DENVER (AP) — A man arrested in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Colorado woman told investigators she hired him to kill her, court records said. 
 
 Joseph McDaniel Lopez, 22, said he responded to a Craigslist ad titled "I want to put a hit on myself," KMGH-TV reported. 
 
 Court records say he described how he and Natalie Bollinger exchanged text messages and he picked her up at her apartment in Broomfield, north of Denver, last December. Lopez said he tried to change her mind. They then drove around while discussing how he would be paid. They eventually stopped the car at a spot where he shot her. He said Bollinger provided the gun, which he took along with her purse. 
 
 Bollinger was found dead Dec. 29, a day after her boyfriend reported her missing. He also reported his Glock 9mm pistol was gone as well. 
 
 An autopsy found she was shot in the head and had a potentially lethal amount of heroin in her system. 
 
 Investigators connected Lopez to the case through more than 100 text messages the two exchanged on the night she died. 
 
 He was arrested late Thursday. 
 
 "Just because we have a suspect in custody, doesn't mean the investigation is over," Adams County Sheriff Michael McIntosh said Friday in announcing the arrest. 
 
 Lopez told investigators that when they arrived at the spot where Bollinger was shot, she "knelt down on the ground and that he knelt down along her left side and slightly in front of her," court records said. He said they said a prayer, he got up and closed his eyes and fired the fatal shot. He told officers the gun was still in the trunk of his car. 
 
 Investigators did locate a weapon, but McIntosh said it's too early in the investigation to tie it to Bollinger's death. 
 
 The affidavit does not include any evidence of Lopez's claims or how much heroin was in Bollinger's system. The autopsy notes she had a history of heroin and meth use. Investigators say some of her family and friends reported she had a history of suicidal thoughts, but other said she was happy and looking forward to attending school. 
 
 Lopez remains jailed. No bond has been set. It wasn't immediately known if he had an attorney to speak on his behalf. 
 
 Craigslist officials did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Saturday. 
 
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 Information from: KMGH-TV, http://www.thedenverchannel.com ||||| The man charged in the shooting death of 19-year-old Natalie Bollinger allegedly told Colorado investigators she hired him to kill her. 
 
 Joseph Lopez, 22, was arrested last week and charged with first-degree murder. According to an arrest warranted obtained by PEOPLE, Lopez told police that he responded to an ad that Bollinger allegedly posted on Craigslist, entitled “I want to put a hit on myself.” 
 
 Bollinger was reported missing days after receiving a protection order against a man she alleged was harassing her. She was found dead in a wooded area late last year. An autopsy also revealed she had a “potentially lethal level of heroin” in her system at the time of her death. 
 
 “Just because we have a suspect in custody doesn’t mean the investigation is over,”Adams County Sheriff Michael McIntosh told reporters on Friday, adding that Lopez is the sole suspect Bollinger’s slaying. 
 
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 Joseph Michael Lopez Adams County Sheriff's Office 
 
 According to the arrest affidavit, detectives uncovered more than 100 text messages between Lopez and Bollinger. 
 
 The affidavit alleges that Lopez told police that “he was pretty sure that he knew what we were there for” and that “he was sure it had to do with the girl he talked to on Craigslist.” 
 
 Lopez said that he spotted the Craigslist ad in late December. He allegedly said he contacted the teen, pretending to be an experienced hired killer. Lopez allegedly said he agreed to meet with Bollinger and kill her after the two spoke via text. 
 
 Courtesy of Broomfield Police Dept. 
 
 He allegedly arranged to pick her up at her apartment on December 28, 2017. The affidavit states that they discussed payment. Bollinger allegedly wanted to be killed “on her knees… executed from behind,” reads the affidavit. Lopez alleges Bollinger provided him with the gun he used to end her life. He claims that he tried to change her mind, but she insisted. 
 
 Bollinger was reported missing by her boyfriend; he also claimed his gun went missing. 
 
 At first, Lopez allegedly said he had a change of heart, and that he dropped Bollinger off at her apartment where she shot herself. Later, he allegedly confessed, telling investigators Bollinger “knelt down on the ground and that he knelt down along her left side and slightly in front of her.” 
 
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 He allegedly told cops the two prayed before he pulled the trigger with his eyes closed. He left, grabbing the girl’s purse and the gun, the affidavit alleges. 
 
 Investigators claim several people who knew Bollinger said she had expressed suicidal thoughts in the past. Still others said she never would have ended her life, and that she was excited about the future. 
 
 Lopez is being held without bond. It is unclear whether he has entered a plea or retained counsel. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 A Colorado man accused of killing 19-year-old Natalie Marie Bollinger told police he shot her after he replied to her Craigslist ad seeking a hitman — for herself, investigators said in court documents obtained Monday. 
 
 But before the killing, the man, Joseph Michael Lopez, 22, tried to talk her out of suicide, he told Adams County deputies, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by NBC News. After he failed to change her mind, they went for a drive and stopped by the side of the road, where they said a prayer together as Lopez knelt on the ground beside Bollinger and shot her once in the back of the head with a 9mm firearm, according to the affidavit. 
 
 Lopez said he used a gun that Bollinger gave him, which she said he could keep as payment, according to the affidavit. 
 
 The body of Bollinger, who lived in Broomfield, was found Dec. 29 in an unincorporated area of Adams County, east of Boulder, Broomfield police said. Lopez was being held without bail Monday in the Adams County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder pending a court hearing Wednesday, according to court records. 
 
 Investigators said Lopez told them last Thursday that he was browsing the "Women Seeking Men" section of Craigslist when he stopped on an "unusual post" with the title "I want to put a hit on myself." The Adams County Sheriff's Office wouldn't confirm that such an ad had been placed, a spokesman told NBC News on Monday. 
 
 According to the arrest affidavit, Lopez said that he replied to the ad because he had suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts when he was in high school and thought he could help. 
 
 But Bollinger couldn't be persuaded, he said, telling investigators that she said she wanted to be executed from behind so she wouldn't see the gun and that she "wanted it to happen quickly," according to the arrest affidavit. 
 
 Joseph Michael Lopez, 22, was held without bond pending a first-degree murder charge in the death of Natalie Bollinger, 19, of Broomfield, Colorado. Adams County Sheriff's Office 
 
 Friends and relatives told investigators that Bollinger had a history of suicidal thoughts, according to the affidavit. But they said they had found no suicide note or any other communication indicating that she wanted to take her own life, it said. In fact, the affidavit said, she had applied for a job on Dec. 28, the day before she was killed. 
 
 Adams County Sheriff Michael McIntosh said Friday, when the arrest was announced, that Lopez was tracked down through dozens of text messages on Bollinger's cellphone. 
 
 "A 19-year-old's phone, there's a lot of data there," McIntosh said. 
 
 When investigators called to arrange an interview, Lopez "made the comment that he thought he might know why" they were calling, McIntosh said. 
 
 According to the arrest affidavit, "Joseph Lopez did tell us that it was eating away at him and that several times he felt like just calling the police himself and confessing to shooting Natalie Bollinger." 
 
 McIntosh said Friday that no one else is believed to have been involved.
– A man in custody in Colorado has confessed to fatally shooting 19-year-old Natalie Bollinger, but he claims her death was still suicide, according to arrest documents seen by NBC News. According to an arrest affidavit, Joseph Michael Lopez, 22, told investigators that he shot the teen after answering a Craigslist ad in the "Women Seeking Men" section titled: "I want to put a hit on myself." He claimed he answered the ad because he had suffered from depression and thought he could help the teen, but he ended up shooting her after he couldn't talk her out of the "suicide." Lopez, who's being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, said he prayed with Bollinger before shooting her with a 9mm gun that she'd given him. He said she told him he could keep the gun as payment. Bollinger's body was found Dec. 29 in a wooded area in Adams County, east of Boulder. The previous day, her boyfriend told police that she was missing and his Glock 9mm pistol was gone, the AP reports. According to an autopsy, she had a "potentially lethal" level of heroin in her system when she was killed. Days earlier, she had sought a protection order against a man she said had been stalking her, People reports. Investigators connected Lopez to the case through more than 100 text messages exchanged on the night she died. Police haven't confirmed whether the ad seeking a hit man was actually placed. Friends and relatives say Bollinger had suicidal thoughts in the past, but some say she'd been happy recently and had applied for a job the day before she died. (This man's teen wife was murdered in front of him—at his request.)