Colored Red

In this episode I'll go over some of the more notable events of the Colorado State Penitentiary leading up to the 1970's. I'll cover the execution methods including one odd execution method that was only ever used in Colorado. Also hear about some of the weirder stories of inmates buried at Woodpecker Hill including some gruesome murders.

On Februrary 11, 1987, 15-year-old Tim Masters walked through the field behind his house on the way to the school bus stop in Fort Collins, Colorado. There he discovered the body of Peggy Hettrick who was lying face up with her shirt pulled up and her pants pulled down around her knees. She had been stabbed and mutilated. The investigation that would follow would span over a decade and be bungled so severely that it saw an innocent man behind bars. Many suspects, some more obvious than others, would come to the surface. Will we ever know who killed Peggy Hettrick?

In 1911 a serial killer stalked the United States by train. He would sneak into a home through a window and kill entire families with the blunt end of an axe he found in or near their home. What he did in addition to murder in the homes was even more peculiar and included destroying their heads until they were unrecognizable and draping pieces of clothing over mirrors and glass to avoid the judgmental gaze of either his victims or himself. In Colorado Springs he murdered two families and has left a mystery that has lingered for over a decade, who was he and why did he hate faces?

Vincent Darrell Groves is Colorado's most prolific serial killer. He was caught after a man watched him dump a body in an alley behind his house and police stalked him like a shadow for years. He was arrested for one murder and released, only to kill many times over. He wasn't so much cunning as he was utterly invisible and spontaneous, killing any woman who he saw an opportunity to attack. The full extent of his crimes would only be realized in 2010, but that isn't the end of them.

Al Kite answered his door in Aurora, Colorado in 2004, to let in a prospective renter who he had met before. He had just finished talking with his girlfriend on the phone and it was the last time anyone Al knew would speak with him. He was found two days later, tortured and murdered in his basement. The killer would live in his house for the weekend, sleep in his bed, wear his clothes and drive his car to the ATM to get cash from Al's account. To top it all off, the killer has never been caught.
Music from Free Music Archive: Kevin MacLeod, Sunhillow, Blue Dot Sessions