He didnt deserve being murdered.. Darryl Smika said he has theories on where his son is hiding, but theyre mine. He said he absolutely believes his son is innocent in the infamous homicide, and he hopes police never find him. "It's past time for justice for Sid Wells and his family," Deputy Chief Dave Hayes said. However, then-Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter declined to file charges, and Smika moved away in 1986. . Pic Credit: U.S. According to court documents, Smika, who was 24 in 1983, was a jobless drifter who was trying to skirt paying bills and getting caught by authorities after failing to pay a mortgage on a house hed bought with a friend a couple years earlier. I wasnt ready to retire, and this opportunity came available, said Hayes who turned 66 this year. Smika told investigators he slept for a couple of hours that morning before he left to Akron at either 10 or 11 a.m. to visit his mother and sister, do laundry and get his hair cut and permed. The suspect in this case is a man named Thayne Smika, a roommate of Wells' in 1983. endobj According to Detective Hayes, This is not a whodunit, but rather a 'where is he?'. appreciated. It's been 31 years since Sid Wells was shot execution-style in his own home in Boulder, Colorado and his terminally ill mother has yet to see his killer locked up. Smika was never prosecuted because the district attorney at the time declined to take the case. We are continually working to identify anyone who may be in contact with Thayne Smika, police spokeswoman Kim Kobel said. Detectives couldnt be reached Wednesday to comment on whether they obtained any leads from the family members phones. She said Robert Redford and her son were friends, and they went jogging and skiing together. Last seen alive: October 01, 1986. After years of consulting with the manufacturer of the shotgun shells used in Sids murder and the ones found in Smikas closet in Akron, investigators were eventually able to learn that the three shells were uniquely old when they were used, had all been loaded into Smikas shotgun, and all had the same chemical makeup. Smika was eventually let out of custody, and stayed around the area for a couple years. They can do all they want, but I have had no contact with him.. According to the FBI, Thayne Smika hasn't been seen since he was freed from detention. She grieved in ways that I cant even imagine, Menger said. Judicial Circuit County(ies) Prosecuting Attorney 1st Cross, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, St. Francis, Woodruff: Todd Murray Also Read: Did Bbg Tyler Snatched JayDaYoungan? stream Shauna went back to her place, which was also in Spanish Towers, and Sid, Smika and the other man stayed back and did more cocaine into the early morning hours. Smikas family members were informed at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 12 that authorities had obtained a warrant to arrest Smika on suspicion of first-degree murder, and all of them except his mother denied knowing anything about where Smika might be hiding, according to police. Feb 24, 2023, 3:22 PM. Im angry that the system let me down. But part of his story didnt add up from the beginning: His mother was away on a trip to Fort Collins all week. Police and prosecutors know their suspect and have a warrant out for his arrest. Sam called police, who arrived shortly afterward. Shauna, the daughter of Robert Redford and his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, whom he divorced in 1985, dated Sid Wells for three years, and in his obituary she was listed among his survivors. He says he was confident in his work and the departments conclusions. To that end, investigators requested and received a court order earlier this year to obtain records related to the phones belonging to six of Smikas family members including the phone numbers of calls dialed and received, as well as physical addresses, longitude and latitude, and GPS coordinates of cell towers used in those calls. An autopsy showed Wells was shot execution-style at point-blank range in the back of the head with a 20-gauge shotgun. Police said a possible motive was that Smika owed Wells $300 for rent that day. Smika's bail was set at $5million after the warrant was issued. Shauna showed up a few minutes later. To view more information on a district, click on a county within that region. Wells' mother June Menger says Redford is like a daughter-in-law to her, even though she never saw her son married. Sid Wells, a 22-year old journalism student at the University of Colorado, was looking for someone to rent a room to. She said Redford initially decided not to attend the funeral, worried it would become a media circus. Please enable JavaScript on your browser and try again. He immediately called police, his shock apparent in the 911 recording. He started reviewing the case, its evidence and how it had progressed through the new analyses. Watch Liz Gelardi and James Dougherty's video story in the player below or by clicking here. It's like a partially opened door with a very dark room behind it, he said. Shauna quit college. Shauna woke up that morning and left for work just before 11 a.m. She woke up Sid, reminding him that he was to have lunch with his mother at noon. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Smika surname lived. The grand jury was the biggest shock for my family and the most difficult thing to deal with, said Robert Wells, Sids older brother. Smika was also profiled in the January 23, 2019 episode of the Investigation Discovery series In Pursuit with John Walsh. A maid corroborated hearing a similar noise around the same time. Over the years, Hayes has worked as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant, commander, and deputy chief. For nearly five decades as a police officer, Hayes has been on the helping side in situations of crisis and tragedy. In 1997, a police officer posing as a journalism student talked to Smika's mother, who said her son had changed his name because he was afraid for his life because he knew who the real killer was. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. And in addition to paying the rent (he) was also going to give Sid some additional money and some cocaine. Wells friend told police that Wells had been selling small amounts of cocaine in recent months, according to Hayes. Multiple experts confirmed it was highly likely that the shell used to kill Sid was a match to the other two shells investigators found, something Netizel says is the most damning evidence in the case. Im 100 percent. Hayes worked on many cocaine cases in the 1970s and 1980s and was an investigator in the 1983 homicide of Sid Wells a University of Colorado student who was dating Robert Redfords daughter Shauna. The suspect, roommate Thayne Smika, has been on the run since 1986 over theft charges. Another man who lived next door to the Wells brothers told investigators that hed heard a loud bang, similar to a gunshot, at the time the coroner determined Sid had died. Jihad Ramadan is wanted by U.S. This past February, when Estes Parks Police Chief Wes Kufeld announced that he would be stepping down in May after 34 years with department, 14 as chief, David Hayes threw his hat in the ring for the job. 7 0 obj 15:04 GMT 09 Aug 2014. Marshal Walsh shines a light on the current search for Jihad Ramadan, who is . Smika was a leading suspect when the coroner declared the death to be a homicide. Thayne Smika Warrant. ", Additional Information From Boulder Police. Bond was set for $5 million in that case, the highest in Boulder history, said Hayes who believes Smika is living under an alias. Furnished living room. Johnson won the primary and then was elected in November in an uncontested race. Hayes graduated from a joint Boulder Police Department-Boulder Sheriffs Office Academy and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminology and political science from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Police suspected Smika, Wells' roommate, and arrested him a few months after investigators said they linked him to the murder. Boulder Deputy Police Chief Dave Hayes, one of the first detectives to investigate the case, said Smika may have become assimilated into a community and he hopes new coverage of the case will lead a neighbor or a relative to step forward. According to the court filings, Smika's friends and acquaintances described him as dirty, messy, and volatile. Boulder detectives suspect that Smikas parents and siblings upon learning of the new warrant, which was signed by a judge Dec. 2 and placed under seal might have alerted him to the fact that police were ready to arrest him, according to court documents. Last updated: July 17, 2020 Denver, CO In December 2010, the Boulder County district attorney signed off on an arrest warrant accusing Thayne Smika of first degree murder, but he has yet to be located. Sydney Sid Wells was a promising student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he studied journalism and was a member of the Navy ROTC program. Some of us have expressed not criticism but surprise Smika is getting another airing considering he's a cold case the previous most recent John Walsh show already did (as opposed to a new cold case and/or unused . Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. His vehicle was recovered in Hollywood, CA in 1986. Re: Walking at night . Or, keep up-to-date by following Denver7 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Sam Wells still struggles with talking about that day. Missing. The comments below have not been moderated, By (Information retrieved from NamUs.g. As the chief of police in Louisville, Hayes focused on the complexities of the day and the tasks at hand with public safety being his number one priority. Hunter said he agreed not to pursue an indictment of Smika in October 1983, before the grand jury began its investigation, in exchange for keeping Smikas expiring $100,000 bond in force for two more weeks. 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