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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
One of latest men to be killed in string of attacks was known as good friend, reliable worker
By Lynn BartelsDenver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Former boxer Joe Mendoza told a homeless advocate he wasn't afraid to sleep in the field behind Union Station because he could take care of himself. No one doubted him. After all, Mendoza was highly respected on the streets and at the shelters where he sought help. And so it was a shock to the homeless community to learn Monday the 50-year-old was one of two transients whose decapitated bodies were found in the field last Wednesday. "A neat, neat guy. What a loss," said Ellen Snyder, who tutored Mendoza in math for the last 31/2 years at the St. Francis Center. "I am so upset. I just feel such a loss and I feel so angry. It just totally upsets me that a human being could do that to these guys." The other victim, Harry Redden, 46, was also known at shelters but not nearly as well. "Harry was somebody we recognized but really didn't know. He was kind of a loner," said Tom Luehrs, executive director at St. Francis, where the homeless can take showers, get clean clothing and receive mail. Mendoza and Redden are the sixth and seventh homeless men to be slain in the Coors Field area since Sept. 7. Capt. Tim Leary, commander of the Denver Police Department's Crimes Against Persons unit, said police are pursuing leads generated by their massive investigation. "You're always hopeful," he said Monday. "You've just got to run on all these things and take them as far as you can." He said police are still processing evidence found in the 24-acre field behind Union Station. "It's going to take a considerable amount of time," he said. At a memorial service Monday at St. Francis, 2323 Curtis, Mendoza's friends recalled a companion with a fondness for Chicago pizza and an incredible sense of humor. He would greet people by putting his fists up in a mock boxing stance. Mendoza occasionally scraped up enough money from temporary day labor jobs to head to New Mexico, Utah and Chicago; but he always returned to Colorado. "He was an exceptional man," said transient Phil Cunningham, 37. "He never judged anybody or anything. A couple of times I would be hurting real bad with a hangover and he would help me." Harold Chapman, who writes for the homeless magazine Denver Voice, said Mendoza saved his life when he lived on the streets. "I had been homeless in Arkansas, but I wasn't used to the cold here," Chapman said. "I found myself something like a carpet and a big cardboard box. He came over realizing someone was under this stuff, kicked it and said, 'Come on.' He had a lean-to, a shelter. "There was probably 6 to 8 inches of snow on the cardboard when he found me." At St. Francis, staff members were in tears as they recalled how several months ago Mendoza delivered a stirring eulogy for an elderly man who had died on the streets. He always thought to ask about their families. "He'd come in here and he'd get showered and shaved and cleaned up and he would look like a million dollars," nurse Joan Spero said. When it came time to help out at the center, Mendoza volunteered to clean the bathrooms and handle other jobs no one else wanted to do. The last time Snyder saw Mendoza was June 10. She was out of town the rest of the summer. "He was well-groomed and he said, 'I'm really going to straighten my life around. I'm really going to do it,"' Snyder said. "He looked so good I thought, 'This time he's going to do it.' "He was an alcoholic but, when he was sober, he was just so fun and just so eager to learn." Mendoza was fluent in English and Spanish, but just couldn't seem to get the hang of math. "You would have to go over the basics -- addition, subtraction, fractions. We've had some guys in there that can do trig," Snyder said. Mendoza alternately told other transients and staff members that he was from California, Chicago and Texas. The coroner has been unable to find any family. Mendoza was found about 300 yards from Redden's body. It is unclear whether they knew each other. The homeless often camp in the 24-acre field, one of the last vast undeveloped tracts of land in the Central Platte Valley. Redden was born in Chester, Pa., on Oct. 3, 1953. He had lived in Las Vegas and San Diego, records show. He occasionally worked day jobs at Ready Temporary Service on East Colfax Avenue, although owner Jim Hannifin hadn't seen him this year. Denver police have enlisted the help of the FBI and other agencies to help solve the spree of homeless killings. The bodies have been found within a one mile radius. The other victims were George "Billy" Worth, 62, and Donald Dyer, 51, drinking buddies whose bodies were found Sept. 7; Milo Harris Jr., 51, whose body was discovered Sept. 26; and Kenneth Rapp, 42, whose decomposed body was found Oct. 22. Police have arrested three young transients -- ages 20, 18 and 16 -- in the death of homeless man Melvin Washington, 47, who was beaten Sept. 7. He died Sept. 15. Two of the defendants plus five other young homeless people also have been charged with attempted murder in the attacks on two homeless men, who survived brutal beatings. Additional reporting by John Ensslin and Carla Crowder. November 23, 1999
Former boxer Joe Mendoza told a homeless advocate he wasn't afraid to sleep in the field behind Union Station because he could take care of himself.
No one doubted him.
After all, Mendoza was highly respected on the streets and at the shelters where he sought help.
And so it was a shock to the homeless community to learn Monday the 50-year-old was one of two transients whose decapitated bodies were found in the field last Wednesday.
"A neat, neat guy. What a loss," said Ellen Snyder, who tutored Mendoza in math for the last 31/2 years at the St. Francis Center.
"I am so upset. I just feel such a loss and I feel so angry. It just totally upsets me that a human being could do that to these guys."
The other victim, Harry Redden, 46, was also known at shelters but not nearly as well.
"Harry was somebody we recognized but really didn't know. He was kind of a loner," said Tom Luehrs, executive director at St. Francis, where the homeless can take showers, get clean clothing and receive mail.
Mendoza and Redden are the sixth and seventh homeless men to be slain in the Coors Field area since Sept. 7.
Capt. Tim Leary, commander of the Denver Police Department's Crimes Against Persons unit, said police are pursuing leads generated by their massive investigation.
"You're always hopeful," he said Monday. "You've just got to run on all these things and take them as far as you can."
He said police are still processing evidence found in the 24-acre field behind Union Station.
"It's going to take a considerable amount of time," he said.
At a memorial service Monday at St. Francis, 2323 Curtis, Mendoza's friends recalled a companion with a fondness for Chicago pizza and an incredible sense of humor. He would greet people by putting his fists up in a mock boxing stance.
Mendoza occasionally scraped up enough money from temporary day labor jobs to head to New Mexico, Utah and Chicago; but he always returned to Colorado.
"He was an exceptional man," said transient Phil Cunningham, 37. "He never judged anybody or anything. A couple of times I would be hurting real bad with a hangover and he would help me."
Harold Chapman, who writes for the homeless magazine Denver Voice, said Mendoza saved his life when he lived on the streets.
"I had been homeless in Arkansas, but I wasn't used to the cold here," Chapman said.
"I found myself something like a carpet and a big cardboard box. He came over realizing someone was under this stuff, kicked it and said, 'Come on.' He had a lean-to, a shelter.
"There was probably 6 to 8 inches of snow on the cardboard when he found me."
At St. Francis, staff members were in tears as they recalled how several months ago Mendoza delivered a stirring eulogy for an elderly man who had died on the streets. He always thought to ask about their families.
"He'd come in here and he'd get showered and shaved and cleaned up and he would look like a million dollars," nurse Joan Spero said.
When it came time to help out at the center, Mendoza volunteered to clean the bathrooms and handle other jobs no one else wanted to do.
The last time Snyder saw Mendoza was June 10. She was out of town the rest of the summer.
"He was well-groomed and he said, 'I'm really going to straighten my life around. I'm really going to do it,"' Snyder said. "He looked so good I thought, 'This time he's going to do it.'
"He was an alcoholic but, when he was sober, he was just so fun and just so eager to learn."
Mendoza was fluent in English and Spanish, but just couldn't seem to get the hang of math.
"You would have to go over the basics -- addition, subtraction, fractions. We've had some guys in there that can do trig," Snyder said.
Mendoza alternately told other transients and staff members that he was from California, Chicago and Texas. The coroner has been unable to find any family.
Mendoza was found about 300 yards from Redden's body. It is unclear whether they knew each other. The homeless often camp in the 24-acre field, one of the last vast undeveloped tracts of land in the Central Platte Valley.
Redden was born in Chester, Pa., on Oct. 3, 1953. He had lived in Las Vegas and San Diego, records show.
He occasionally worked day jobs at Ready Temporary Service on East Colfax Avenue, although owner Jim Hannifin hadn't seen him this year.
Denver police have enlisted the help of the FBI and other agencies to help solve the spree of homeless killings. The bodies have been found within a one mile radius.
The other victims were George "Billy" Worth, 62, and Donald Dyer, 51, drinking buddies whose bodies were found Sept. 7; Milo Harris Jr., 51, whose body was discovered Sept. 26; and Kenneth Rapp, 42, whose decomposed body was found Oct. 22.
Police have arrested three young transients -- ages 20, 18 and 16 -- in the death of homeless man Melvin Washington, 47, who was beaten Sept. 7. He died Sept. 15.
Two of the defendants plus five other young homeless people also have been charged with attempted murder in the attacks on two homeless men, who survived brutal beatings.
Additional reporting by John Ensslin and Carla Crowder.
November 23, 1999
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