home.

Tracy was described in court as a 'super mom' to two children, aged seven and nine. 

A witness saw him shoot his wife and then proceeded to stop him from driving away by ramming their rental truck into the side of David's vehicle. 

Lechner argued that the shooting was in self-defense claiming he had only gone into the garage in an attempt to convince her not to proceed with the divorce. But the jury didn't buy it after prosecutors found evidence of a premeditated plot to carry out the killing.

Colorado man, David Lechner, 47, has been jailed for life without parole after murdering his wife just a day before their divorce was finalized

Tracy Lechner, 42, was killed at their Denver-area house. Her body was found in the garage having been shot three times

Tracy's parents, Natalie and Clifford Bloch are now looking after her two children. Both made statements in court

'Tracy Lechner's murder did not just happen,' a prosecutor said. 'This defendant did not just happen upon her driveway… He did not just happen to put three bullets in her body… This was a deliberate murder.' 

In the day's leading up to Tracy's murder, Lechner had bought a getaway car under a false name, purchased a GPS tracking unit together with gloves, duct tape, zip ties and a tarp that he was going to use in a kidnapping attempt.

On the morning he showed up to confront his wife, he was armed with a taser and a gun. The prosecution stressed that Lechner's 'end game' was her death.

Following his arrest, a judge set a $100 million bond in June 2023 with David Lechner pleading not guilty in December 2023. 

After four hours of deliberation, Lechner was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted kidnapping and illegal use of a stun gun.

The judge said that it sounded how Tracy Lechner, pictured, was a wonderful person, daughter, mother and attorney

The killing took place on South Geneva Way in the Denver suburbs

In court, Lechner's own children told him how they wished he would 'rot in hell.'

'I hate you. This is what you took from me,' Lechner's son wrote. 'I hope you die soon and have fun rotting in hell.'

'You brutally murdered a kind, sweet loving person,' his sister wrote. 'My mother did not deserve this. I have never associated myself with you.'

The daughter wrote how he had abused them, hit and screamed at them, but that her mother worked hard to make sure every part of life was fun despite his actions.

'I hope you have fun rotting in hell,' she wrote in her letter. 

Tracy's father told the court how Lechner had a long history of abusive behavior towards his daughter. 

As the final divorce hearing drew nearer, he knew he was also about to lose custody of the children, who called him 'the monster.' 

Despite the children's immense pain, they are 'wonderful, loving, kind and talented' kids and were raised by a 'supermom,' Clifford Bloch said, who is now raising the children alongside his wife, Natalie. 

'We will prevail and hold our heads aloft and remain a family while he rots in prison,' Clifford  said. 

'He left a crater in all our hearts, including Tracy's friends,' Clifford's wife, Natalie Bloch said. 'And we pray we never have to deal with him again… He's a poor excuse for a human being… In the kids' words, "May he rot in hell."'

Ben Bloch, left, brother of Tracy Lechner,  and his wife Rachel Bloch are seen leaving Arapahoe County District Court after the hearing in Centennial, Colorado last June

Just before passing the sentence, Judge Jacob Edson acknowledged how the court could never understand the full pain Tracy Lechner's family had suffered from. 

The judge said that it sounded how she was a wonderful person, daughter, mother and attorney, he said.

'Juggling all of those is difficult but she seemed to have the ability to do that,' he said.

'This was not a case of self-defense. This was a calculated murder plot to avoid a divorce and have sole custody of his children. The evidence shows he incapacitated Tracy with a stun gun and then shot her three times, including once in the head,' Deputy DA Tory Reavis said.

'This heinous murder shocked the community and Mr. Lechner deserves to spend every last minute of his life behind bars,' District Attorney John Kellner said in a statement.