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September 21
May 2
March 24
March 23
Homeless feel betrayed by verdict
March 19
March 17
March 16
March 14
December 10
November 28
Jeffrey John Hubert: Time slips away on streets
Beat on street among Denver's homeless is one of fear, defiance
Richard Steinmetz: Wary life among the 'clowns'
John Bryant & Katherine Livingston: Manhole cover for a bed
Keith Williams: Scars of street life
November 26
November 25
November 23
Murder suspect, 16, put in adult jail
LoDo not paralyzed by murders
November 22
Homeless shelters fill fast
November 21
LoDo rebirth disrupts street life rhythms
November 20
November 19
FBI profilers may help solve murders
Death takes many forms for homeless
'We have nothing to be afraid of'
November 18
New killings spread fear in homeless
November 15
November 12
November 10
November 7
November 5
October 31
Men felt lure of streets
October 30
October 29
October 28
Police ponder connections in four downtown slayings
October 27
October 24
October 9
October 7
September 30
September 18
September 9
Police swarm field where 2 bodies were found; transients urged to find shelter
By Charlie Brennanand Lynn Bartels Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers
The FBI's vaunted profilers have joined the hunt for clues in a series of homeless slayings that have shaken Denver. The same behavioral unit that inspired the best-selling book and movie The Silence of the Lambs will review the slayings of seven transients -- including two men whose beheaded bodies were found Wednesday in a massive field behind Union Station. Denver police on Thursday swarmed the Central Platte Valley, where they interviewed and photographed dozens of homeless people and looked for evidence among weeds in the 24-acre homeless hangout. "We have an awful lot of work to do," said Capt. Tim Leary, who is leading the investigation. Police passed out posters offering a $100,000 reward for information and established a tip hot line, (303) 640-6627. Meanwhile, homeless advocates urged transients to seek shelter. Agencies waived their usual sobriety requirements and also agreed to bed transients who don't have identification or a tuberculosis card. Police have not yet identified the beheaded men. One autopsy was completed Thursday, and the other is expected today. The seven deaths have prompted fears of a serial killer, but police have not established whether the latest two slayings are connected to each other or to five previous deaths. They also aren't sure if those deaths are linked. "There are similarities, and there are dissimilarities in the cases," homicide Sgt. Jon Priest has repeatedly said. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb asked U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for assistance Wednesday after the gruesome discovery that day. The FBI, which had been assisting police in the slayings, now will step up its role in the investigation. Agent John Kundts in the Denver officer said the profile analysis will be completed at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va. He said he did not know how long that will take. The behavioral scientists try to determine whether a series of deaths are the work of one person or group and, if so, develop a profile of the killer. The FBI also will be available to follow out-of-state leads and to obtain information to assist Denver, Kundts said. Leary has been assigned to oversee a "major case squad" that will operate out of the homicide bureau. He can assign officers from throughout the department to the squad. "If a lead comes in, it won't sit. It will be aggressively pursued," police Chief Tom Sanchez said. Agents from the Burlington Northern railroad and postal inspectors, who have a facility near where the men have been killed, are assisting. The postal facility has video cameras that monitor the grounds. Police also are photographing homeless people they interview as potential witnesses, Leary said. "We are photographing homeless individuals whenever identification is an issue. We then include the photograph with their statement for future reference," he said. Leary said police may ask witnesses for a fingerprint, but that is voluntary. "We are not contacting them because we believe any one of them to be a suspect at this point," Leery said. "It was through the cooperation of the homeless that we were able to develop leads in the cases." Police have arrested three homeless young people in the deaths of Melvin Washington, 47, who was beaten Sept. 8 and died a week later of his injuries. Thomas Holden, 18, told police he was present when Washington was killed, according to court records. He identified his companions as Nathan Harrison, 20, and Christopher Ball, 16. All three are charged with first-degree murder. In addition, Holden, Harrison and five other homeless youths -- all part of a loosely knit group police call "mall rats" -- are charged with attempted first-degree murder in attacks on two other homeless men who survived. But police have not linked anyone to the deaths of George "Billy" Worth, Donald Dyer, Milo Harris Jr. and Kenneth Rapp, whose bodies were found between Sept. 7 and Oct. 22. Worth, Dyer and Harris had been beaten to death. Although police initially indicated that Rapp had been decapitated, they now say only parts of his skull were missing. They were unable to determine a cause of death but are investigating it as a homicide. Police aren't sure how long the latest two victims have been dead. They first said one man may have been dead only one week, but now they believe both men were dead for several weeks, hidden in the weeds. "It's a very difficult area to search," Priest said. "It's more than 2 square miles in area. There's a lot of growth; there's rocks, holes." More than two dozen detectives, patrol officers and evidence technicians scoured the expansive crime scene again on Thursday. While small teams of investigators closely examined the sites where the bodies were discovered, others armed with 4-foot-long sticks poked through the expansive field's ragged screens of sagebrush for any items that might be considered evidence. And all the while, officers were buffeted by harsh bursts of cold wind that would rip loose crime-scene tape almost as soon as it was secured. If police found anything significant, they weren't disclosing it. Leary said police don't have a motive. "At this point, we're not going to speculate," he said. "We're examining a number of different possibilities." The victims' transient lifestyles have stymied the investigation. "It's difficult to re-create their lives just prior to their deaths," Sanchez said. "It's not like the average person, where you get off work at 10 o'clock at night. Its an odd subculture. It's secretive, and they don't keep normal lives." Staff writers Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, Michael Romano and librarian Carol Kasel contributed to this report. November 19, 1999
The FBI's vaunted profilers have joined the hunt for clues in a series of homeless slayings that have shaken Denver.
The same behavioral unit that inspired the best-selling book and movie The Silence of the Lambs will review the slayings of seven transients -- including two men whose beheaded bodies were found Wednesday in a massive field behind Union Station.
Denver police on Thursday swarmed the Central Platte Valley, where they interviewed and photographed dozens of homeless people and looked for evidence among weeds in the 24-acre homeless hangout.
"We have an awful lot of work to do," said Capt. Tim Leary, who is leading the investigation.
Police passed out posters offering a $100,000 reward for information and established a tip hot line, (303) 640-6627.
Meanwhile, homeless advocates urged transients to seek shelter. Agencies waived their usual sobriety requirements and also agreed to bed transients who don't have identification or a tuberculosis card.
Police have not yet identified the beheaded men. One autopsy was completed Thursday, and the other is expected today.
The seven deaths have prompted fears of a serial killer, but police have not established whether the latest two slayings are connected to each other or to five previous deaths. They also aren't sure if those deaths are linked.
"There are similarities, and there are dissimilarities in the cases," homicide Sgt. Jon Priest has repeatedly said.
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb asked U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for assistance Wednesday after the gruesome discovery that day.
The FBI, which had been assisting police in the slayings, now will step up its role in the investigation.
Agent John Kundts in the Denver officer said the profile analysis will be completed at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va. He said he did not know how long that will take.
The behavioral scientists try to determine whether a series of deaths are the work of one person or group and, if so, develop a profile of the killer.
The FBI also will be available to follow out-of-state leads and to obtain information to assist Denver, Kundts said.
Leary has been assigned to oversee a "major case squad" that will operate out of the homicide bureau. He can assign officers from throughout the department to the squad.
"If a lead comes in, it won't sit. It will be aggressively pursued," police Chief Tom Sanchez said.
Agents from the Burlington Northern railroad and postal inspectors, who have a facility near where the men have been killed, are assisting. The postal facility has video cameras that monitor the grounds.
Police also are photographing homeless people they interview as potential witnesses, Leary said.
"We are photographing homeless individuals whenever identification is an issue. We then include the photograph with their statement for future reference," he said.
Leary said police may ask witnesses for a fingerprint, but that is voluntary.
"We are not contacting them because we believe any one of them to be a suspect at this point," Leery said. "It was through the cooperation of the homeless that we were able to develop leads in the cases."
Police have arrested three homeless young people in the deaths of Melvin Washington, 47, who was beaten Sept. 8 and died a week later of his injuries.
Thomas Holden, 18, told police he was present when Washington was killed, according to court records. He identified his companions as Nathan Harrison, 20, and Christopher Ball, 16. All three are charged with first-degree murder.
In addition, Holden, Harrison and five other homeless youths -- all part of a loosely knit group police call "mall rats" -- are charged with attempted first-degree murder in attacks on two other homeless men who survived.
But police have not linked anyone to the deaths of George "Billy" Worth, Donald Dyer, Milo Harris Jr. and Kenneth Rapp, whose bodies were found between Sept. 7 and Oct. 22.
Worth, Dyer and Harris had been beaten to death. Although police initially indicated that Rapp had been decapitated, they now say only parts of his skull were missing. They were unable to determine a cause of death but are investigating it as a homicide.
Police aren't sure how long the latest two victims have been dead. They first said one man may have been dead only one week, but now they believe both men were dead for several weeks, hidden in the weeds.
"It's a very difficult area to search," Priest said. "It's more than 2 square miles in area. There's a lot of growth; there's rocks, holes."
More than two dozen detectives, patrol officers and evidence technicians scoured the expansive crime scene again on Thursday.
While small teams of investigators closely examined the sites where the bodies were discovered, others armed with 4-foot-long sticks poked through the expansive field's ragged screens of sagebrush for any items that might be considered evidence.
And all the while, officers were buffeted by harsh bursts of cold wind that would rip loose crime-scene tape almost as soon as it was secured.
If police found anything significant, they weren't disclosing it.
Leary said police don't have a motive.
"At this point, we're not going to speculate," he said. "We're examining a number of different possibilities."
The victims' transient lifestyles have stymied the investigation.
"It's difficult to re-create their lives just prior to their deaths," Sanchez said. "It's not like the average person, where you get off work at 10 o'clock at night. Its an odd subculture. It's secretive, and they don't keep normal lives."
Staff writers Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, Michael Romano and librarian Carol Kasel contributed to this report.
November 19, 1999
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