When Byron Griffy was killed the day before his 77th birthday in 2012, it seemed as if the entire town of Florence, Colo., was left reeling.
Byron was "a pillar of the community," former Otero County Sheriff's Captain Carol Coates said in the new Investigation Discovery series The Rocky Mountain Mortician Murder, premiering Nov. 26. "Pretty much everyone knew who he was."
And authorities knew they had quite the mystery on their hands when they saw the crime scene.
The funeral home director died of a single gunshot wound to the head on Oct. 12, 2012. He was found by his daughter and her wife in an empty bedroom of the farmhouse their family had recently vacated after a number of alleged break-in attempts.
There were no defensive wounds on the body or evidence of a struggle, and no signs of forced entry, according to Coates. Otero County coroner Bob Fowler, who ruled the death a homicide, noted that the blood spatter was like nothing he'd seen.
Moreover, Byron was "laid out, almost [like a] body in a casket, face up," Otero County District Attorney James Bullock said in the three-part ID docuseries. "He was staged."
Byron collected coins, old currency and antiques that he kept in a "secret room with I don't know how many safes," his daughter Linette Griffy said in the series.
When they moved away from the farm, he was "very scared," daughter-in-law Gina Griffy said, and "adamant that someone was trying to steal his money."
So, it was "odd," Linette said, that her father had arranged to meet Florence, Colo., funeral home owners Anthony Wright and Charles Giebler at the farm on the day he died, since "we didn't live at the farm anymore."
Authorities had several suspects, as detailed in The Rocky Mountain Mortician Murder, but soon Anthony and Charles ended up at the top of their list.
Here is what to know about the shocking case:
Who Was Mortician Byron Griffy?
Byron Griffy was born Oct. 13, 1935, in Ninaview, Colo. He graduated from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science in 1958, according to an online obituary. After working in a number of mortuaries around the state, he opened Griffy Family Funeral Home in Fowler.
"My dad took care of everybody," Linette Griffy, one of Byron's three daughters, said in the 2025 ID docuseries The Rocky Mountain Mortician Murder. "When I moved back home with three kids, he bought a house for us which had some land, and said it would be fun for the kids to grow up on a farm."
Byron lived on the farm with Linette, her wife Gina Griffy and their family until the end of 2011, after a number of break-in attempts—and the discovery of a noose hanging in their barn—prompted them to move.
Byron, a collector of old coins and antiques, was afraid someone was trying to steal his money, according to Gina.
What happened to Byron Griffy?
Charles-Anthony Funeral Home co-owner Anthony Wright said in the series that he and business partner Charles Giebler drove out to Byron's farm to take their fellow mortician to lunch on Oct. 12, 2012, the day before his 76th birthday.
The gate was locked when they got there, Anthony said in the series. He told agents from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, per interview footage, that he and Charles got to the farm around noon.
Authorities noted two missed calls on Byron's cell phone, the first one from Charles at 12:43 p.m. Anthony told CBI agents they briefly drove around Fowler looking for Byron's new house, but gave up and made the hour drive back to Florence, Colo.
After Byron didn't show up for dinner that night, Linette and Gina said they went to the farm looking for him.
Gina was first to find Byron lying in an empty bedroom in their old house, dead of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
"There was very little blood," former Otero County Sheriff's Captain Carol Coates recalled of the crime scene in the series. "I think my words were, 'It's weird.'"
Otero County District Attorney James Bullock said in the series that Byron's body looked staged, as if he was lying face-up in a coffin.
Charles and Anthony handled the arrangements and, Gina said, "pretty much the whole town" turned out for Byron's Oct. 19 funeral.
Charles, who was also a church deacon, delivered the eulogy.
How did Charles Giebler and Anthony Wright become suspects in Byron Griffy's murder?
In the course of their investigation, authorities learned that Byron had asked Charles and Anthony to store some of his coins.
Anthony said in the ID series that, as a collector of guns, guitars, cars and other items, he had a secure room in his basement to stash Byron's valuables.
Gina alleged in the series that, once Charles and Anthony had his coins, Byron tried to get in touch "several times" to document what he had stored with them. But, Linette said, the pair were "always busy."
Former Sheriff's Capt. Coates said in the show that they started to suspect that the funeral directors, who also owned a guitar store and a local restaurant, "might be hiding something."
Anthony testified during his 2015 murder trial, per the Cañon City Daily Record, that Byron entrusted them with his money because he was afraid he was going to be sued by the 15-year-old boy he had sexually assaulted, and wanted to "hide it away."
Per the Daily Record, Byron pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in May 2012. The victim alleged he was assaulted during a two-year time frame when he worked at the Griffy Funeral Home in Fowler.
Byron was sentenced to four years of probation and 150 hours of community service.
What was the nature of Anthony Wright and Charles Giebler's relationship?
The investigation took an unexpected turn in January 2013 when police found out that Charles and Anthony were not half-brothers—as they introduced themselves to the town when they started doing business in the 1990s—but a couple.
Anthony said in the series that he and Charles, who previously served as mayor of Florence, hadn't had a romantic relationship in years by the time word got out.
What happened to Charles Giebler?
Charles died of coronary artery disease on Jan. 25, 2013, while the investigation into Byron's murder was still ongoing, according to the Pueblo Chieftain.
Days before his death, Charles told Anthony’s girlfriend Laura Anderson that he and Anthony were lovers, as remembered in the series by Anthony and Laura.
"I knew Charles was very vindictive," Anthony said. "I knew there would be problems in the future. But I was hoping to work through that."
Who was charged with Byron Griffy's murder?
Anthony was charged in August 2013 with first-degree murder.
He pleaded not guilty and his 2015 trial ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict during two days of deliberations.
Where is Anthony Wright now?
Facing a retrial and the still real possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison, Anthony pleaded guilty in January 2017 to accessory to first-degree murder, per the Daily Record. He was sentenced to 10 years' probation.
Anthony, who maintains his innocence, said in the ID series he was advised by his attorney that going back after a mistrial "very rarely goes in the defendant's favor."
Ultimately, he said, he "didn't see a way out" and "just had to take the plea."
ID’s The Rocky Mountain Mortician Murder premieres Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 8/7c on ID and will be available to stream on HBO Max.