A southern Colorado man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in his wife’s death, just over a month after he repeatedly contacted her from jail in violation of a protection order, then posted bail.

Police first arrested 59-year-old Blas Salazar in September, after his wife, 31-year-old Herberta Lynn Salazar, told police he had beaten and raped her in their home in the small town of Ignacio.

The town lies about 25 miles southeast of Durango on the Southern Ute Reservation.

Blas Salazar now faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree burglary and violation of a protection order in connection with Herberta Salazar’s death, court records show. He also faces charges of sexual assault, third-degree assault and two additional counts of violating a protection order in three previous cases involving his wife.

In late August, Herberta Salazar told police that her husband had come home intoxicated and punched her in the head several times, giving her a bad headache, an arrest affidavit states. She tried to call 911 from across the room using the Siri assistant function on her phone, and when it didn’t work, Blas Salazar took her phone and hid it. He then forced her to have intercourse with him while she repeatedly told him no, she told police.

Police arrested Blas Salazar several days later on Sept. 1, court records show. He was booked in the La Plata County jail and signed a mandatory protection order that forbade him from contacting his wife or going near their home.

But while in custody at the jail, Blas Salazar violated that order dozens of times, deputies allege.

From the time he was arrested until Sept. 17, Blas Salazar contacted his wife via the jail’s video visit system 26 times, another arrest affidavit states. The two exchanged 33 pages worth of text messages during the same time frame, including 32 messages in the days after deputies first booked Blas Salazar on a violation of a protection order charge after he reportedly called Herberta Salazar from jail.

In that instance, Blas Salazar had tried to call his wife, and when she didn’t respond, he called another woman and told the woman to tell his wife to answer her phone, an affidavit states. He later called that woman back and said he’d spoken to Herberta Salazar.

Blas Salazar posted bail through a surety on Sept. 29 and was released from jail, court records show. A mandatory protection order still forbade him from contacting his wife.

Weeks later, as floods raged in southern Colorado, La Plata County sheriff’s deputies responding to a welfare check on Saturday found Herberta Salazar dead in her home.

Salazar had a large cut across her neck and a puncture wound in her chest, a third arrest affidavit states.

Circuit breakers in the home had been manually switched off, disabling the home’s security camera system, an act that appeared to be “consistent with consciousness of guilt and an attempt to destroy or prevent the creation of evidence,” a Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent wrote in the affidavit.

That night, Blas Salazar texted a family member a photo of himself with what appeared to be life-threatening injuries, according to the arrest affidavit. Deputies tracked Salazar’s truck and found him early Sunday.

While waiting for paramedics to arrive, Salazar told police he had stabbed and cut his wife, and she had also cut herself twice. He also told police his wife had cut him in the arm, and that he had cut himself.

Ignacio Police Chief Wes Crume did not appear to read Salazar his Miranda rights before asking him questions, the CBI agent notes in the affidavit.

Salazar is being held without bail at the Jefferson County jail after receiving medical treatment in Denver. He is set to appear Dec. 17 for a disposition hearing in the sexual assault case.