Manhunt Underway For Colorado Man Accused Of Strangling His Ex-Wife After Bonding Out On Assault Charge

Colorado authorities are searching for a man they believe killed his ex-wife while he was out on bond for assaulting her, then cut off his GPS monitor and went on the run.

An arrest warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for James Arthur Naulls Jr. after his ex-wife Yasmin Usama Dahabreh was found badly injured in her home, according to the Westminster Police Department.

“The investigation revealed Mr. Naulls physically beat and strangled his ex-wife,” Westminster Police Department investigator Cheri Spottke told Oxygen.com.

Police were initially called to the home on January 31, 2020 after the caller indicted that a woman had fallen and needed help; however, after arriving on the scene officers soon noticed “suspicious circumstances” that led them to suspect Naulls in the attack, according to a statement from the department.

Dahabreh, 33, was transported to the hospital in “grave” condition but later died from her injuries.

Dahabreh died just months after Naulls had been arrested for another alleged domestic violence incident against her on November 14, 2019 in Denver.

James Arthur Naulls, Jr. Photo: Westminster Police Department

Spottke said Naulls had been released on bond for the aggravated assault charges and was wearing a GPS ankle monitor at the time of the fatal attack on Dahabreh.

“He cut the monitor off after he killed Yasmin,” she said.

Investigators believe the pair had been communicating with one another ever since Naulls had gotten out on bond, Spottke said.

Naulls tried to call local hospitals to find his ex-wife before he disappeared, authorities said.

Investigators are now searching for the 30-year-old — who has a number of distinctive face and neck tattoos — with the help of the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force, police said.

The Metro Denver Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for any information about his whereabouts.

“We believe his family and friends are helping hide him,” Spottke said. “We will charge anyone who is helping him with harboring a fugitive.”

Those who knew Dahabreh described her as a generous soul.

“She was loving,” her friend Morgan Smith told local station KUSA. “She, you know, she worked hard for everything she had.”

Smith is angry and sad for Dahabreh’s three children who are now left without a mother, she said.

“I want everybody not to forget her. And I want everyone not to forget he’s still out there. And it’s not over,” she said.