The man accused of killing Joslyn Teetzel will be released on a PR bond on Friday after the court was informed her manner of death had been changed to a suicide.

An attorney representing Miles Kirby — who is accused of killing his girlfriend Teetzel on July 26 in a residence on Mount View Lane in Fountain — told The Gazette that Kirby will be released from custody at the El Paso County jail on a personal recognizance bond of $100,000, granted by El Paso County Judge Samuel Evig.

Kirby's initial bond prior to Friday was $2 million, Kay told The Gazette that it was the first time he'd ever seen a bond adjustment that drastic.

"There was so much evidence pointing to a suicide," Kirby's attorney Daniel Kay told The Gazette. "This was such a rush to judgement."

According to Kirby's arrest affidavit obtained by The Gazette, Fountain detectives suspected that Kirby strangled and killed Teetzel, his girlfriend at the time, and hung her from a rope inside a shed in their backyard to stage her death as a suicide.

“I know through my training and experience that a hanging will not typically leave a deep wound and will not typically leave two separate pronounced ligature marks,” Fountain police Detective Brian Cristiani wrote in the arrest affidavit.

According to the affidavit, on July 27, the El Paso County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Teetzel’s body. Dr. Jarod Murdoch, a forensic pathologist, initially told Cristiani that the autopsy indicated the cause of death was strangulation, and indicated that the victim's injuries were not consistent with a hanging. The coroner's report ruled the manner of death as a homicide.

When asked about the change of opinion from the coroner's office, the Fountain Police Department sent a response, which said in part:

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Miles Kirby was arrested on July 27, 2023, based on information and evidence obtained at that point in the investigation. There are many components to an investigation and the Fountain Police Department worked collaboratively with the El Paso County Coroner's Office, District Attorney's Office, and the courts to reach the best possible conclusion based on the information we knew at the time. The evidence the Fountain Police Department collected during the investigation has not changed. Once the new information was obtained from the El Paso County Coroner's Office it is our obligation to turn over that information to the District Attorney's Office, and it's their decision to proceed however they see fit.

Kay stated that Kirby will be released from the jail on Friday, and that the prosecution stated in court during the hearing that there is a "substantial likelihood" that charges against Kirby will be dropped in the coming weeks.

Fourth Judicial District Attorney spokesperson Howard Black declined to comment to The Gazette regarding if charges against Kirby will be dropped.

"This has been absolutely devastating for him," Kay said to The Gazette. "Not only losing his wife (Teetzel), who he loves dearly, but then to be arrested falsely. I can't imagine."

Kay declined to comment on the Fountain Police Department's investigation that led to the arrest of his client.

The Fountain Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Gazette. A request for Teetzel's autopsy submitted by The Gazette to the El Paso County Coroner's Office remains pending.

Jail records show that Kirby remains in an inmate at the jail, but that his bond status has been changed to a PR bond. Court records reflect that a protection order prohibiting Kirby from contact with his and Teetzel's children remains in place.