In the quiet city of Greeley, Colorado, the vibrant notes of a trumpet once filled the air, played by Scott Sessions, a musician whose passion for music was matched only by his zest for life. Nearby, Heather Frank, a beloved waitress and mother, brought warmth to everyone she met with her infectious smile. But in February 2020, their lives were brutally cut short in a double murder that shocked their community. This is the story of who they were, what happened, and how a relentless investigation uncovered a killer driven by jealousy and rage.
Who Was Scott Sessions?
Scott Sessions, 53, was a man whose life revolved around music. Born in 1966 and adopted as a baby, he grew up in a loving Colorado home with his parents, Stanley and his mother, and a younger brother. Music was his constant companion, and by his 50s, he had become a fixture in Greeley’s music scene, playing trumpet in two local bands: George Gray and the Elvis Experience, an Elvis Presley cover band, and The Movers & Shakers, a high-energy rhythm and blues group.
Sessions was no ordinary musician. His bandmates described him as a talent with an extraordinary ear. Eddie Gavaldon, a saxophonist in The Movers & Shakers, recalled how Sessions could instantly identify the key of a song playing in a club. “He’d say it’s in the note of C or whatever,” Gavaldon told investigators. “To have that innate ability is pretty special.” His performances were electric, transforming even his darkest days into moments of joy. “When he played that trumpet, it was a whole other thing,” said his half-sister, Allison Weldon. “He was just full of life.”
Beyond music, Sessions painted houses to make ends meet, but his dream was to live off his music. In 2019, he was closer than ever to that goal. The Movers & Shakers’ horn section, including Sessions, won the Colorado Blues Society’s member choice award, and in January 2020, the band reached the semifinals of the International Blues Competition in Memphis, Tennessee. “He was flying high,” his father, Stanley Sessions, said proudly.
Sessions’ personal life was equally rich. At 25, he sought out his biological mother and discovered he had a half-sister, Allison Weldon, in Kansas. Their first phone call was electric. “Hey, sis, I guess I’m your brother,” Sessions said, and they clicked instantly. Despite meeting in person only a few times, they bonded over shared quirks—cats, a band dressed as mummies, and their knack for calming each other down. “We’d just start laughing,” Weldon recalled. “We found a way to understand each other.”
Who Was Heather Frank?
Heather Christina Frank, 48, was the heart of any room she entered. Born on December 8, 1971, in Madison, Wisconsin, she grew up in Waterloo and Lake Mills with her siblings, Tania and Jason. After graduating from Lake Mills High School in 1990, she began her career as a waitress, later moving to Loveland and Fort Collins, Colorado, before settling in Greeley in 2008. She worked at Academy Bank for six years before returning to waitressing, eventually becoming a manager at Doug’s Day Diner in Loveland.
Heather was a devoted mother to her three sons—Alexander, Christian, and Blake McLaughlin. Her oldest, Alexander, described her as his “best friend,” a woman who loved her children fiercely. Her marriage had ended in divorce, leaving her to navigate life as a single mother, but she never lost her spark. Friends called her bubbly and stylish, with a knack for cooking, sewing, and crafting. “She was a great woman,” Alexander said. “She loved all of us and all of her friends.”
Heather’s love for music brought her to Scott Sessions. She met him at one of his gigs, captivated by his trumpet playing. Their connection was immediate, a budding romance rooted in shared passions. “She was very taken with Scott,” bandmate Eddie Gavaldon recalled, noting the way she watched him perform. But their new relationship would soon draw the attention of a dangerous figure from Heather’s past.
The Fateful Night
On February 8, 2020, Scott Sessions and Heather Frank planned to meet at her Greeley apartment. Their Facebook Messenger exchange was lighthearted. “Wanna come over?” Heather wrote at 5:13 p.m. “Sure, I just need to hop in the shower… Sound groovy??” Scott replied, later adding, “Warning: I smell pretty good.” By 7:59 p.m., Heather sent a final message: “Hey where you at…?” It was the last communication between them.
That night, Scott arrived at Heather’s apartment, unaware that her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Eastman, was there. Eastman, 50, had a tumultuous five-year relationship with Heather, marked by alleged domestic abuse. He had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault against her in 2015, and friends said Heather struggled to break free from him. “She didn’t want to be tied to that forever,” her friend Kimberly Shearer said. “But it just got harder every time.”
Investigators believe Eastman, consumed by jealousy over Heather’s new relationship, posed as her on Facebook to lure Scott to the apartment. As Scott stepped inside, Eastman allegedly ambushed him, slashing his throat with such force it nearly decapitated him. “There was rage involved,” said Larimer County Investigator Justin Atwood. “It’s an absolute horror that somebody could be treated that way.”
Heather, likely present during the attack, was caught in a nightmare. Authorities believe she helped Eastman dispose of Scott’s body, possibly under duress from years of abuse. In the early hours of February 9, cell phone records show Eastman and Heather’s phones traveling together toward Poudre Canyon, a remote area hours from Greeley. There, Scott’s body was wrapped in plastic, bound with duct tape, and set on fire. Surveillance cameras captured Eastman’s car, caked in red mud from the canyon road, returning to Greeley three hours later.
The Discovery of Scott’s Body
On February 10, 2020, Scott failed to show up for a sold-out performance at The Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. “In the back of my mind, I had a bad feeling,” said bandmate George Gray. Scott was always early to gigs, and his absence was alarming. That same day, a snowplow driver in Poudre Canyon stumbled upon a smoldering body, partially burned and wrapped in plastic. The victim had no identification, but a deep knife wound to the neck suggested a violent end.
The next day, Stanley Sessions reported his son missing. Police soon confirmed the body was Scott’s, leaving his family and friends reeling. “Who would want to kill my Scotty?” his mother asked, devastated. Weldon was heartbroken, haunted by the image of her brother lying in the cold. “To burn him afterwards, like it wasn’t good enough that they did what they did,” she said.
Investigators searched Scott’s home and analyzed his cell phone, which last pinged three miles from his house, near Heather’s apartment. They found his car abandoned in a supermarket parking lot, keys in the ignition and a floor mat oddly placed underneath. Security footage from February 11 showed a man exiting the driver’s side and walking away on foot. It wasn’t Scott.
The Investigation Deepens
The breakthrough came when investigators accessed Scott’s Facebook Messenger account. His last conversation was with Heather Frank, confirming their plans to meet on February 8. Police turned their attention to Heather, learning she lived near the supermarket where Scott’s car was found. They also discovered her volatile history with Kevin Eastman.
Surveillance became the key. Investigators installed cameras outside Heather’s townhome and placed tracking devices on her and Eastman’s vehicles. Cell phone records revealed that on February 9, both their phones traveled to Poudre Canyon and back, aligning with the timeline of Scott’s body disposal. Heather had also texted her boss at 3:21 a.m. that day, claiming she was sick and couldn’t work.
On February 15, Lt. Donnie Robbins watched live footage of Heather and Eastman leaving her apartment. Heather appeared unsteady, climbing into Eastman’s car. The next day, GPS data showed Eastman’s vehicle making multiple stops across rural Weld County. Suspecting evidence was being destroyed, Robbins tracked Eastman to a farm owned by his former employer, Troy Bonnell, where he saw Eastman tending a burn pile. When Eastman stopped at a gas station, Robbins arrested him.
Heather’s Tragic End
During questioning, Eastman denied knowing anything about Scott’s death or Heather’s whereabouts, claiming she was likely at work. His behavior was erratic—he prayed aloud, sang “Amazing Grace,” and pretended to be sick. “He’s feeling the pressure,” Investigator Atwood noted, observing Eastman’s heavy breathing.
The investigation took a devastating turn when police found Heather’s body on Bonnell’s farm, hidden under lumber and wrapped in plastic. She had been shot twice. “It was like I got hit by a wrecking ball,” Atwood said. Authorities believe Eastman killed Heather to silence her, fearing she might turn him in. “If she’s not going to be with me, she’s not going to be with anybody else,” Atwood speculated.
Heather’s family was shattered. “She was a victim,” Alexander McLaughlin said. “She ended up being a part of something she didn’t ask for.” Friends mourned the loss of a woman who brought light to their lives, caught in a cycle of abuse she couldn’t escape.
The Trial and Aftermath
Kevin Eastman was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. His trial began in July 2022, after more than two years of preparation. Prosecutors argued that Eastman’s need for control, rooted in a history of domestic violence, drove him to kill both Scott and Heather. DNA evidence placed him at the scene of Scott’s murder, and cell phone and surveillance data tied him to both crime scenes. The defense claimed Heather killed Scott and Eastman only helped dispose of the body, but the jury rejected this.
On July 20, 2022, Eastman was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 27 years. He maintains his innocence and is appealing the verdict. At the sentencing, Stanley Sessions delivered a powerful victim impact statement: “I will not let him or anyone else determine my happiness for the rest of my life.” Others struggled to forgive. “I’m not there,” said Sherrie Peif, Scott’s longtime friend.
Investigator Atwood remains haunted by the decision not to question Eastman and Heather sooner, wondering if it could have saved Heather’s life. “That was a decision Kevin Eastman made,” he said, “but it sits with me day in and day out.”
A Legacy of Music and Memory
In the wake of the murders, Greeley’s music community honored Scott and Heather with a memorial concert by The Elvis Experience. Scott’s trumpet sat on a stool, a silent tribute to his talent. Stanley Sessions held onto the instrument for years, unsure of its fate. In September 2023, Allison Weldon, determined to keep it in the family, flew to Colorado to retrieve it. She brought it home to Wichita, Kansas, where she plans to display it in a glass case alongside Scott’s Santa Claus hat, a 1976 Denver Broncos ticket, and his Memphis blues competition lanyard.
Weldon talks to the trumpet, sharing moments of her life with her brother’s memory. “Your dad wanted me to start playing,” she said to it. “Think that’s going to happen?” She’s considered horn lessons but feels the instrument’s true purpose is to honor Scott’s legacy. “He loved that trumpet,” she said. “It was his life. I just want it to be respected.”
For Heather’s family, her loss is a wound that won’t heal. Alexander keeps her memory alive through stories of her love and resilience. “She was a beautiful mother,” he said. The community remembers her warmth, her laughter, and the tragedy that stole her light.
A Community in Mourning
The murders of Scott Sessions and Heather Frank left an indelible mark on Greeley. Friends, family, and bandmates flooded George Gray’s studio with condolences—cards, flowers, and hugs. Unsigned notes read, Ventless messages declared, “He’s in heaven, just know he’s in heaven.” The outpouring reflected the love Scott and Heather inspired.
Their deaths were a stark reminder of the dangers of domestic violence and unchecked jealousy. As Greeley heals, Scott’s trumpet and Heather’s smile live on in the hearts of those who knew them, a testament to lives cut short but never forgotten.
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