Could You Live in a Home Where These Colorado Murders Took Place?

I stumbled across a post on social the other day talking about the sentencing of a man convicted of some pretty gruesome murders, where he lured people back to his house explicitly for that purpose. I had no idea the house was near where an old friend of mine lived - and I'd driven past it many times - so I got curious... does someone live there now?

Of course, I started doing what you do late at night when you're stalling going to bed - I started digging into details about the house on Zillow and finding stories about it and just who would live there on the World Wide Web. Yes, someone DOES live there! They gutted it and renovated it, right after they bought it.

Nowadays, the home is gorgeous and looks like nothing nefarious ever happened there, but if you know, you know... right? I'm not sure I could do it.

That got me curious about some of the other "famous" houses in Colorado where bad, bad things happened. Whatever happened to the house? And do people live there?

749 15^th Street - Boulder

This, of course, is probably the most famous of all these types of houses in the State of Colorado. It's where JonBenet Ramsey lived and was murdered on December 26, 1996.

It's a much, much larger home than it looks from the front. It has also been extensively renovated since that awful Christmas in the 1990s. VelvetRopes.com recently did a comprehensive before and after photo comparison, so you can see a lot of work was done.

The family that did the renovations purchased the home in 2004 and lived there on and off for a number of years. The best we can ascertain today is that while the same family still owns the house, it is allegedly currently vacant.

2825 Saratoga Trail - Frederick

Perhaps the second most famous house from recent memory is the Watts' house in Frederick, where Chris Watts was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Shanann, before taking the lives of his children at his work site.

The house was recently sold for $600k, just this past fall, with the buyer's real estate agent, even congratulating the new owners on social media by saying "It took everything we had to get here!!! So happy for you guys and can’t wait to see the memories you make in your new home!!!” according to The Sun.

The agent then edited the post to say, “since it’s been asked. Yes, this was the Watts house. It is now the Miller home and they cannot wait to put love, family, and laughter back into this house.”

320 43rd Avenue Court - Greeley

This house was back in the headlines in 2019 and 2022, after the remains of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews were discovered in Greeley. She was abducted from this home on December 20, 1984.

She had been dropped off at home alone by friends after a Christmas concert, while both of her parents and older sister were out. When they returned home, they discovered she was missing and saw tracks in the snow outside the house as if someone had been looking in.

The search for Jonelle carried on for a number of years with no success. Her body was ultimately discovered by excavators installing a pipeline in rural Weld County in 2019, and former Greeley resident Steven Pankey became a suspect. He was ultimately tried and convicted of her murder on Halloween of 2022.

Constructed in 1978, the home was most recently sold in 2017. The Matthews's parents have since retired to Costa Rica, while Jonelle's older sister moved out of the state.

10622 West 102nd Avenue - Westminster

This is the former home of Austin Sigg and where 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway was tragically murdered in October 2012.

This was big news in Colorado back in 2012, with an Amber Alert being issued for the disappearance of Jessica Ridgeway, after she failed to return home from school on October 5. Two days later her backpack and glasses were found on a sidewalk and a few days after that, her remains were found nearby.

Later that month, 17-year-old Austin Sigg confessed to killing Ridgeway in his home after his month phoned police to lead them to him.

The home has been sold several times since the murder, the last sale coming in 2015.

7119 Shavano Circle - Frederick

Emily and Kevin Butler purchased the home in April 2019. On July 5, 2019, Emily was found in the home shot dead after police conducted a welfare check at the house.

Later that evening, police responded to reports of a one-vehicle accident on Peak to Peak Highway in Nederland, where they found her husband, Kevin, deceased in the car. Turns out he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the accident was the result of the car then rolling into a tree. The case has ultimately ruled a murder-suicide.

The house was listed for sale in 2020, removed from the market, then placed back on the market where it finally sold in 2021 for $427k.

2920 E Mulberry Street - Fort Collins

This is the home of "Psychic Kay" Adams and her former husband. Adams was murdered, allegedly in her home by her husband, in October 2010 and her body was discovered in a ravine off Highway 36.

Adams was locally famous for her pink building at Harmony and Lemay with the bright "Psychic Kay" sign before it was ultimately torn down after her murder. Her husband, John Marks Jr., was the subject of a manhunt for several days following the discovery of her body and ultimately turned himself in at a Perkins Restaurant - which is no longer there - by the Budweiser Events Center off Crossroads and I-25.

He was ultimately convicted of her murder and sentenced to 48 years to life in 2012 but has appealed his conviction as recently as 2020.

It's not clear who owns or lives in the home today.

[Newsletter]