Police ask for public’s assistance in locating Datsun previouly owned by man arrested in connection to 10-year-old murder of CU student
The Boulder Police Department is asking the public to be on the look-out for a blue 1979 Datsun 280Z, the same car driven by Diego Olmos-Alcalde around the time of CU senior Susannah Chase’s brutal 1997 rape and murder.
Police arrested 38-year-old Diego Olmos-Alcalde Saturday on suspicion of first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault for the beating, rape and murder of 23-year-old CU senior Susannah Chase.
Records indicate the car was sold at auction in Denver in March 1988; the vehicle identification number is HS130111372. Anyone with information about this vehicle is asked to contact Detective Fred Patterson at the Boulder Police Detective section at (303) 441-3330.
Chase was attacked and beaten with a baseball bat in the early hours of Dec. 21, 1997 and then left to die in an alley near her residence on 18th and Spruce. Chase was walking home by herself when she was attacked.
Sarah Huntley, Public Information Officer of the BPD, said police had recovered a DNA sample from Chase’s body. Police then submitted it as an unknown submission into the national Combined DNA Index System database, which is software that communicates and matches DNA samples.
Police learned Thursday that the unknown submission matched a DNA profile – that of Olmos-Alcalde – taken by Wyoming corrections officials who was released from prison there in July after serving time for an unrelated felony conviction.
After making the connection, Boulder investigators tracked Olmos-Alcalde to his mother’s house in Aurora and arrested him without incident on a parole violation warrant out of Wyoming.
Police obtained an arrest warrant Sunday for first-degree murder, felony murder, kidnapping and sexual assault.
Olmos-Alcalde is being held at the Boulder County Jail on a $5 million bail.
Light at the end of the tunnel
Police released a statement from Chase’s parents, Hal and Julie Chase, at Sunday’s press conference.
“As you might imagine our emotions have run the gamut since we first heard of the DNA match with Susannah’s case,” the Chases said in the statement. “We are delighted that a suspect has been identified and apprehended.”
The investigation of Chase’s murder has actively continued over the last 10 years. Huntley said she estimates that the Boulder Police Department received on average about three leads per month regarding the case.
Chief of Police Mark Beckner said he thinks the recent developments will lead to a conviction.
“We are pleased with this development and grateful for the opportunity to finally see justice in this case – for Susannah, the Chase family and the Boulder community,” Beckner said.
Speaking of safety
The recent news also sparked conversations about safety in the CU campus community. Kirsten Orcutt, 22, a senior psychology major, said she felt uneasy after hearing the developments.
“It is an existential sort of anxiety,” Orcutt said. “Here we are in college, working so hard for our future. You never really think it can all just be taken away from you. Being a senior and someone just taking your life – that is so sad. It kind of makes you think about being more careful and really watching out for yourself.”
Orcutt said she carries Mace in her purse. Other students like senior environmental sciences and German major Julia Kreuels, 23, do the same.
“I hadn’t heard anything about it before today,” Kreuels said. “It is surprising that something like that would happen at CU, and also that it took him 10 years to find him. It was all shocking.”
CU Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard said he views the arrest as a bittersweet moment.
“Hopefully Susannah’s killer will be brought to justice,” Hilliard said. “But it also resurrects a tragic event that came one year after Jon Benet Ramsey’s murder in Boulder. It was a one-two punch against the Boulder community. It reminds us that violence against women is an issue in our community.”
Hilliard said that since the time of Chase’s death 10 years ago, CU has made strides towards a safer campus.
Emergency phones are stationed throughout the campus and community and the Night Ride and Night Walk services that the university offers have flourished with many more students taking the safe way home.
“Now we have more tools to reach students on the issue of personal and campus safety,” Hilliard said. “But we are also competing with the constant bombardment of media messages the students face every day.”
Huntley said it is always better to walk in groups, especially late at night. She also said to stay in well-lit areas, keep a cell phone with and to pay attention to surroundings.
CU Chancellor Bud Peterson was unavailable for comment but issued a statement Sunday.
“On behalf of our entire university community, I want to thank the City of Boulder and the Boulder Police Department for their tenacity and determination in investigating this case,” Peterson said in the release. “All of us can feel safer tonight because of their great work and perseverance over the last decade. That work reinforces the strong and cooperative mutual relationship we share as a city and a university.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Monica Stone at monica.stone@colorado.edu
