I solved my mom’s 30-year cold case homicide.
In her memory, I’ve created this educational site,
while keeping our story in the court of public opinion.
On February 21, 1973, my mom was killed by her husband just 9 days after they married. The coroner’s inquest ruled mom’s death an “accident”, and the case was closed 6 weeks later. I was a ward of the court and orphaned at 10. Mom was dead, and there was no one to answer my questions. At twenty-six I began to search for my family history. One relative asked, “Are you sure she died the way you think she did?” So my quest began, I had to find the truth.
I obtained a copy of the 1973 Sheriff’s report in December of 1994, and read each page of the report. Then again, the more I read the more questions I had. Many things disturbed me, like:
1. Mom was found by the ambulance driver in a sitting position with her feet behind the wrung of the kitchen chair. Mom and the chair were found on the floor, on their right side. This indicated to me that she was not in a defensive position, and seemed as though Charlie Anderson shot her and tossed her aside.
2. The phone cord was cut, and the receiver was found in the wood stove. I had been heard earlier in the evening on the phone by neighbors who shared our party line.
3. The powder burns on mom’s scalp prove the gun was fired w/in 2” of her head.
4. Trace metal results on mom were inconclusive.
I was frustrated by the lack of cooperation by both the Sheriff’s, and the District Attorney’s Office, and it forced me to find answers on my own. So, I began my own investigation. I took the Sheriff’s report and listed all the witnesses, investigators, district attorneys, pathologists, and coroners. Then I located and contacted almost everyone on my list.
In May of 1996, the Coroner changed mom’s death certificate from “accidental” to “suspicious for homicide”. Even though the document was officially changed the case remained open but inactive. It wasn’t until a newspaper article in 2002 prompted the Sheriff’s Office to “activate” and work on mom’s case.
On the 30th anniversary of mom’s murder, I attended a meeting at the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and was told they had enough evidence against Charles Anderson for an arrest warrant. They told me that they couldn’t have done it without my investigation. I never thought I’d see that day.
On March 5, 2003, Charles LeRoy Anderson was finally arrested for my Mom’s murder 30 years later. From his arrest, plea bargain and release Anderson only served 8 months, 1 week, and 2 days. Most of Anderson’s time was spent in the Larimer County Detention Center and only served 5 weeks at the Colorado Department of Corrections Four Mile Correctional facility. Anderson killed his number reentering society with no parole, no probation, and no accountability.