Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Still some mystery about what happened

"Oh, uh, just one more thing." __ Columbo


Peggy Hettrick. In 1999, authorities arrested Timothy Masters for her murder and he was found guilty and sentenced to prison. In 2008, Masters was set free due to DNA testing results which pointed to another (unknown) suspect.

15 Larimer County 

murders remain unsolved


By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

If you do good, perhaps good will come back to you.
But if you do evil, if there is any fairness in the equation, the measure will be returned.
Call it Karma or reciprocity, just deserts, what ever – you are gonna get whatever is coming to you ... or not. First, they need to figure out who, did what, to whom.
Locally, here in Larimer County, there is still some mystery in at least 15 high-profile, unsolved cases. Following are a few details on those murders, going back more than a century, as noted by the county coroner's office.

Larimer County "Open," unsolved cases.


1. Joseph Allen
Date Of Death (DOD): 07/03/1907

Fort Collins Police officer Allen was beaten to death by an ax, brick, or a large club on 07/03/1907 while on patrol in "the Jungles" area of Fort Collins, where Allen had been active in prosecuting numerous cases of liquor law violations. Allen's body was discovered in the middle of the road around 10 p.m. by a man who lived in the same block. According to the newspaper, the neighbor heard groans and believed they were coming from a drunken man. When Roy Kelley went out to look, he discovered the dying Allen. Allen's pistol, club, and knife were missing.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
City of Fort Collins Police Services, 2221 Timberline Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525
Phone: 970.221.6540 (non-emergency), Police Sgt of Investigations: Mike Trombley mtrombley@fcgov.com

2) Frank Peak
Date of Death: 07/13/1915

Loveland Town Marshall, Peak, was fatally shot at age 35. His body was found draped over the railing on the east side of an irrigation bridge over the English Canal on Lincoln Avenue, south of 2nd Street. He was killed in a shootout with suspects who were never found. The case was re-opened in 1991 but is now inactive because all known witnesses are deceased. If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
City of Loveland Police Services, 810 E. 10th Street, Loveland, CO 80537 Phone: 970.962.2260 (Investigations)

3) Steven Kirk 
Found: 06/25/1977

The decomposing body of 28 year-old Kirk was found in a camping trailer at the Ramada Inn, Ft. Collins. Kirk had been beaten to death. No suspects were named. Authorities suspect robbery was a motive.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
Larimer County Sheriff's Department, 2501 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.498.5100
Lieutenant of Investigations: Robert Coleman

4 & 5) Walter & Kimo Perry
Date Of Death: 03/12/1979

A 29-year-old father and his nine-month-old son were burned to death while sleeping in their Loveland home at 604 SE 8th St. Perry's wife, Gwendolyn "Joyce" Perry, escaped the fire. Police ruled the deaths homicides after evidence of arson was found.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
Larimer County Sheriff's Department,
2501 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.498.5100
Lieutenant of Investigations: Robert Coleman  

6) Morton S. Rosenfeld
Date Of Death: 05/19/1979

Rosenfeld, age 43, was discovered in a basement apartment at Windcliff Estates in Estes Park. Rosenfeld had been beaten to death. Authorities identified a suspect and that suspect failed a subsequent polygraph. However, insufficient evidence existed to prosecute. The suspect, no longer living in Colorado, was re-interviewed by LCSO investigators in 2003. He chose not to cooperate and therefore remains a suspect in this murder.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
Larimer County Sheriff's Department,
2501 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.498.5100
  

7) Donald Ova
 Found: 12/25/1984

A resident of the lower Poudre Canyon was taking a walk and came across the body of 32-year-old Ova. Ova was transient and lived in the Greeley area. He was last seen alive on Thanksgiving, 1984. He was led up a hill and shot to death, execution-style. A suspect was identified but scientific testing available 16 years later (2000) failed to conclusively implicate him and the Larimer County DA refused to prosecute for lack of evidence.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
Larimer County Sheriff's Department,
2501 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.498.5100
Lieutenant of Investigations: Robert Coleman


8) 
Peggy Hettrick
Date Of Death: 02/11/1987

Hettrick, age 37, was found in an open field on the west side of the 3800 block of Landings Dr., Ft. Collins, in the early morning of 02/11/87. She had been stabbed in the back. In 1999, authorities arrested Timothy Masters for the murder and he was found guilty and sentenced to prison. In 2008, Masters was set free due to DNA testing results which pointed to another (unknown) suspect.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
Colorado Attorney General's Office,
1525 Sherman St, Denver, CO 80203 Phone: 303.866.4500
Peggy Hettrick Tip Line 303.866.5479 Attorney.General@state.co.us
Colorado Attorney General: Philip J. Weiser

9) Jessica Arredondo 
Found: 11/26/1988

Arredondo, age 21, was last seen on 11/25/88 when she dropped her boyfriend off at Neil's, a bar in Glendale, south of Denver. Arredondo's car, a red 1988 Mustang convertible, was found abandoned a few blocks from the bar at east 7th and Jackson, and appeared to have been involved in an accident. Witnesses said she had been abducted from the accident site by "several unknown male suspects." Her body was found on US 36 near Estes Park in Larimer County the next day. She had suffered fatal blows to her head. Investigation produced condemned killer Robert Harlan as a suspect. Harlan, the son of a Denver Police officer, now sits on Colorado's Death Row for the 1993 slaying of Rhonda Maloney, a Central City casino waitress he abducted and killed. Harlan was also found guilty of shooting and paralyzing Jacque Creazzo, the woman who tried to come to Maloney's aid. Harlan became a suspect in the Arredondo slaying after police interviewed his former co-workers at US West where Arredondo worked as an Information Operator.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact: 
Larimer County Sheriff's Department, 2501 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.498.5100, Lieutenant of Investigations: Robert Coleman


10) Anthony E. Mackey
Date Of Death: 08/12/1991

This 84-year-old male was being cared for in his home by his niece, Darlene Goddard, and her college-aged son, Kristopher Koetteng. The decedent had sustained blunt trauma to the central nervous system in a fall approximately 5 months prior to death. Since the fall, he was in deteriorating health and a downhill neurological course. Ultimately, he became totally helpless and bedridden with paralysis, aphasia, and loss of bladder and bowel control. Although there was initially no evidence of foul play, an autopsy was performed to document trauma related to the fall. A fractured hyoid bone and fresh bruising to the neck muscles was found at autopsy, indicating recent manual strangulation.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
Larimer County Sheriff's Department,
2501 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.498.5100
Lieutenant of Investigations: Robert Coleman 


11) “Baby Faith" 
Found: 08/24/1996

"Baby Faith" was a newborn who suffocated after being wrapped in a plastic garbage bag and left on the shores of Horsetooth Reservoir in Larimer County. Two young boys found the body. The identity of her parents remains a mystery.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
Larimer County Sheriff's Department,
2501 Midpoint Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.498.5100
Lieutenant of Investigations: Robert Coleman


12) Mary Lou Vickerman
Date Of Death: 09/13/1999

Loveland Police are searching for a hit and run driver who killed 61 year-old Vickerman at US 287 and the Orchards Shopping Center entrance in Loveland. Vickerman was sitting on her bicycle at 1:40 p.m. waiting to cross US Hwy 287 when a red Ford pickup, 1970's model with a white camper shell turned out of Orchards Center and slammed into her. Vickerman died of head trauma. The driver of the pickup, described as a white male in his late 30's or early 40's, did not stop.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
City of Loveland Police Services,
810 E. 10th Street, Loveland, CO 80537 Phone: 970.962.2260 (Investigations)  


13) Renee Bina Munshi
Date Of Death: 10/06/1999

About 1 a.m., a vehicle struck and killed Munshi on South Taft Hill Road in Ft. Collins. Munshi was waiting for her boyfriend to return with help for their injured dog, who had also been hit by a car. Her boyfriend was gone about 10 minutes and returned to find Munshi lying in the shoulder of the road next to the dog. She was transported to PVH where she died later that morning. No suspects have been identified.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
City of Fort Collins Police Services,
2221 Timberline Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970.221.6540 (non-emergency) 


14) John Robert Miller
Date Of Death: 08/15/2003

Miller, age 56, was found lying in the 4200 block of US Highway 287 in Loveland around 2:30 a.m., the victim of a hit and run. He died of his injuries 2 hours later. A Larimer County Sheriff's deputy noticed Miller walking along the road and spoke with him at 01:30 at 37th and US Highway 287. Both Miller and the hit and run vehicle were thought to have been northbound; Miller was struck from behind. The driver did not stop to render aid. No suspects have been identified.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
City of Loveland Police Services,
810 E. 10th Street, Loveland, CO 80537 Phone: 970.962.2260 (Investigations)

15) William Roger Connole, Jr. 
Date Of Death: 06/03/2015

Connole, age 65, was standing on the corner of St. Louis Ave and East 1st St. in Loveland at approximately 10:45 p.m. when a passing motorist pulled up next to him and fired a shotgun at him, killing him instantly. A vehicle was witnessed slowing near the decedent as he stood at the corner, but the actual shooting was unwitnessed and the perpetrator has not been identified.
If you have any possible information related to this case please contact:
City of Loveland Police Services,
810 E. 10th Street, Loveland, CO 80537 Phone: 970.962.2260 (Investigations)  




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