Curtis Shaw

Do you know who murdered Curtis?
On a Sunday in the early autumn of 1973, the life of Curtis Alberte Shaw, a 39-year-old man, came to a violent and mysterious end in his Tulsa, Oklahoma, apartment. The discovery of his body on September 23, 1973, began a case that has remained unsolved for over five decades, leaving a void of information and a family without answers. To this day, very little is publicly known about Curtis Shaw as a person—his work, his family, his passions, or how his loved ones remembered him. His story is tragically defined by the few stark and contradictory details of his death.

The scene of the crime was apartment #602 at 1840 S. Boulder Avenue, a building located in what was then a residential area just south of downtown Tulsa, not far from the banks of the Arkansas River. When police were called to the apartment, they found Curtis Shaw deceased. The initial investigation by the Tulsa Police Department immediately determined that he had been murdered, but the precise manner of his death has been subject to conflicting reports over the years. The police department's official cold case file states that he was shot and died as a result of his injuries. However, other sources, including some contemporary newspaper accounts, reported that he had suffered several stab wounds to his neck.

This fundamental discrepancy highlights the challenges and confusion that can surround a case as it grows cold. Investigators at the time noted a possible lead, suggesting that Shaw may have been involved in drug-related activities. This detail added a layer of complexity to the case but did not immediately lead to a breakthrough in identifying a suspect or a motive for the killing. The trail of evidence and witness accounts, if any were found, eventually went cold.

The investigation into who killed Curtis Shaw is now in the hands of the Tulsa Police Department's Cold Case Unit. Detectives periodically review unsolved homicides, hoping that a new witness will come forward, a forgotten piece of evidence can be re-examined with modern technology, or a connection to another crime will emerge. Decades have passed without any publicly announced suspects or arrests, and the case remains open, pending new information.

The apartment building on South Boulder Avenue where Curtis lived has since been completely transformed. In the 21st century, it was redeveloped into a boutique hotel, its brutalist architecture repurposed for a new generation of visitors to the city. The physical space has changed, but the memory of the violent death that occurred there in 1973 remains preserved in the city's cold case files.

The homicide of Curtis Shaw is one of several unsolved killings from that era in Tulsa, a painful reminder of lives cut short and justice yet to be served. Without the voices of family or friends to share his story, Curtis is known only through the sparse details of his death. The case remains inactive, a silent file waiting for a piece of information that might finally break the decades of silence. The Tulsa Police Department continues to list the case as open and encourages anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward. Their Cold Case Unit can be reached at (918) 596-9222.