Christian Colbert

Months after being sentenced for the May 2015 murder of Ron Shumway, Christian Colbert has been transferred to Robertson Unit near Abilene .

Colbert, a hair stylist who also worked as a photographer for Dallas Voice in the early 2000s, killed his roommate, assumed his identity, sold his house and fled with the proceeds.

In January this year, he pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 25 years in prison for murder and 25 years for theft of $200,000, as well as 20 years for each of three additional counts. He’s serving the sentences concurrently.

Colbert had been held in Lew Sterrett since May 2016 and after sentencing remained in the county jail for about two months. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice now lists Colbert as being housed in Robertson, a state prison 10 miles northeast of Abilene. The maximum security facility currently houses 2,929 prisoners, including 379 who are incarcerated for murder.

Colbert is temporarily not eligible for visitation. He will be eligible for parole in September 2028 ,and his maximum release date is March 2041.

The 2015 murder of Ron Shumway went unreported for months. After Colbert sold Shumway’s Oak Cliff house, the new owner discovered Shumway’s body buried in the backyard, covered in cement.

Colbert fled to California and, after Dallas Voice passed along pictures sent to us of where he was living and the approximate location of the mobile home park to police, he was arrested. Extradition back to Texas took several months, but he was eventually returned to Dallas in June 2016. After a number of trial postponements and attempts to dismiss his court-appointed attorney, Colbert pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January. Time served at Lew Sterrett counts toward his sentence.

— David Taffet