Crime Library: Criminal Minds and Methods

Forbidden Love: Steven Colver and Tylar Witt

Caught Naked

 

On May 13, 2009, Joanne walked into the unfinished HVAC room adjacent to Colver's bedroom and found a bottle of sexual lubricant, sex toys and a few jars of marijuana and drug paraphernalia which upset her. Steven had been a pot smoker for years. Tylar had indulged as well, but Joanne didn't know that when she confronted Steven. Colver remained calm and made smooth excuses: He was simply holding the drugs for a friend, and did not mention the sex aids were used with Tylar. Ultimately, Joanne opted not to kick him out of the house.

Tylar Witt
Tylar Witt

But the next day, Joanne found something far less forgivable. Having come home unexpectedly, Joanne looked for Tylar in her room, but the young teen wasn't there. Joanne then walked over to Steven's room and knocked on the door. She heard shuffling, and he wouldn't open the door right away — when he did finally come to the door he was wearing only pants. Sensing something amiss, Joanne checked Colver's closet and the adjacent unfinished HVAC room, where she found Tylar naked, holding a yellow sports bra against her chest. The discovery that her 14-year-old daughter was having sex with her 19-year-old boarder shocked Joanne. She didn't know what to do.

Later that afternoon, Joanne Witt asked Steven Colver to take a ride with her. They drove to a nearby park to talk. Steven admitted that his relationship with Tylar had turned physical and that he knew it was both illegal and wrong. Anxious to put the matter behind the family, Joanne agreed that she would not call police if Colver stopped seeing her daughter and moved out of the house immediately. Wanting to avoid the scandal and statutory rape charges, Colver readily agreed.

The next day, May 15, 2009, Joanne asked Vincent Catapano and Thor Larsen, two friends from her job at the Department of Transportation, to come lend moral support when Colver came by to pick up his belongings. Catapano and Larsen had a stern conversation with Colver about his illicit relationship with Tylar and the damage he had done to the Witt family. Colver stood there emotionless, answering only with a polite "Yes, sir."

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