A former Fort Carson soldier will face nearly half a century behind bars after he pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder, according to Gazette news partner KKTV.

Robert Kristo killed victim Brandon Hart, 46, in October 2022 following a game of darts at the Corner Pocket Bar in Fountain. The pair got in an argument, and then afterward, Hart went outside to smoke a cigarette, according to the arrest affidavit. Kristo, 25, followed him outside and shot him twice, killing him. The murder was Fountain’s first of 2022.

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Kristo, 25 at the time of the shooting, was a soldier at Fort Carson at the time of the murder.

Kristo received the maximum sentence of 48 years for a class 2 felony, according to KKTV.

According to an affidavit, Kristo met his friends at the Corner Pocket Bar the night of Hart’s death.

Witnesses said Kristo decided to play darts with a group of three other men and at some point a fight broke out between the group. The affidavit states that Kristo ended up on the floor with Hart on top of him, elbowing him in the face.

The affidavit states that after the fight Kristo got up, paid his bar tab and left. But instead of leaving the property entirely, the affidavit said, Kristo told a friend that he “was still upset about the fight.”

Kristo returned to his vehicle, where he got a firearm, the affidavit said. When Hart left the bar to smoke a cigarette, Kristo fired two shots at him, according to the affidavit.

Bystanders attempted to give Hart CPR after the shooting, but he was dead by the time police arrived around 1 a.m. Kristo left the scene in his car immediately after the shooting, according to the affidavit.

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