The killer said he chose Warren Barnes because he didn’t think anyone would notice a homeless person’s disappearance
murder
Posted inCrime and Courts
Colorado man gets life in 1982 murders of 2 women near Breckenridge
Alan Phillips was convicted of first-degree murder in September after DNA testing identified him as a suspect
Posted inCrime and Courts
Man convicted of killing Colorado girl who vanished in 1984, sentenced to life in prison
Steve Pankey, 71, was found guilty of murdering Jonelle Matthews in second trial after jury last summer could not come to a verdict in the decades-old case
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Online marketplace Letgo sued after Denver-area slayings
By Thomas Peipert, The Associated Press The online marketplace Letgo is facing a wrongful death lawsuit after the parents of five children were fatally shot and robbed while using the app to try to buy a used SUV in suburban Denver in 2020. The lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday on behalf of the victims’ […]
Posted inBook Excerpts, SunLit
SunLit Excerpt: “Gone to Darkness” begins with a fog-shrouded mystery by the tracks
Chapter 1 To hell with their laws and restrictions. You have a great and wise heart, Sydney Rose. And that makes for a much better guide to what’s wrong and what’s right. —Effie “Grams” Parnell. Private conversation. My first official homicide investigation began without a corpse. An actual body is what triggers a murder case. […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Colorado mom who fatally abused 7-year-old daughter sentenced to 16 years
By Patty Nieberg, The Associated Press/Report for America A Colorado mother who fatally abused her 7-year-old daughter and lied about her health to get handouts from charities worth at least $100,000 was sentenced Wednesday to 16 years in prison. Judge Patricia Herron issued the sentence to Kelly Turner after she pleaded guilty last month to […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Silverman: Expect the quest for justice for Jonelle Matthews to continue and improve
It was a shocking crime at Christmastime. A Colorado girl snatched at night from her family home. Jonelle Matthews, age 12, vanished on Dec. 20, 1984. America went looking for her, encouraged by a concerned President Reagan. Nearly 35 years later, Jonelle’s clothed and decomposed remains were found at a rural Weld County field, 20 […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Weld County jurors deliberating in the murder case against Steve Pankey
GREELEY — Jurors started deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate charged with murder in the death of a 12-year-old Colorado girl who disappeared in 1984. Suspect Steve Pankey was a neighbor of Jonelle Matthews and her family when she vanished after being dropped off at her empty home by […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Steve Pankey denies involvement in 1984 disappearance of Greeley girl
GREELEY — A former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate on trial in the 1984 killing of a 12-year-old Colorado girl has testified that he did not know the girl or her family before she vanished and denied being involved in her disappearance. At the time, Steve Pankey was a neighbor of Jonelle Matthew and her family […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
14 months after an Englewood slaying, the victim’s family pushes to keep the unsolved killing in the spotlight
On a lonely spot in the industrial district where the Little Dry Creek bike path crosses Platte River Drive in northwest Englewood, a hand-engraved metal plate is screwed into a wooden post. It reads: “JOSEPH MICHAEL HIX — MY FRIEND DIED HERE.” The little plaque is the only marker commemorating the life of Joe Hix, […]