Denver- Collection company president John Paul Kelso wanted to give the handsome young man a new start.

But now, colleagues say, Kelso’s generosity may have led to his death.

Denver police have accused Timothy Boham, a man who starred in gay porn movies under the stage name “Marcus Allen,” of killing Kelso.

Boham, 25, was arrested Thursday morning near the U.S.-Mexico border one day after he was named as a suspect in the weekend slaying.

Investigators launched a manhunt for the suspect after a housekeeper found Kelso, 43, shot inside his upscale Congress Park home, at East Seventh Avenue Parkway and Monroe Street, Monday morning. His body was in a bathtub.

Detectives have said they believe Kelso was killed sometime over the weekend but declined to comment on a possible motive or detail what led them to Boham.

The nature of the relationship between the two men remained unclear Thursday, but one of Kelso’s colleagues said the businessman hired Boham in early November and was training him as a debt collector.

“He (Kelso) knew this guy,” said Jon D. Sawyer, president of Professional Recovery Systems, a company Kelso co-founded in 1996. “Kelso always tried to help anyone. He was generous to a fault.”

According to Sawyer, Boham stopped showing up for his debt-collection job after 10 days.

In the short time he was employed there, Boham kept to himself, Sawyer said. Co-workers have described him as bright and told Sawyer it seemed like he had his mind on something else.

“He wouldn’t have lasted long here anyway,” Sawyer said.

Customs and Border Patrol officers spotted Boham in Lukeville, Ariz., about 10:40 a.m. Thursday. Boham was standing in the middle of a group of people attempting to enter Mexico and was loitering outside an inspection facility, said Roger Maier, border patrol spokesman.

When officers questioned him, Boham admitted he was being sought on a first-degree murder warrant from Denver, according to Maier. Arrangements are being made to bring Boham back to Colorado to face possible charges.

Boham’s arrest made headlines on a variety of porn and gay lifestyle Web sites.

In the gay porn industry, Boham appeared in several movies in 2004 and 2005.

Some of his titles include Never Been Touched and Ripe.

He won the award “Freshman of the Year” by Freshmen Magazine, a gay porn magazine.

“He was just really handsome and always interesting to watch,” said Doug Lawrence, editor for GAYVN, a publication that covers the gay porn industry. “He was a fairly big star.”

Lawrence said Boham was pretty popular because he did not work in many porn movies and his last movie appearance was about a year ago.

Boham also modeled and was recently featured in the “Campus Hunks” section of Playgirl magazine, according to gaypornblog.com.

Kelso’s stunned colleagues are hoping to raise money to donate to The Children’s Hospital in his memory.