WOW! :eek:

An arrest has been made in the Roger Dean case. You can read about it here (https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/roger-dean-cold-case-murder-douglas-county/73-b7a71259-0fad-48e6-af92-e42f376915a9?fbclid=IwAR3carZzf3fEAPYpyAw78IdWKY32UqX_1jQVr77v2GxfIPRof8RlUkP4XAQ).

I cannot wait to hear all of the details on how this came about and (hopefully) what really happened.

(Thank you, RobinW for posting this first on Twitter.)

Holy crap!

Another cold case solved through genetic genealogy? I love it!!!!

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/04/09/cold-case-arrest-michael-jefferson-charged-murdering-roger-dean-1985/

I'm pretty sure DJ is still alive. I'd love to hear a quote from her or Tammy.

Yes, this is great news, but this is one case in which I really want to learn the full details about what actually happened. I can only assume this arrest was made possible by DNA from the ski mask the killer left behind at the scene.

However, I'm quite surprised to see that the arrested suspect, Michael Jefferson, is black since Robert Stack specifically described the gunman as being white during the UM segment!

However, I'm quite surprised to see that the arrested suspect, Michael Jefferson, is black since Robert Stack specifically described the gunman as being white during the UM segment!

That confused me as well. Maybe that was a reported error on UM's part? DJ was blindfolded immediately. After that, it was only Roger who had any interaction with the shooter.

Whatever the case, thank goodness the killer was stupid enough to take his mask off and leave it behind.

Very interesting. I still think RD himself was in on this whole "kidnapping", and it somehow back-fired on him. I wonder if the truth will come out now.

Interesting. Weren't they suspecting the son of a woman he was having an affair with at one point?

I'm pretty sure DJ is still alive. I'd love to hear a quote from her or Tammy.

Sadly, it looks like she passed away last year.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/dj-dean-obituary?pid=196708489

Excellent news. Definitely optimistic that more cold cases are going to continue to get solved.

That confused me as well. Maybe that was a reported error on UM's part? DJ was blindfolded immediately. After that, it was only Roger who had any interaction with the shooter.

Whatever the case, thank goodness the killer was stupid enough to take his mask off and leave it behind.

Several neighborhood people apparently saw the man as well. No word about him being a black man. So I'm not sure what to make of this update or what led to this guy's arrest.

I never understood why he threw down his mask and left it behind either. The only thing I can figure is he did because he wanted to lose himself and blend into a crowd wherever he was headed and obviously couldn't do so wearing a ski mask. Probably didn't see much danger of it having evidence in it to identify him in 1985. That's how a lot of cold cases have been solved, the perps didn't know how DNA would advance at the time of their crimes so they were a lot more careless back in the day.

I never understood why he threw down his mask and left it behind either. The only thing I can figure is he did because he wanted to lose himself and blend into a crowd wherever he was headed and obviously couldn't do so wearing a ski mask. Probably didn't see much danger of it having evidence in it to identify him in 1985. That's how a lot of cold cases have been solved, the perps didn't know how DNA would advance at the time of their crimes so they were a lot more careless back in the day.
Agreed.




Excellent news. Definitely optimistic that more cold cases are going to continue to get solved.Agreed as long as the manpower on the police forces is there.

Given all of the witnesses saying it was a white man how this plays out will be interesting to watch. There seems to be reasonable doubt in abundance.

Like, what if he just tried the mask on in a store and put it back?

Given all of the witnesses saying it was a white man how this plays out will be interesting to watch. There seems to be reasonable doubt in abundance.

Like, what if he just tried the mask on in a store and put it back?

Exactly my thought. So far all I think they have proved is that a ski cap once worn by the suspect was left by the killer. I understand there is a voice message that "sounds similar" to the suspect, but I'd need to hear a lot more before I'd be ready to convict.

Given all of the witnesses saying it was a white man how this plays out will be interesting to watch. There seems to be reasonable doubt in abundance.

Like, what if he just tried the mask on in a store and put it back?

Good point. It reminds of the controversy about the male DNA on JonBenet Ramsey's underwear which does match anyone in her family, but some people think it's meaningless as evidence since it could belong to one of the factory workers who manufactured or handled the underwear.

However, I'd like to think that investigators found other corroborating evidence to build up a case against Jefferson before they arrested him.

Okay, I'd completely forgotten about a key detail from this article (https://coloradocommunitymedia.com/stories/cold-case-files-who-killed-roger-dean,75259)...

The little girl across the street thought she saw a black man, but another witness insisted man who sped away was white. Investigators positioned an officer where the girl saw the killer, and in the bright white snow the white officer appeared to be dark-skinned.

So yes, it looks like the investigators' hunch on this one may have been completely wrong.

This is wild. Time will tell what the motive was and whether Roger played a role in his own murder. I'm also saddened to hear that Doris "D. J." Dean died last August before seeing resolution in her husband's murder. May they both be at peace.

https://i.ibb.co/Fs5S3X2/ezgif-com-video-to-gif.gif

"We're gonna put out an APB on Big Bird. Attention all units – big yellow bird, funny voice."

Yea, eye witness testimony always gives me a reason to pause. I was held up at gun point once and I cannot remember what the guy looked like aside from race and very general descriptors.

Wow, this is incredible news! After all these years, they actually found the guy. The Dean segment on UM was one that always stuck with me due to how bizarre and brazen the crime was. As of a couple of years ago, I figured it would be one of those cases to go unresolved. Glad I was proven wrong.

As we suspected, hairs left on the ski mask were the sample tested for DNA.

Jefferson was living in Denver in 1985 and he apparently has a long criminal history in that city. Denver is just 9 miles from Littleton and also where Roger worked. The police might be right in assuming Roger hired this guy to phony kidnap/rob him and then the guy double crossed him.

Jefferson was also living in Denver in 1990 when the extortion letters started getting sent to DJ. And remember the UM segment said that the first phone call from the extortionist sent to the Dean home, the FBI traced that call to a phone booth in Denver.

That's probably the only snippets we'll get for a while. Now we have to wait to hear how the rest of the dots connect.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/roger-dean-cold-case-murder-douglas-county/73-b7a71259-0fad-48e6-af92-e42f376915a9

Man there is no telling what kind of information is going to come out on this one. This was a weird case. Didn't they say that a woman wrote one of the letters that was sent to DJ?

I'm pretty sure DJ is still alive. I'd love to hear a quote from her or Tammy.Yes im sure she is hsppy!!1 (And hopes its really him)

Superficial, but that segment has some of my absolute favorite music cues.

Yes im sure she is hsppy!!1 (And hopes its really him)

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/dj-dean-obituary?pid=196708489

Thank you 1990.... What I meant was I sure she is happy and hopes the person they got IS the suspect so this can finally be closed.......

Thank you 1990.... What I meant was I sure she is happy and hopes the person they got IS the suspect so this can finally be closed.......

Dude, she’s dead. She can be neither happy nor sad, as she no longer exists.

Oh OK,I should have read the link she posted (I thought she was mad at me..... Im sorry)

Now that the suspect has been arrested, I’m hoping we’ll get the full backstory on the attempted robbery. Mainly, was the crime arranged by Dean as law enforcement theorized?

Now that the suspect has been arrested, I’m hoping we’ll get the full backstory on the attempted robbery. Mainly, was the crime arranged by Dean as law enforcement theorized?

Yes. Also want to know if the $30,000 Roger put in a secret account has anything to do with the ordeal.

Glad to see this one finally solved. Will definitely be interested in hearing what the motive was here.

Got googling to see if any more info was revealed about any possible motive(s). Didn't find anything, but did run across the probable cause affidavit for the suspect:

https://kdvr.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/Jefferson-Affidavit-redacted.pdf

Got googling to see if any more info was revealed about any possible motive(s). Didn't find anything, but did run across the probable cause affidavit for the suspect:

https://kdvr.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/Jefferson-Affidavit-redacted.pdf

Holy smokes that is one hell of an interesting read. I wonder if there are any more documents like that about other UM cases because I would love to read them. Thanks!

Got googling to see if any more info was revealed about any possible motive(s). Didn't find anything, but did run across the probable cause affidavit for the suspect:

https://kdvr.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/Jefferson-Affidavit-redacted.pdf

Great read, thanks for finding and posting that. The letter the killer sent DJ makes me question the motive now and if Roger was in on it or not.

Holy smokes that is one hell of an interesting read. I wonder if there are any more documents like that about other UM cases because I would love to read them. Thanks!

I found this on the UM Wiki entry for the case (link (https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Roger_Dean)) - that would be the place to start for any other docs on other cases

Holy smokes that is one hell of an interesting read. I wonder if there are any more documents like that about other UM cases because I would love to read them. Thanks!

Certainly lets us peak behind the curtains at Homeland Security.

Great read, thanks for finding and posting that. The letter the killer sent DJ makes me question the motive now and if Roger was in on it or not.

Yeah, assuming he wasn't lying in the letter he may have been a loanshark, or was at least an enforcer for one. All that international travel would go along with that.

Yeah, assuming he wasn't lying in the letter he may have been a loanshark, or was at least an enforcer for one. All that international travel would go along with that.

Yes, that was the other thing I noticed and questioned: for a small time hood the guy was sure flying a lot, and all over the world. Granted, it was Spirit Airlines that got him, but I'm curious why he was doing all that travel. The affidavit doesn't mention his employment.

Yes, that was the other thing I noticed and questioned: for a small time hood the guy was sure flying a lot, and all over the world. Granted, it was Spirit Airlines that got him, but I'm curious why he was doing all that travel. The affidavit doesn't mention his employment.

I'm theorizing, here, but it's possible he was visiting family in Louisiana. It said his sister lived in California, where he lived. But it also mentions his parents were married in Caddo, Louisiana. Maybe other siblings (or even his parents) still live there?

I am willing to wager that this scumbag was simply trolling an area he deemed affluent, spotted Roger drinking his coffee in the driveway, and picked him as his victim. There would be no reason for this guy to continually ask DJ how much money they had in their savings account as well as rifling through drawers in the bedroom, if Roger hired this guy in some weird scheme. I seriously doubt Roger was involved with this, and believe that the original investigators theory about the $30,000 taken from his company and deposited into a private account prior to his murder was just a red herring. 2 years ago, I wrote this (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=5566159&postcount=52) post, and still believe that the extortionist and the killer were not the same person.

I also think it's odd that at the end of the segment, Robert Stack says the authorities know that the suspect is white and uses an extensive vocabulary. But the extortion letters contain numerous spelling and grammatical errors. And they make no mention of the eyewitness who saw Roger struggling with a black male prior to being shot in the street. Maybe this is the Mandela effect taking place, but I could've sworn the original UM segment mentioned a neighborhood girl seeing the guy taking his mask off and getting into the car before fleeing. It's not on the Filmrise episode. Also, this (https://www.google.com/maps/place/8266+Bighorn+Ct,+Lone+Tree,+CO+80124/@39.5498299,-104.8905917,3a,51y,337.09h,86.02t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOq4N_unT3uj52v1CcS85Sg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x876c85aab581b4dd:0x6852dc32b2cdef3!8m2!3d39.5499371!4d-104.8920071) was where the segment was filmed, which is about a block away from the actual house.