Fabulous Finds Consignment
Jun 10th
We visit Fabulous Finds Upscale Consignment in Longmont and Owner, Clarissa Edelen shows us around the shop and tells us about their goal for helping shoppers and consignors restore, re-purpose and reuse items such as household decor, furniture, clothing and fashion. Which makes Fabulous Finds a unique shop because they carry both fashionable items as well as small and large home decor and accessories.
Serial killer identified 4 years after his death
Jun 10th
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office has concluded its “cold case” investigation into the 1982 murder of Susan Becker. Sheriff’s investigators, with the support of the District Attorney’s Office, have closed the investigation with a case status of “death of offender”. The suspect, John Agrue, died in 2009 after an accidental overdose of prescription medication. Over the years, detectives have stayed in contact with the Becker family and spoke with them last week, providing them with the details that led to the final resolution of the investigation.
Case Summary
On July 1, 1982, several fishermen discovered the decomposing body of a female in a ravine near the 32,000 block of Boulder Canyon Drive in unincorporated Boulder County. Investigators found that the victim, 20 year-old Susan Becker, had sustained 13 stab wounds to her torso and neck and died from her injuries. A black handled knife, believed to have belonged to Ms. Becker was found near her right hand; it was later determined that the knife had not caused the wounds to Ms. Becker. The body was clothed at the time that it was discovered and was covered with a towel, presumably placed there by her assailant. Some of Ms. Becker’s personal effects were found in a day pack with the body.
Ms. Becker was raised in the Boulder area and frequently spent time in Boulder Canyon sunbathing. She was last seen in Boulder by a friend sometime during the morning of June 20, 1982.
At the time, Sheriff’s detectives were unable to identify a suspect in Ms. Becker’s death. Mr. John Agrue figured as a person of interest in the investigation, however, declined to cooperate with investigators. His extended family was interviewed by detectives, and statements indicating that Agrue had hiked in the area where Becker’s body was found were provided, however, there was not enough evidence to link him to Ms. Becker’s murder.
John Agrue had been previously convicted in the 1966 murder of his 14 year old sister-in-law, Susan Marino, in Illinois He was paroled in January 1982 after serving 16 years of a 20-50 year indeterminate sentence and moved to Boulder, and then to Longmont shortly thereafter.
On July 9, 1982, 94-year-old Orma Smith’s body was found in the Big Elks Meadows area, south of Estes Park, Colorado. Ms. Smith resided in Longmont; John Agrue was her neighbor at the time of her death. Larimer County Sheriff’s investigators were unable to link him to Ms. Smith’s murder at the time.
On July 15, 1982, Agrue attempted to abduct a 26 year-old female student at knife point while she was starting her car on the University of Colorado Campus in Boulder. The student was able to flag down a passing University employee who rendered assistance. Agrue was arrested and convicted of the crime.
After serving his sentence in the Colorado Department of Corrections for the attempted abduction, Agrue was returned to Illinois in 1984 to complete his sentence for the murder of his sister in law, his parole having been revoked following his conviction in Colorado. After his release in 1989, he lived in Illinois, where he died in 2009 after an accidental drug overdose. Subsequent to his death, relatives discovered numerous women’s purses, jewelry, and other effects in his home, along with newspaper articles about the attempted abduction of the 26 year-old female, the Smith homicide, and Becker homicide.
In June 2010, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office announced that advances in DNA evidence and comparison (a technology unavailable in 1982) definitively linked Argue to Orma Smith’s murder. Boulder County investigators, working with Larimer County and Illinois law enforcement officials,
re-evaluated Agrue’s potential involvement in Ms. Becker’s death.
There were a number of similarities in the three homicides and the attempted abduction: three of the four involved young women (Ms. Smith being the exception), their purses or personal effects were taken by the suspect, and all involved the use of a knife. The three homicide victims died from multiple stab wounds inflicted upon the same area of the body; Ms. Marino’s ,Ms. Becker’s and Mrs. Smith’s bodies were found in or near mountain streams.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office recruited the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Behavioral Analysis Unit, presenting them with the case facts from the four investigations. Upon review, the FBI’s experts concluded that it was highly probable that Mr. Agrue was responsible for Susan Becker’s murder. Detectives shared the case facts and the FBI experts’ opinions with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office and solicited their opinion. They agreed that there was probable cause to believe that Mr. Agrue was responsible for Susan Becker’s death and, that if he were still alive, they would pursue murder charges against him.
The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit is also investigating the potential of Mr. Agrue having been involved in other homicides as a serial killer.
Sheriff’s office release
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Emma Coburn is as good as GOLD!
Jun 9th
Coburn Finishes Storied Career With NCAA Title
EUGENE, Ore. – Emma Coburn finished her outstanding career at the University of Colorado with a bang when she won her second NCAA 3,000-meter steeplechase crown on Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Championships.
The 2012 Olympian was the overall favorite heading into the race as she has the best time by an American this year (9:28.26) and she did not disappoint, winning the race in 9:35.38. Her finishing time was the fifth best in NCAA history and coincidentally all five of those times belong to the Buffs.
The race was a lot closer than most of Coburn’s previous NCAA races despite her typical race strategy of going right to the front to get out of traffic. Heading into the bell lap, she had about a 50-meter lead on the field and the NCAA title was hers to lose. Coburn continued to lead the race, but Florida State’s Colleen Quigley started to regain some ground and finished less than three seconds behind Coburn in 9:38.23. After Quigley, Weber State’s Amber Henry was the next to cross the line in 9:43.39.
Heading into the race, there was a lot of hype surrounding Coburn about whether or not she would go for the NCAA record in the event (9:25.54), which is held by former CU standout Jenny (Barringer) Simpson. Ultimately Coburn did not break the record, but she didn’t seem too upset since she came away from the meet with another championship.
“On a day like this I have to look at the conditions and competition and think about if it is wise to shoot for the record and today I decided to be more conservative,” Coburn said. “I had to be smart. I‘d rather have an NCAA title and I didn’t want to risk not getting that. Today was just about winning the title and its fine with me.”
Overall this is Coburn’s third NCAA championship. She also won the steeplechase in 2011 and the 2013 indoor mile crown this past March. She is also a six-time All-American for the Buffs, three times in the steeplechase, twice in the indoor mile and once in cross country.
This is the sixth steeplechase title the Buffs have won in the last eight years. Simpson won in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and Shalaya Kipp, who is redshirting this season, won in 2012 while Coburn was redshirting.
The title caps off an amazing season for the Crested Butte, Colo. native. She started her senior year last June by winning her second USATF Steeplechase crown to earn a spot at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. There, she made the final and finished ninth in a personal best of 9:23.56.
She didn’t have any eligibility remaining for the cross country season, so Coburn was able to focus on the indoor season. She was invited to compete in the mile at the prestigious Millrose Games (in a field full of professional athletes) and ran a PR of 4:29.86 to become the fifth fastest NCAA athlete in the mile. A few short weeks later, she ran another sub-4:30 mile to win CU’s first NCAA indoor mile title in 4:29.91 and became the first American to run a pair of sub-4:30 miles in the same season.
During the outdoor season, Coburn continued to impress. She ran the then-fastest steeplechase time in the world at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invite (9:28.26) in Stanford, Calif. just two days after her 2013 1,500-meter debut (4:11.36) at the 106th Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Coburn won her first Pac-12 title in the steeplechase in May (9:55.67).
Instead of taking a week off between conference and the NCAA West Preliminary Championship, she took to the track again in a field of professional athletes at the OXY High Performance meet in the 1,500 and blazed to a PR of 4:06.87 while becoming the fifth-best performer in NCAA history.
This past April, Coburn was named CU’s Co-Female Athlete of the Year for the third time, as well as winning CU’s Co-Female Career Athletic Achievement Award.
Coburn finished the 2013 indoor and outdoor season with the fastest time in the NCAA in the indoor mile, 1,500 and steeplechase.
Although the NCAA season is now complete, Coburn and several other current and former Buffs will compete at the USA Track & Field Championships, June 19-23, in Des Moines, Iowa.
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