April 23, 2021
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
ParkerChronicle.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 24
VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 22
Arrest made in 36-year-old Douglas County cold case The case was cracked using genetic genealogy BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
confused, but alive. He spent 24 hours in the hospital before returning home to the couples’ two boys, ages 1 and 4. “Coming home to my kids, I broke down,” he said. “I’m usually not the one to cry but I was crying. And there were lots of hugs.” For most officers, this type of life-saving event happens once or twice in a career. For Guzzo, who was still in his first year on the job, this was his fifth. Following these events, the American Red Cross named Guzzo as one of six Heroes of the Year for Colorado and Wyoming.
It’s been nearly 36 years since the grisly homicide that left Roger Dean dead took place in present-day Lone Tree. The case — once referred to by the Douglas County Sheriff as “one of the greatest mysteries” the county has seen — has remained unsolved throughout the decades. Dean But on March 22, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man from Louisiana for Dean’s murder and kidnapping. “This is one of those bittersweet days,” Sheriff Tony Spurlock said in an April 9 press conference. “This is an interesting case, I happen to have been involved with it (since) 1985.” Michael Jefferson, 64, was arrested by the sheriff’s office following an investigation that used an increasingly popular crime-solving technique called genetic genealogy. The tactic uses a suspect’s DNA Jefferson and an online database of family heritage data to track people down. Douglas County detectives used DNA, preserved from the original crime scene, to find Jefferson and later boarded a plane with the man, surreptitiously collecting his used water bottle and confirming his connection to the crime scene, according to his arrest affidavit.
SEE AWARD, P3
SEE COLD CASE, P2
Officer Landon Guzzo poses for a portrait outside the Parker Police Department. Guzzo has worked for the department since 2019. BY ELLIOTT WENZLER
Parker police officer gets hero award In his rookie year, the officer saved several lives BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Parker residents Jayde and Garrett Budd had just started their day of working on crafts when something went horribly wrong. Garrett, who was working on an electrical woodburning project, screamed and fell to the floor. He had suffered a bad electric shock. When Officer Landon Guzzo, 27, heard the 911 alert from
dispatch, he realized he was one street over from the Budds’ home in Stroh Ranch. He raced to the scene on Sept. 16 to find Jayde, Garrett’s wife, giving him CPR. “I was panicking and crying, obviously,” Jayde later said. When Guzzo took over CPR, Garrett, 27, didn’t have any pulse and wasn’t breathing. Still, he continued the life-saving measure until another officer arrived on scene with a defibrillator. They shocked the father of two and suddenly, he had a pulse again. “He was dead for a full four minutes,” Jayde said. A few minutes later, Garrett awoke in the ambulance. He was
ELECTION RESULTS:
To see The Parker Chronicle’s coverage of the April 20 special town council election — in which two council members were selected — please visit ParkerChronicle.net. Next week’s print edition of the paper will also include election results and coverage.