Podcast
Colored Red
Hosted by Laura Porritt · EN
A look into the lesser known murders and true crime of Colorado. Learn about dark tales from Colorado and the murderous history of the Mile High City. Contact the host at: coloredredpodcast@gmail.com and find the show on Facebook or Instagram @coloredredpodcast to see photos associated with each case.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Historical Murders: The Murder of Signe Carlzen
Sep 28, 202100:15:02Tap to summarizeOn August 11, 1912, 32 year old SIgne Carlzen finished up teaching a music lesson in the Montclair neighborhood of Denver. At around 8PM she walked towards the streetcar line to take it back to her parent's home where she lived. At 9AM the next day, a farmer discovered her axed and mutilated body on the road towards the streetcar line. Police would arrest and question some 25 suspects, including many of the stranger people to ever walk in Denver.
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The Murder of Susan Hernandez
Sep 2, 202100:31:48Tap to summarizeOn July 28, 2015, Susan Hernandez's daughter Katrina cannot reach her mom on the phone, and she gets a gut feeling that something is wrong. She drives over to her mom's house and finds a horrific scene, her mother is on fire in the basement. Detectives unravel a callous and obvious plot that originates inside the Hernandez family.
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Historical Murders: The Troubled Mrs Emily Powell
Aug 25, 202100:15:54Tap to summarizeOn December 9, 1919, a butler for a Denver Apartment-Hotel discovered 38 year old Emily Powell despondent in a blood splattered room, her 10 year old daughter Jacqueline had been dead on the bed for hours. In their investigation, police find peculiar notes left behind by Emily that shed light on some of the delusional thoughts that haunted her.
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1975 Colorado Springs Killing Spree
Jun 3, 202100:29:12Tap to summarizeIn the early morning hours of July 1st, 1975, a woman was found dead on the porch steps of a trailer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A blood trail 50 yards long marked the area where she crawled to the steps, and bloody marks on the door marked her futile attempts to ring the bell before dying. Her name was Karen Grammer, sister of famous actor Kelsey Grammer. It wasn't long before investigators discovered that all three murders over the course of 2 weeks were committed by the same suspects. Daniel Van Lone had been shot to death and robbed of 50 cents only days prior. Then Winfred Proffitt was stabbed with a bayonet during a staged drug deal. Police were on the hunt for three men on a rampage, and then, one of them cracked.
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Historical Murders: The Grand Lake Spider House
Mar 20, 202100:11:57Tap to summarizeGrand Lake, CO sits nestled next to the largest and deepest lake in Colorado. It's full of rich log cabin architecture and charming shops and restaurants, but it has a surprisingly dark past. One of the more amazing houses in the area is nearly 150 years old and is called The Spider House, due to the intricate latticework of wood that decorate this two story log home. This home was built by Warren Greggs for his wife Mary and large family, but it would not bring them happiness.
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The Colorado "Mad Bomber"
Mar 7, 202100:34:05Tap to summarizeIn 1992, Grand Junction was rocked with three horrifying explosions. Pipe bombs were being planted in random places around the city and targeting no one in particular. Anyone could be the next victim by simply getting into their car or walking in the wrong place. The mystery seemed to life as investigators and ATF agents honed in on one suspect, a loner and electronics enthusiast named James Genrich. James had an interesting story of his own and also had tools in his home that investigators claimed made the bombs. But did they? I review some of the issues with older forensics technique in this no-so-closed case.
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Historical Murders: Murder at the Circus
Feb 18, 202100:10:33Tap to summarizeOn August 27, 1958, 11 year old Lester Gordon Brown Jr headed alone to the circus that was in town and being exhibited at the Denver Coliseum. Lester was particularly interested in elephants and he caught the eye of a 27 year old animal trainer named Walter J Hammil. Hammil offered him a ride on an elephant after hours and this would be the last time anyone saw Lester alive.
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The Smaldone Family
Feb 6, 202100:50:40Tap to summarizeThis episode is a continuation of the earlier historical episode about the murder of Joe Roma. Hear about the Smaldone family, leaders of the Denver, CO mob for many decades. The two brothers Clyde and Eugene "Checkers" were undisputed family leaders and were at the front of many bizarre and brazen criminal acts over the years and used their money for a lot of good in the community and a lot of mischief.
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Historical Murders: The Prohibition Era Mafia and Murder of Joe Roma
Jan 17, 202100:15:02Tap to summarizeBitter rivalry between the mafia controlled North and South territories of Colorado came to a breaking point in the deadliest 15 years of mafia crime in Colorado's history. The era between 1919 and 1933 was Prohibition Era and bootlegging took off, controlled by Colorado's warring mafia gangs. Joe Roma, aka "Little Caesar" the pint sized Boss, found himself at the center of it and in control of a bootlegging operation that served out of his North Denver grocery stores and home. That is, until he was murdered in his Highland Neighborhood bungalow. A new family then took over, the Smaldone family, and the topic of my next episode.
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Historical Murders: The Soap Kettle Murders
Dec 16, 202000:12:48Tap to summarizeOn December 15, 1917, in a rural farmhouse around 4 miles from Olathe, Colorado, a young boy's body was boiled in lye to make a human soap. His father, too, would supposedly suffer the same fate. The woman at the center of the murders is Mrs. Mary Bush, a spiteful woman who accused her grandson, the boy in the soap kettle, of stealing $1.35 from her pocketbook.
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