Discovery of the Body

On the morning of May 24, 1977, workers from Robinson Brick arrived at the entrance of the Chieftain Mine, located near 15000 West Alameda Parkway in Lakewood, Colorado. As they opened the gate at approximately 6:40 a.m., they were met with a grim scene: the lifeless body of 46-year-old John Nygaard. The discovery sent shockwaves through the community and marked the beginning of a perplexing murder investigation.

The Final Hours

Investigators quickly pieced together the events leading up to Nygaard's death. The previous evening, May 23, 1977, at around 9:00 p.m., Nygaard was seen leaving his apartment at 1250 Lafayette Street in Denver. He was accompanied by an unidentified white male, described by witnesses as being between 25 and 35 years old, standing 5'9" to 6' tall. Some accounts noted that the man wore a cowboy hat and had a mustache. This individual remains a person of interest, but his identity has never been uncovered....Read More