Who murdered Jarl Hoffman in 1976? Jarl Hoffman was a 21-year-old Caucasian man who was an inmate at the Camp George West prison facility in Golden, Colorado. In the spring of 1976, his life was cut short in a sudden and unexpected act of violence that came from outside the prison walls.
In the pre-dawn hours of May 19, 1976, Jarl was inside the prison’s recreation building. At approximately 2:58 a.m., while he was playing pool, a shot was fired from a passing vehicle on Old Golden Road. The bullet struck Jarl, killing him.
The shooting was a brazen attack, with the killer firing into the facility from the public road before driving away. For decades, the case grew cold. No suspects were publicly identified, and no arrests were ever made in connection with Jarl's murder.
The reason for the shooting remained a mystery.
More than thirty years later, Jarl's case was highlighted as part of an initiative to solve Colorado cold cases. His story and photo were featured on a set of playing cards distributed to inmates throughout the state's prison system, with the hope that someone might come forward with new information. An inmate at the same facility where Jarl was killed reflected on the case, saying, “There’s a family someplace that misses him… He never came home.” As of June 2009, the homicide of Jarl Hoffman remains unsolved.
