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| Photo Credit to Tori Hunt |
When I was born in February of 1985, I was unaware that a
brutal murder was about to take place just minutes away from where I would move
to thirty years later. When people
hear Cherry Creek State Park, many beautiful images pop into their minds. They see exciting ideas of camping,
fishing, picnicking, kayaking, and endless summer activities. But not me. I think of Vicki Carpenter whose murdered body was found,
just across the way of those family feasts of fun, in the Cherry Creek
Reservoir Spillway in Arapahoe County in Colorado.
Vicki Carpenter was a twenty-four year old swimsuit model
who spent hardworking hours at a King Soopers grocery store in Aurora,
Colorado. She was a Denver Temple
Baptist Academy graduate who was sincerely fond of country western
dancing. She was separated from
her husband, Paul, and she raised their son, Justin, who was three at the time
he lost his mother to a maniac.
On February 19, 1985, Carpenter’s mother, Lynette Clements,
reported her daughter missing after she failed to return home from a modeling
show at Knick’s Restaurant and Saloon, located at 7800 E. Hampden Ave in
Denver. Paul located her abandoned, 1967 Buick Regal a half mile down the road
from the show in the parking lot of the Lodge Apartments at 8400 E. Hampden
Ave. Although witnesses who
attended the show reported seeing Vicki leave alone without suspicion, one of
her tires was apparently flat from the jagged edge of a knife being
intentionally slashed into the rubber.
An abundance of volunteers grouped together to complete numerous
searches, but Vicki was nowhere in sight.
After two months worth of built up fear, questions, and
concerns, Lynette finally received the news that every local dreaded
hearing. On April 2, 1985, two
young fishermen found Vicki Carpenter’s lifeless body. As if this demented discovery was not
scarring enough for fourteen-year old Scott Buyer, he was later informed the
same body that disrupted his childhood belonged to his past neighbor and
babysitter. He revealed in an interview
that he touched Carpenter’s arm only to witness the flesh peel right off the
bone.
Bruce Isaacson and other investigators detected two cylinder
blocks, tied to a chain from a swing-set wrapped around her decomposing neck,
which was manipulated to hold the body underwater. Between the condition of the body and the
evidence-eating water, police were left with minuscule clues and had to resort
to educated guesses and prior experience to piece this mystery together. Although they were unable to determine
the cause of death, investigators do believe Carpenter was strangled. Not only were there visible bruises on
her neck, but it was also stated that the chain was manually connected to the
blocks that caused her body to sink.
Any DNA evidence, including semen and blood from the killer, would have
deteriorated in the water. The
amount of time the body saturated in the reservoir was also unknown. Although it was thought that Vicki’s
life was taken from her shortly after her abduction and likely sexual assault,
the possibility that she was held captive for a period of time still
remains. I learned through
research that a critical and detailed piece of this puzzle was withheld from
the public in the hopes of eliminating any fabricated tips that may have come
in.
Despite the lack of indications in the case, investigators
did express some hunches they do believe are true. They have been lead to assume this mystery murderer stalked
his victim to the extreme of not only disabling her car, but also watching her
perform in the show. He then
proceeded to follow her on the road and waited for this vulnerable girl to pull
over due to an automobile dysfunction.
Regardless if he immediately attacked Vicki or simply lured her into his
vehicle with false offers of help, this predator was executing his carefully
constructed plan. The presence of
the deadly chain revealed that this slaying was arranged and premeditated.
Naturally, all of Vicki Carpenter’s previous lovers,
including Paul, were interrogated and eventually passed polygraph tests, which
ultimately resulted in police having zero suspects in custody and unsubstantial
clues being phoned in. With the 31st
anniversary of this crime rapidly approaching, it is as cold as ice. Although the future holds no possible
closure through DNA matches, this case can still be solved if a silent witness
comes forward. Surely somebody had
to have seen this culprit slash a car tire and immorally watch a swimsuit show
with no intention of ever wearing one.
Somebody had to have driven by this red car with a noticeable flat tire,
or even witnessed foul play in the parking lot through their apartment
window. This soulless person must
have had some type of companion he went home to after committing such
horror. I believe in my heart that
somebody holds the key that can finally melt this cold case and provide closure
to Vicki’s, now 34-year old, son.
So what do I think happened? Thanks for asking! Although the limited leads known all
point to an assailant who was a stranger to the victim, I think otherwise and
this is why. Assuming you read my
previous blogs, we all know DNA was never a threat to perpetrators until 1987,
so why did this malicious killer go through such great lengths to hide the
body? Perhaps he was aware DNA was
going to fully progress in the very near future, but in reality, just dumping a
body in water would eliminate that precaution. This killer increased his chances of being seen by a witness
in order to make sure this body was heavily weighed down. Typically, psychopaths want their
“artwork” found, studied, and broadcasted, but not this particular guy. Although he was conclusively
unsuccessful, he attempted to literally make Vicki Carpenter’s body disappear
forever. In my opinion, this is
psychological proof that this was not a random hit.
Like I stated in a previous paragraph, Paul was eliminated
as a suspect due to passing a lie detector test. Even to this day, these types of tests are not 100%
accurate, not to mention, these results do not eliminate the fact that the
father of the victim’s son did not hire someone to kill the one link preventing
him from gaining full custody of his child. After all, he was the one who found her car, and there is no
proof the tire slashing occurred before the murder. This can very well be a perfected and staged crime with an
obvious motive.
For some reason, I do not think Paul is responsible for this
obscenity. I do, however, think
Vicki knew her killer. Some can
argue that every local and Aurora native is fondly familiar with the Cherry
Creek Spillway, but isn’t it oddly suspicious that a previous neighbor of the
victim found her body? I obviously
do not believe a young teenager could perfect this deranged crime, but I do
think someone who possibly introduced that young boy to those fishing waters is
a likely suspect. I’m thinking of
a man who could innocently and repeatedly visit his own crime scene without
alerting suspicion. Perhaps
someone like the father of Scott Buyer could possibly be behind all of
this. A man who hired a young,
beauty to watch his children has a clear motive in my eyes. How many movies and storylines open up
with a babysitter who declines an older man’s sexual advances. This individual’s obsession and
knowledge of the victim could have very well escalated to a crime as terrifying
as this one. I understand you
can’t just go around pointing your finger at every person who has the physical
ability to pull this off, but I absolutely think there is more underlying
potential here than just a simple stalker laying his eyes on his prey and
impulsively conquering her. Only
time can tell…
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