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 prison 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 lawyer wife, Tracy, 42, in their Arapahoe County home. Her body was found in the garage of their Denver-area home.

Tracy was described in court as a ‘super mother’ to two children aged seven and nine.

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

Lechner argued that the shooting was in self-defense, claiming that he only entered the garage in an attempt to convince her not to go through with the divorce. But the jury didn’t believe it after prosecutors found evidence of a premeditated plan to carry out the murder.

Tracy Lechner, 42, was killed in their Denver-area home. Her body was found in the garage after being shot three times

Tracy’s parents, Natalie and Clifford Bloch, now care for her two children. Both made statements in court

“Tracy Lechner’s murder did not just happen,” a prosecutor said. “This defendant didn’t just show up in her driveway… He didn’t just put three bullets in her body… This was an intentional murder.”

In the day leading up to Tracy’s murder, Lechner had purchased a getaway car under an assumed name, purchased a GPS tracking device along with gloves, duct tape, zip ties and a tarp that he would use in a kidnapping attempt.

The morning he showed up to confront his wife, he was armed with a Taser and a gun. The prosecutor emphasized that Lechner’s “end game” was her death.

Following his arrest, a judge set bail at $100 million in June 2023, while David Lechner pleaded 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 it sounded like Tracy Lechner, pictured, was a wonderful person, daughter, mother and attorney

The murder occurred on South Geneva Way in suburban Denver

In court, Lechner’s own children told him 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 didn’t deserve this. I have never associated myself with you.’

The daughter wrote how he had abused them, hit them and yelled at them, but that her mother had 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 that Lechner had a long history of abuse towards his daughter.

As the final divorce hearing approached, 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 “amazing, loving, kind and talented” children and were raised by a “super mom,” said Clifford Bloch, who is now raising the children with his wife Natalie.

“We will prevail, hold our heads high and remain a family while he rots in prison,” Clifford said.

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

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

Just before handing down the sentence, Judge Jacob Edson acknowledged that the court could never understand the full pain that Tracy Lechner’s family had suffered.

The judge said it sounded like she was a wonderful person, daughter, mother and lawyer, he said.

“It’s hard to juggle all those things, but she seemed able to do it,” he said.

‘This was not a case of self-defense. This was a calculated murder plot to prevent a divorce and gain 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,” said Deputy District Attorney Tory Reavis.

“This horrific murder has 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.