When you picture Colorado, images of majestic mountains, thrilling ski slopes, and abundant snowfall often come to mind. Indeed, Colorado offers these attractions and so much more. From breathtaking sunsets over the Rocky Mountains to a diverse array of wildlife, it’s a truly beautiful place to call home.
However, beneath this stunning scenery, like many picturesque locations, lies a shadowed past. Throughout the years, Colorado has been the stage for numerous crimes. Horrific acts, including serial killings, brutal murders, and even cannibalism, have stained the history of “Colorful Colorado.”
Here are 10 of the most gruesome crimes committed across Colorado.
10. Watts Family Murder
On August 13, 2018, the quiet town of Frederick, Colorado, was rocked by an unimaginable crime committed by Christopher Watts. His wife, Shanann, had just returned from a trip that morning. Concern grew when she missed a doctor’s appointment and wasn’t responding to calls or texts. A friend alerted the police, who conducted a welfare check. Christopher Watts was home alone and allowed police to search the house, where they found Shanann’s phone, wedding ring, and purse with her car keys.
The following day, Christopher was questioned by police. He agreed to a polygraph test, hoping to clear his name, but the results were damning. He failed the test and confessed to everything. He admitted to having an affair and telling Shanann he wanted to separate. During an argument, Christopher strangled and killed Shanann, who was pregnant with their third child.
Further investigation revealed he had also attempted to smother his two young daughters. He buried Shanann in a shallow grave and disposed of his daughters’ bodies, aged just 4 and 3, in separate oil tanks at his work site. Christopher Watts murdered his entire family. He is currently serving five life sentences, plus 48 years for terminating Shanann’s pregnancy and an additional 36 years for tampering with deceased bodies.
9. Thornton Craigslist Killer
Thornton, a generally peaceful suburb north of Denver, experienced a shocking crime on December 28, 2018. Nineteen-year-old Natalie Bollinger was reported missing by her family and found dead the next day in a wooded area off Riverdale Road. Detectives discovered Bollinger had posted an ad on Craigslist titled, “I want to put a hit on myself.”
Phone records led police to Joseph Lopez, a 23-year-old Domino’s employee. Lopez had responded to Bollinger’s ad and met her that night. During police interrogation, Lopez’s story changed multiple times. It was eventually determined that he met Bollinger, took her to Riverdale Road, and shot her in the back of the head at point-blank range. Bollinger was found with a lethal dose of heroin in her system. Joseph Lopez was sentenced to 48 years in prison for her murder.
8. The Colorado Cannibal
In February 1874, Alfred “Alferd” Packer, a wilderness guide, led five men on a 75-mile trek into the Breckenridge mountains during the harsh Colorado winter. The journey was planned for 14 days. Townspeople were stunned when Packer returned alone two months later. The pressing question was: what happened to the other five men?
Packer’s spending habits upon his return were unusually lavish for a guide, including purchasing a new horse and saddle. Suspicions grew as locals saw him with different wallets and equipment. Under pressure, Packer revealed a horrifying tale. He claimed that, unable to find food, the men turned on each other, with the survivors consuming the deceased and dividing their money. However, discovery of the bodies at a single campsite contradicted this. Packer later escaped jail after being sentenced to death. He was found nine years later in Wyoming and offered a new version: one man went mad, killed the others while Packer was scouting, and Packer then shot this man. He claimed he only resorted to cannibalism after days without food. Packer received a new trial and was sentenced to 40 years for manslaughter. He died of dementia.
7. FBI Informant Turned Serial Killer
Scott Lee Kimball, another Colorado mass murderer, confessed to killing at least four people between 2002 and 2004. Kimball had been released on bond for multiple fraud charges and was working as an FBI informant during his killing spree. Each of his four known victims was last seen with him, which ultimately led to his arrest for their murders. It’s suspected that Kimball may have killed up to 21 victims during the two years he was out of prison. He is currently serving a 70-year prison sentence.
6. Coors Family Murder
The Coors family, renowned for their Coors beer dynasty, is one of Colorado’s most successful families. Despite their achievements, tragedy struck them. In 1960, Adolph Coors III, heir to the Coors fortune, was kidnapped on his way to work in Golden, Colorado. The kidnapper, Joseph Corbett, was an escaped prisoner previously convicted of murder in California.
Corbett demanded a $500,000 ransom for Coors III’s safe return. Months later, Coors’ body was found at a dump site in Douglas County. Corbett was captured and sentenced to life in prison. He was paroled in 1980 but took his own life in 2009.
5. The Hammer Killer
In 1984, Aurora was horrified when three members of the Bennett family—Bruce, his wife Debra, and their seven-year-old daughter Melissa—were found murdered in their home. They had been brutally killed with a hammer. The family’s three-year-old daughter was the sole survivor, though she too was attacked.
Alex Ewing was responsible for these deaths. However, he wouldn’t face trial for this crime for nearly four decades. Ewing had also gone on a 12-day rampage across the state, committing rape, assaults, and another murder—that of Patricia Smith—which also remained unsolved for years. After his Colorado crime spree, Ewing was arrested in Nevada for assaulting a couple with an axe handle and sentenced to 40 years. In 2018, DNA evidence linked Ewing to the Bennett family and Smith murders. He was convicted in 2021 and 2022 for all four murders and received four life sentences.
4. Ted Bundy
A surprising fact for many is that Ted Bundy, one of America’s most infamous serial killers, also committed murders in Colorado. Out of his 20 confirmed victims, three of these murders occurred in Colorado. During 1975, while on trial for kidnapping in a Glenwood Springs courthouse, Bundy was granted access to the courtroom’s library. He famously escaped by jumping from a second-story window. After being recaptured, he escaped again from a jailhouse in 1977. Following this escape, he went on to commit more murders across the country before his final capture.
3. Vincent Groves
Vincent Groves, another Colorado serial killer, murdered as many as 17 people in the Denver metropolitan area. Using strangulation as his method, Groves was active from 1979 to 1990. He primarily preyed on prostitutes, which allowed him to evade detection for a long time, despite spending periods in and out of prison during these years.
His first prison sentence was in 1982 for the second-degree murder of a 17-year-old girl. He was paroled in 1988 and subsequently murdered more vulnerable girls and women. In 1990, Groves was finally sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 19-year-old girl, with an additional 20 years for the manslaughter of another woman. Groves died in prison in 1996 without providing details about his heinous crimes.
2. William Neal—Denver Axe Murderer
In 1998, William Neal confessed to the torture and murder of three women. He lured these women, with whom he claimed to have relationships, to a Denver townhome, promising a surprise. A total of four women were present at the crime scene.
Upon their arrival, Neal bludgeoned two of the women with an axe, leaving them for dead. The fourth woman was kidnapped, tied to a bed next to the bodies, raped, and forced to watch as Neal slaughtered the third girl with an axe. Neal later confessed to a TV host and then to the police. He was sentenced to death in 1999, but this sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2003.
1. Richard Paul White
In November 2003, Richard Paul White received three consecutive life sentences plus an additional 144 years in prison. White confessed to killing six people—five women and one man—by drugging, raping, and ultimately strangling them. Two victims were discovered buried in the backyard of his Denver home.
Like several others on this list, White often targeted prostitutes. The exception was his friend, Jason Reichardt, whom White shot in the head. Reichardt’s body was found in an upstairs room of White’s home with a gunshot wound to the head.
Conclusion
These harrowing stories serve as a stark reminder that even in places renowned for their natural beauty and tranquility, a darker side of human nature can emerge. The crimes committed in Colorado, ranging from calculated family annihilations to opportunistic serial killings, have left indelible scars on the communities affected and the state’s history. While Colorado remains a beautiful destination, the memories of these events caution us about the complexities that lie beneath the surface.
What are your thoughts on these disturbing cases? Do you know of other cases that shook Colorado? Leave your comment below.
