 First welcome. My name is Doug Sheppman. I'm with the Denver Police Public Affairs office and Want to thank you all for being here for this announcement regarding the identification of a suspect in four cold case homicides Three of which occurred in Denver one of which occurred in Adams County between the years of 1978 and 1981 Before introducing our speakers we want to extend our condolences to the families of the victims who were able to Be here with us today Also want to acknowledge the partner agencies that contributed to the successful closure of these cases It's a long list We have a number of agencies represented here today. I'll just go in alphabetical order We have the Adams County Sheriff's Office the Aurora Police Department Colorado Bureau of Investigations Denver Department of Public Safety Denver District Attorney's Office Denver Police Cold Case Unit Denver Police Crime Laboratory Forensic Biology and DNA unit Metro Denver Crime Stoppers and the US Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives Denver Field Division Other partners who assisted but who are not represented here are the Federal Bureau of Investigation Denver Division Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Rangers Tarrant County, Texas Sheriff's Office and the University of North Texas Forensic Center for Human Identification It's a long list of partners which I think speaks to the expansiveness of the investigations that helped us to come to the closure of these cases With that I'll introduce Commander Matt Clark from the Denver Police Major Crimes Division section Who will share information about the cases as well as the investigations? Thank You Deb. Good morning. Thank you for being here and allowing us to highlight the stories of four members of our community who were tragically killed over 40 years ago Throughout this portion of the briefing. I want to make certain I honor the victims and respect the wishes of their families I'll provide an overview of each incident Without offering detailed descriptions of the circumstances surrounding each death While explaining a chronology of the events I will also attempt to illustrate the incredible investigative efforts and collaboration of various Detective scientists and law enforcement agencies that led to the identification of the offender responsible for the deaths of these women I'll begin by providing a timeline and a brief description of events as we now know them on Thursday, December 7th 1978 At 6 15 p.m. 33 year old Madeline live a day was found deceased in her residence in the 1600 block of Poplar Street in Denver Investigators determine the offender entered the victim's residence and stabbed her multiple times causing her death On Sunday August 10th 1980 at 7 10 in the morning Denver police officers were called to the 500 block of 17th Avenue on a report of a woman lying in the roadway Arriving officers discovered 53 year old Dolores Barajas suffering from multiple stab wounds. Miss Barajas died at the scene On Sunday December 21st 1980 at 10 45 in the morning a 9-1-1 call was made regarding an unconscious woman Lying in the street near East 47th Avenue and Andrews Drive in the Montbello neighborhood The responding officers located 27 year old Gwendolyn Harris deceased the location. Miss Harris had been stabbed multiple times On Saturday January 24th 1981 members of the Adams County Sheriff's Office were called to the area of 64th Avenue and Broadway report of a female lying in a field When deputies arrived they located 17 year old Antoinette Parks who had been stabbed multiple times. Miss Parks was deceased The investigators and forensic scientists who conducted the initial investigation of these deaths 40 years ago used all available resources and Investigative methods that were available to them as they attempted to identify the offender responsible in each case They spent a tremendous amount of time on these investigations following leads and questioning potential suspects Despite these efforts the investigators were not able to determine the identity of the offender in these cases The investigative leads were exhausted and the investigation of each of these four homicides turned cold That potentially could have been the end of this story Had it not been for the diligence and tenacity of the investigative team of Detectives and forensic scientists who re-examined each case over the past two decades This team was relentless in their pursuit of the offender in this case Through funding provided by Denver Metro Crime Stoppers as well as grant awards by The National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Administration financial resources were made available To allow the Denver Police Department to catalog and investigate cold case homicides since 2004 The cases involving Miss Livadee Miss Barajas and Miss Harris have been reviewed multiple times by several Denver detectives and forensic scientists Initially these cases were investigated as separate incidents But through the work of investigators and scientists DNA evidence was discovered that began linking these cases together This new evidence created significant momentum for the investigative team that soon snowballed In June of 2013 the investigative team learned that DNA evidence linked the cases of Miss Barajas and Miss Livadee In December of 2015 Investigators and scientists reviewing evidence in Miss Harris's case determined DNA evidence linked Excuse me DNA evidence existed that linked her to the two prior cases This became the third case involving the same then unidentified offender in October of 2018 It was discovered that DNA evidence in the Adams County case linked Miss Parks to this offender as well With this new evidence the investigative team had renewed hope that the individual responsible for these deaths could be identified in 2019 using in-house investigative genetic genealogy the investigative team was able to narrow their focus to ancestry of the offender in Texas in 2021 the Denver crime lab personnel along with cold case investigators work with their counterparts in Texas to conduct familial DNA searches of the Texas Code code is database Through this work Investigators identified a relative of the offender and quickly Focus their efforts on one particular individual Joe Michael Irvin born June 25th 1951 Detectives learned mr. Irvin died in 1981 and was buried in Arlington, Texas Countless efforts were made to obtain archived DNA samples to compare mr. Irvin's DNA To the unidentified offender in the homicides When all efforts proved unsuccessful investigators traveled to Texas With the assistance of state and local law enforcement officers in Texas a search warrant was authorized to exhume mr. Irvin's body For the purpose of obtaining a DNA sample for comparison In January of 2022 the investigative team realized the fruits of their work over the years The DNA sample obtained from mr. Irvin matched the previously unidentified DNA profile of the offender believed to be responsible for the deaths of the four victims No other victims are believed to be involved Excuse me. No other suspects or offenders are believed to be involved in the deaths of these individuals The new investigative approach is coupled with advances in technology made it possible to ultimately identify the offender in these cases I appreciate the patience and resilience of the families and the community over the past 40 years as these cases remain unsolved These women will not forgotten I'll conclude by expressing my sincere appreciation and Pride in the investigators and scientists that worked on these cases over the years they invested a tremendous amount of Time emotion and energy to bring closure to these cases and each member of the investigative team Made a meaningful contribution to each of these cases that ultimately resulted in the resolution of them. Thank you Thank You commander Clark At this time, I'd like to introduce George and Carl journey journey who are the brothers of Antoinette parks. Well, first of all, I'd like to say This has taken a long time We can finally have peace knowing who did this to my little sister Me and my brother are the only remaining siblings of six children I wore short today in memory of all my siblings and I lost these two sisters. They were the oldest One at 2018 to a car wreck. I'm first in Knox here in Denver The second one died from heartbreak from the car wreck My of course, you guys know my little sister Antoinette died in 81 and my little sister Rhonda Was her she passed last year September 9th to cancer So with that being said, I'd like you guys to know We have closure. We're thankful for the hard work determination of everybody involved here Which my sisters and my mom could all be here to see this fortunately They didn't live long enough to see this but I know they're here with us in spirit And I want to say thank you guys for all coming to take the time to listen to us my name is Carl and You know, let my brother say, you know, it's been a long time coming and now we can actually, you know Really rest better at night. I said the rest of them. They're not here Well, except my mom or my sister here, but I know they are because they're sitting high and looking low and They're saying right now. Hey Thank you guys every last one of you for everything anybody had anything to do with this Believe me. They're saying thank you and God bless you all. Thank you Thank you gentlemen for sharing those words with us At this time, I'll introduce Molly and Ariel live a day They're the daughters of Madeline live a day as well as cold case unit detective Carrie Johnson who will read a statement provided by Madeline sisters Good morning My sister Ariel and I wanted to take time today to express our gratitude to the Denver Police Department and all agencies and individuals involved over the years for all of the hard work and the sacrifice in Solving this series of horrific crimes We're here to talk about our mother Madeline fury live a day She was a young woman with a very bright future. She was a writer She had written for nature magazines for years and had written a published a book She was an ecologist with a passion for the natural world and the environment She was a loving wife sister daughter and mother to two very young girls But in 1978 she had that bright future ripped away from her Tragically, we didn't get to grow up with her and to hear her stories and to witness the contributions that she could have made to the world It's been a lot of information to absorb. So suddenly after all this time We found out that this man murdered four more women any Assaulted an uncounted number of others in In addition to learn about the line of duty death of officer Deborah Sue core Has been personally very impactful She was out doing her job when she attempted to arrest the serial killer for an unrelated crime And in the course of his arrest she was murdered herself But with her sacrifice she prevented him from killing anyone else and it's clear that he wasn't gonna stop on his own She stopped him the police stopped him back in 1981 and for that For officer core sacrifice of her life. We're thankful Finally, I would like to reflect on how the Denver police department has proven today that it won't stop hunting for the predators among us For us citizens who are like my mother was just home feeding our children breakfast Or walking to the bus stop or home from school For us the DPD cold case unit and the Denver crime lab and the Denver DA's office had said I've said You're not gonna get away with it. We're gonna find you and for that. We are here today to say thank you It is a great relief to our family To finally have this resolution and to know that they never stopped Working towards that goal for us Thank you Madeline's Sisters are all out of town and asked me to extend this statement on their behalf So on behalf of Eileen fury Roy test fury and Megan fury Kenny Madeline had a vibrant and curious spirit She was fearlessly adventurous and loved traveling as part of her job as an editor of the children's magazine Ranger Rick She loved learning and Every elementary school report card had a notation saying something like excellent student, but talks too much Madeline was fun and she delighted in her daughter's Molly and baby Ariel She was a romantic who loved her life But when her daughters were born, she was over the moon One sweet memory we have is that she used to sing to her girls the song Stevie Wonder wrote when his daughter was born Isn't she lovely? She could never have imagined leaving them It is an unmitigated tragedy that they never got to know their creative and talented mother Madeline was loved and admired by her family and all who knew her we will never stop missing her and thank you for Sharing with us here today who your mom was and why she was so loved by your family and others Especially under this difficult circumstances And we appreciate them the families of Dolores Barajas and Gwendolyn Harris live out of state They requested privacy as they process the developments in this in the case But shared with us these messages that I'll read Dolores Barajas was a wife mother Grandmother and a beloved part of a loving family She had spent the summer of 1980 visiting family in Denver and working at a hotel downtown That Sunday was to be her last day of work before returning to her home out of state Her family still missed her very much and expressed great appreciation For everyone's efforts and determination in solving this case Gwendolyn Denise Harris was a mother sister daughter and Granddaughter and niece Gwen was a bright soft-spoken Athletic young woman who enjoyed life and always had a smile on her face Her family also shared that because of the decision of another to take life with no regard The 1980 murder of Gwendolyn Harris was devastating and unimaginable to the family Gwen will forever be in our hearts and always our joy So as we've previously mentioned These murders directly impacted both the Denver and the Adams County communities So at this time I'll invite division chief Dirk Budd of the Adams County Sheriff's Office to the podium Good morning Sheriff Ragon born couldn't be here today. He had to attend a family funeral But I'm the chief of detectives for Adams County Obviously, I'm very proud of my people But that is not what this is about. It's about the victims and their families and I just want them to To understand and to know that these cases these cold cases and I hate to use that term these cold cases as they get cold and Detectives retire and they get passed on to the next detective the next detective and we never stop working on the on these cases new Technology comes around every few years or we're able to Apply that to each of these cases and we revisit them to see if there's anything that we could do Because we know how frustrating it is for families not to have closure So again, this is not for us to be patted on the back. This is for the family the families and the victims and Mike knows from Metro Denver crime stoppers. We talk about this all the time stop for us is for the victims Thank you. Thank you division chief bud Our final speaker this morning is Denver chief of police Paul Payson Good morning Well, the closure of these four cases is a success for our department and our community We must never forget how this is tragically impacted families and our victims and As been stated before we can never lose sight of that That is why we have a dedicated cold case unit their motto is We will never forget That is why we have a world-class crime lab With forensic scientists professional staff dedicated individuals To bring closure to families to help families in cases like this as you heard today Our team did not forget Dolores Gwendolyn Antoinette or Madeline We thank each of the agencies that have been involved and all of their hard work the investigators the forensic scientists and everybody who contributed on This case for the past four decades and While the perpetrator cannot fully be held accountable for his despicable actions We hope that knowing who is responsible can bring some peace to the families We are committed to using technology to solve more cases but often there is Witness information out there that can help that can help other families So today Not only do we remember the victims and their families, but we also have a call to action a Call to action there are witnesses out there that can help us solve Additional murders that can help families From the great harm that has been committed to our community therefore My plea my ask is that if you have any information on any homicide or Crime, please come forward You can do so anonymously Utilizing Metro Denver Crime Stoppers We need to help more families in our community I Do want to thank Metro Denver Crime Stoppers which generally which generously contributed $5,000 in grants to the DPD for testing and research Their work has really helped us not only solve this particular case, but several cases They've donated $41,000 over the years and it has been very helpful in 16 Cases so Mike Mills president of Metro Denver Crime Stoppers. Thank you We appreciate it Now I'd like to close just by saying let us Never forget these victims and with that we'll open up the questions I'm gonna bring up major crimes commander Without getting into the details of this there is an underlying sexual component to these Incidents out of respect for the families that not at this point Yes, we would classify my such well as evidence in this case these the this offender continued his Criminal behavior and we have to continue these investigations We have to continue to pursue these individuals to interrupt them and prevent them from victimizing anyone else So this is certainly a win for the team It's the fruits of all their efforts their labor their time invested in this have paid off. We've identified him the Completed that task it is tempered by the fact to some degree that We can't file a case with the district attorney's office and see this through and see justice and allow the Families of the of the victims to confront him and and to provide information to the court as well But it's still a success. It provides a closure We hope for the family it hopefully demonstrates to our community that we don't stop investigating these cases We don't forget and and going back 40 years Is a big win I'll look here address that Thank you for that question I don't know that even being a woman plays a part in it. Although. Yes, all the victims were women What plays a part is the hearts of these families and the answers that they deserve and I can't stand up here and take the credit There is an entire team of detectives that are standing behind you Many of them have been involved in these cases Way longer than I have As people rotate through the cold case unit and into other units They have to pass these cases off and I was just the one that was Blessed enough to collect it There's also an entire team of people from the district attorney's office in our Denver crime lab who have put Countless hours and heart into this What it means to us is Knowing there's not an offender out there anymore Committing crimes against women in our communities But it also means an immense amount to us that families finally can Know what happened to their loved ones? I don't know that I would use the word closure for them but its answers and its resolution and it's It's an end to a story that they never wanted to be a part of We don't believe he was Not that we were able to identify through the investigations Again, thank you all very much for being here For those who have worked on these cases. Thank you again for all of your efforts and again for The family members who were able to come here today be with us and share their stories. Thank you very much