FILE 18 / 17 May 2017 / 67 MIN / full

A Triple Murdering Con Man

Golden, ColoradoListen

The town

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This week we are in Golden, Colorado, a nine square mile town twenty miles outside of Denver about 0:02:52

History, in brief

1859

Founded on June 16th, 1859 as Golden City, a gold rush town.

about 0:04:03

Town note

Named for Thomas L. Golden, a businessman in the area.

about 0:04:23

Town note

It was the first capital of the Kansas territory and then of the Colorado territory, with the capital moved back and forth to Denver City.

about 0:04:44

Town note

Colleges started around the town in the 1870s, including the Colorado School of Mines.

about 0:05:13
All 10 history facts

1859

Founded on June 16th, 1859 as Golden City, a gold rush town.

about 0:04:03

Town note

Named for Thomas L. Golden, a businessman in the area.

about 0:04:23

Town note

It was the first capital of the Kansas territory and then of the Colorado territory, with the capital moved back and forth to Denver City.

about 0:04:44

Town note

Colleges started around the town in the 1870s, including the Colorado School of Mines.

about 0:05:13

1873

In 1873 Adolph Coors founded the Coors brewing company in Golden.

about 0:05:39

Town note

In the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan held big meetings on South Table Mountain and burned crosses visible from the town.

about 0:06:42

Town note

The Klan held weekly rallies near a place called Castle Rock, which they called Castle with a K rock.

about 0:07:05

Town note

An estimated 10% of the male population of Colorado in the 1920s were card-carrying Klansmen.

about 0:07:15

Town note

After the Second World War it boomed as people, jobs and factories moved west.

about 0:07:39

Town note

The town website's slogan is 'It's where the West lives'.

about 0:08:13

The figures, as told

Religious

36%

Biggest faith: Jewish population, 0.2%

about 0:10:26

Who lives here

White 82% · Black 1.04% · Asian 2.55% · Hispanic almost 10%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ just below the national average

about 0:14:55

Violent crime
▼ less than half the national average

about 0:15:05

Money

Two-bedroom rent$1,155 a month
Median household income$58,000
Cost of living148

For sale

$379,000

Two-bedroom, one-bathroom house, 800 square feet

about 0:13:31

For sale

$512,000

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,300 square feet

about 0:13:43
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2017

Male population

"almost 56%"

Comparison: "normally 51% female". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:08:32

Median age

"30.7"

Comparison: "national median 37.4". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:08:42

Married population

"about 41%"

Comparison: "51% is the average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:18

White population

"82%"

Comparison: "about 20% higher than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:49

Black population

"1.04%"

Comparison: "12% is the usual figure". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:49

Asian population

"2.55%"

Comparison: "half the usual population of Asians". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:57

Hispanic population

"almost 10%"

Comparison: "below average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:10:12

People who identify as religious

"36%"

Comparison: "50% is the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:10:26

Jewish population

"0.2%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:10:39

Muslim population

"0.01%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:10:55

High school graduates

"95%"

Comparison: "very high". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:09

Adults with a four-year degree

"53%"

Comparison: "29% is the average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:14

Jobs in healthcare

"19%"

Comparison: "almost four times the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:23

Median household income

"$58,000"

Comparison: "about $53,000 average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:28

Overall cost of living

"148"

Comparison: "100 is the baseline". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:57

Housing cost

"249"

Comparison: "100 is the average, two and a half times the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:13:05

Average two-bedroom apartment rent

"$1,155 a month"

Comparison: "$1,027 is normal". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:13:15

Two-bedroom, one-bathroom house, 800 square feet

"$379,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:13:31

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,300 square feet

"$512,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:13:43

Property crime, burglary, robbery and theft

"just below the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:55

Violent crime

"less than half the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:05

The reviews

No rated reviews

No reviews recorded.

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The story

Golden, Colorado, is a small town of about nine square miles at 5,675 feet, twenty miles west of Denver. It was founded as Golden City on June 16th, 1859, during the gold rush, and named for the businessman Thomas L. Golden. It was the first capital of the Colorado territory, and Adolph Coors founded his brewery there in 1873.

He was born on October 7th, 1955 in Belviore, Virginia, the youngest of five children. In 1965 the family moved to San Antonio, Texas. He joined the army in 1972 at seventeen.

He met his first wife, Karen, at an outdoor equipment shop in Washington, D.C., and married her in Texas after ten days. On their wedding night he asked about her sexual history, then choked her and threw her to the floor. They drove up and down the east coast and settled in Annatock, Tennessee, where he left her for eight months, saying his father had had a heart attack. He sold her belongings, moved her into a van, and on December 1st, 1985 told her he wanted a divorce; it was final before the new year.

A second Karen, Karen Boxer, followed. They separated in 1990, when he took $9,000 in cash advances on her credit cards and $1,500 from her savings and moved to Denver. There he began dating Jennifer, a nineteen-year-old stripper who moved in after two days. When she found out she was pregnant he interrogated her in his office at Dynamic Control, a chair in the middle of the room. Jennifer and the baby left in May 1995, around the time his mother died of cancer.

He then met Rebecca Hulburton at a party and moved into her condo, stealing about $60,000 from her over two years. He was also seeing Candice Walters, a forty-eight-year-old bartender, and taking thousands from her; she made him sign a promissory note and threatened to expose him to his girlfriend and the police.

The condo was being renovated, with the carpets pulled out of the hallways and butcher paper over the windows. He put a chair in the middle of the living room and called Rebecca in. That morning he had had her write cheques for more than $55,000 to pay her creditors, and he had been telling everyone he was about to receive a $52 million settlement. She came in wearing a bathrobe expecting money. He opened champagne, put a briefcase on her lap and covered her head with a blanket, then struck her from behind several times with the hammer side of the maul. The prosecutor said the force caved in the back of her skull and sent a two-inch piece of bone across the room. He wrapped her in plastic and stood her against the wall.

The next day he collected Candice Walters, telling her he was a former mob hitman who had inherited $52 million, that he would pay her $100,000 and take her to Las Vegas. She wore a white sundress and refused the blindfold because she did not want her hair messed up. He sat her in the chair and killed her with four blows from the blade side of the maul, then urinated on her head and shoulders. He laid her beside Rebecca and covered her with a sheet.

The following day he brought Suzanne to the townhouse, supposedly to get her a job in Las Vegas. He blindfolded her with a bath towel, taped her mouth, tied her spread-eagled to a mattress on the floor and cut off her clothes with a knife. He put a piece of human skull on her stomach, then pulled back the sheet and kicked the bodies. He brought in Angela Frit, twenty-eight, tied her to a plastic patio chair and killed her with the maul while Suzanne listened and heard her bleed out. He then raped Suzanne.

He took her back to her apartment, where her roommate Beth, another of his girlfriends, was waiting, and took all their phones before leaving. A male friend they called was met at the door with a gun.

He is held at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City, prisoner number 10384.

The case

Murder of Rebecca Hulburton, Candice Walters and Angela Frit

Victims

Rebecca Hulburton. his girlfriend, whose condo he had moved into; he stole about $60,000 from her
Candice Walters (48). a bartender he was seeing and taking money from; she had made him sign a promissory note
Angela Frit (28). a woman he had promised money and a house

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 17 May 2017.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Karen. his first wife, met in Washington, D.C., married in Texas after ten days, divorced December 1985
Karen Boxer. his second wife, married in Alaska, separated from him in 1990 after he took $9,000 in cash advances and $1,500 from her savings
Jennifer. a nineteen-year-old stripper he dated and married; mother of his daughter, born July 24th, 1993, left him in May 1995
Suzanne. the woman he tied up and raped at the townhouse; she survived and testified against him
Beth. Suzanne's roommate and another of girlfriends; her hidden mobile phone was used to call 911

The timeline

  1. October 7th, 1955 is born, the youngest of five childrenabout 0:16:38
  2. 1965 The family moves to San Antonio, Texasabout 0:18:52
  3. 1965 Aged ten, he is caught stealing sweets from a corner store; the guard does not call his parents (San Antonio)about 0:20:02
  4. 1967 He says he began a six-month sexual relationship with an older married woman (San Antonio)about 0:23:11
  5. 1972 He joins the army at seventeenabout 0:27:25
  6. 1985 He meets Karen at an outdoor equipment shop in Washington, D.C., and marries her in Texas after ten daysabout 0:34:55
  7. 1985 They drive up and down the east coast for eight months and settle in Annatock, Tennesseeabout 0:36:29
  8. 1985 He leaves her in Tennessee for eight months, saying his father had a heart attackabout 0:36:49
  9. December 1st, 1985 He tells Karen he wants a divorce; it is final before the new yearabout 0:38:33
  10. 1990 He separates from Karen Boxer, taking $9,000 in cash advances and $1,500 from her savings, and moves to Denver (Denver)about 0:40:24
  11. 1990 In Denver he begins dating Jennifer, a nineteen-year-old stripper, who moves in with him after two days (Denver)about 0:40:30
  12. 1990 He marries Karen Boxer in Alaskaabout 0:39:58
  13. 1993 He interrogates Jennifer in a chair in the middle of his office at Dynamic Control over her sexual history (Dynamic Control)about 0:42:08
  14. July 24th, 1993 Jennifer gives birth to a daughter; is at work, hangs up on her and goes to a barabout 0:43:18
  15. May 1995 Jennifer and the baby leave him; they divorce and his mother dies of cancer around the same timeabout 0:44:25
  16. about two years before the murders He meets Rebecca Hulburton at a party and moves into her condo, stealing about $60,000 from her over two years ( and Hulburton condo)about 0:44:49
  17. He begins seeing Candice Walters and takes thousands of dollars from her; she makes him sign a promissory note and threatens to expose himabout 0:45:23
  18. June 30th, 1998 He buys lava soap, four eye bolts, nylon rope, duct tape and a seven-and-a-half-pound splitting maulabout 0:46:00
  19. June 30th, 1998 He has Rebecca write cheques for more than $55,000, sets a chair in the middle of the living room, puts a briefcase on her lap and covers her head with a blanket ( and Hulburton condo)about 0:47:42
  20. June 30th, 1998 He kills Rebecca Hulburton, striking her from behind several times with the hammer side of the maul ( and Hulburton condo)about 0:48:25
  21. the next day He collects Candice Walters and kills her in the same room with four blows from the blade side of the maul, then urinates on her body ( and Hulburton condo)about 0:50:59

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode