April 21, 2017
A Colorado financial adviser is accused of forcing his way into the home of teenaged Iranian-born girl and strangling her last week.
David A. Wismer III, 51, was arrested last week on three felony counts including first degree assault, first degree burglary and stalking.
Investigators said he forced his way into the girl’s home in Colorado Springs last Tuesday, grabbed her by the throat and hit her head against the wall hard enough to leave dents in the drywall. A forensic nurse evaluated the girl and determined she suffered “Serious Bodily Injury with a substantial risk of death due to strangulation.”
According to court records filed for the arrest warrant, the girl’s mother told Colorado Springs Police officers that Wismer had been a family friend from church who helped them immigrate from Iran six years ago. When the girl’s parents later divorced, Wismer helped again by paying for a two-week hotel stay for the mother and daughter, and even bought a car so she could get to work.
While they were staying at the hotel, the mother said Wismer began showing up and spending time with the victim by going to lunch and movie “dates.” The teenaged victim, who was not named in the court filings, said Wismer liked the attention she showed him as being like her father.
“She said when her life got better and she needed him less, he started acting ‘weird,’” Detective Mike Lee wrote in his warrant application.
The victim told officers Wismer tried to “touch” her two years ago and made statements in the past that he wished he wasn’t married to his wife but was married to her instead. The victim later told investigators Wismer had “choked, slapped, kicked and punched” her on a previous occasion last summer.
The victim described a five-year history of physiological and physical abuse by Wismer.
He is the president of Wismer Wealth Management Group in Colorado Springs whose website indicated they have $58 million in assets under management.
Wismer was released from jail on $500,000 bond. He has no previous criminal history.
