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15 Most Deranged Serial Killers and Murderers in Colorado

Colorado is known for its beautiful natural scenery and the Rocky Mountains that encourage different activities such as climbing, hiking, mountain biking, and rafting. However, Colorado has its ugly side too, it has harbored several serial killers who have left a very tragic trail in the history of Colorado. Some of them not only committed murders in Colorado but also in other states that they traveled to. The motive behind all their killings was either financial gain, anger, or for the thrill. The serial killers, however, did not go unpunished for their heinous crimes, they were captured and punished severely by the law.    

Their evil actions have continued to be the topic of most TV crime shows, news, books, and podcasts. Therefore, today in this article we are going to look at these disturbed serial killers and the gruesome murders they committed in the streets of Colorado.

1. Scott Lee Kimball

Scott Lee Kimball is a serial killer from Boulder County, Colorado. He faced sexual abuse as a teen and this prompted his life of crime and attempt of suicide. Scott had been arrested for fraud but he persuaded the FBI to release him in exchange for being an informant. When Kimball was out, he murdered at least four people over a period of two years. Two of Scott’s victims included his uncle and the daughter of his third wife. He is currently serving 70 years in a high-security prison in Florida.

2. Vincent Groves

Vincent Groves was a serial killer born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He began his life of crime in the late 70s as a pimp. Between 1979 and 1988, Vincent murdered at least seven people in Denver Colorado. He had been arrested for the murder of 17-year-old Tammy Sue Woodrum in 1981. Vincent was given parole after staying in jail for 6 years.

In 1990, he got arrested again for the murders of two women; Diane Mancera and Juanito Lovato. He was proven guilty of the murders using DNA evidence. Vincent was sentenced to life imprisonment but he died of problems from Hepatitis and liver failure in 1996.

3 Ted Bundy

A coloured mugshot od serial killer Ted Bundy. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ted Bundy kidnapped, raped, and murdered young women and girls between 1974 and 1978. Bundy kept on denying all the murders he was involved in, but he eventually confessed to 30 of the murders. Three of his victims were women from Colorado; a 23-year-old nurse Caryn Eileen Campbell, Julie Cunningham, and Denise Lynn Oliverson. He ended up being jailed in Aspen, Colorado for the three murders that he had committed.

Ted used to lure these women to his car which was parked in a hidden area, where he could be able to perform his evil acts. He escaped from custody several times but he was eventually captured and was executed in the Reinford electric chair in 1989.

4. Chris Watts

Chris Watts committed one of the most unforgettable crimes in the history of Colorado. On August 13, 2018, Chris murdered his pregnant wife Shannan, who had just returned from a business trip. He proceeded to strangle his two daughters; Bella and Celeste. He went to his employer’s remote oil storage site and buried Shannan in a grave that was not deep. Chris threw his two daughters into the oil tanks. He was sentenced to prison for the murder of Shannan, Bella, and Celeste. Watts was granted an additional 48 years in prison for the unlawful termination of pregnancy and another 36 years for interfering with corpses.

5. Robert Charles Browne

Robert Charles Browne is a serial killer who murdered two teenage girls, Rocio Chila Delpilar Sperry and Heather Dawn Church in Colorado Springs, between 1987 and 1991. He is currently serving two life sentences at Limon Correctional Facility in Colorado. Robert submitted a letter to the sheriff’s office claiming to have killed approximately 49 people, but unfortunately, most of his claims were unjustifiable. Browne was considered a suspect in at least seven murders for which he had not been charged.

6. Robert Spangler

An FBI image of Robert Spangler. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Robert Spangler was a famous serial killer who ruthlessly killed his first wife, son, daughter, and his third wife. The murder of his first wife and their two children happened in Arapahoe County, Colorado. In December 1978, he lured his wife into the basement to surprise her, only for him to shoot her in the head with a revolver. Robert later proceeded to murder his son, David, and his daughter Susan, and made the scene look like the mother had shot his kids and then killed herself. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In August 2021, he died of cancer while he was serving his sentence at the federal prison, MCFP Springfield.

7. Bruce Carroll Pierce

Bruce Carroll Pierce was a serial killer and co-founding member of the right-wing terrorist organization, The Order which was active between 1983 and 1984. Their goal was to murder racial enemies and to create a guerilla army to resist and overthrow the U.S. government. In 1984, Carroll shot DJ Alan Berg 13 times after hearing him speaking on the radio against white supremacists. He was arrested in 1985 after being on the run for 9 months. He was sentenced to 252 years in prison for the murder of DJ Alan and several other crimes. He died from natural causes while still serving his sentence.

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8. Billy Edwin Reid

Billy Edwin Reid is a suspect and a murderer of 17 women who lived in Denver, Colorado. Before he was found guilty it was believed that other culprits were involved in the killing but as of 2008 all the murders were compiled and he was found as a suspect and a killer. In 2005 he was charged with the 1989 murder cases of Lannell Williams and Lisa Kelly after investigators identified a match in his DNA to the evidence found at the crime scene. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Lannell and Williams and as of 2021, he has not been found with any new charges.

9. Alferd Packer

Alferd Packer also known as the Colorado Cannibal was a former wilderness guide who took five men through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and returned only by himself. He claimed that his companions had left him but later on, he confessed to killing them and surviving off their flesh. He escaped from custody before his trial and he was on the run for nine years. He was eventually arrested and sentenced to 40 years in prison. In 1907 he died from a stroke and his skull is currently an exhibit at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum. Alferd was an inspiration for Cannibal! The Musical which was released in 1993.

10. Joseph Dyre Morse

Joseph Dyre Morse a former Janitor at the University of Colorado, murdered a 20-year-old student Elaura Jeanne Jacquette. He lured the girl into the west tower of the Mackey Auditorium and raped her. Joseph also mercilessly beat her until most of her teeth fell out. He later tried to burn her up but the amount of blood that had oozed could not allow it. He was arrested in 1966 and sentenced to life imprisonment. It was until 1980 that Joseph confessed to the murder of Elaura. In 2005 Joseph died while still serving his sentence.

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11. Judy Buenoano

Amugshot of serial killer Judy Buernano. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Judy Buenoano also dubbed the Black Widow was a serial killer who killed her boyfriend, Bobby Joe Morris in Colorado with the motive of collecting his insurance money. She was also involved in other murders of her husband, James Goodyear, and her son Michael Buenono. Judy attempted to murder her other boyfriend, John Gentry in 1983. He was executed by electrocution in 1998.

12. Marvin Gray

Marvin Gray was a serial killer who spent most of his entire life in Colorado and Kentucky prisons. While in prison he gained fame for powerlifting, almost breaking world records in the 2000s. He was also known for prison violence, rape, and three confirmed murders of his fellow inmates in Denver, Colorado. He became a very threatening prisoner in the state of Colorado. Marvin confessed to 41 murders although the investigators disagree with his claims. He died in July 2013 from heart failure at the Colorado Penitentiary while serving his sentence.

13. Randy Greenawalt

Randy Greenawalt a famous serial killer, escaped from prison together with his fellow murderer Gary Tison. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment for two murders that he committed in 1974. While he was out, he murdered six people including a newlywed couple who were headed to a Denver Bronchos game. Randy was recaptured and sentenced to death and afterward, he was executed in 1997.

14. Randy Kraft

Randy Kraft also dubbed the Scorecard Killer is a notable serial killer who tortured, raped, and murdered at least sixteen young men between 1972 and 1983. Among those people he killed was a hitchhiker from Colorado whom he murdered with a kraft in 1976. In 1989, he was convicted of sixteen murders but he is still a suspect of 67 other murders. Kraft is currently in prison at San Quentin State Prison, California awaiting his execution penalty.

15. Thomas Edward Luther

Thomas had originally been incarcerated for a decade for hitting a woman with a claw hammer. He was released in 1993 and went on a killing spree shortly after. In 1993. Luther shot a 20-year-old Cher Elder in the back of her head and disposed of her body in a shallow grave in Empire, Colorado. He was also involved in other murders in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. He is currently serving his 48-year sentence for the crimes he committed.

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