Page 17 - AreaNewsletters "Apr 2022" issue

to Mr. Coors but they both agreed that he did not wear a Fedora-style hat. The vehicle was towed. (I knew Trooper Hendricks when I worked in State Patrol Headquarters as a Dispatcher and George was the Desk O cer. He was one of the nicest but funniest troopers I ever worked with. I’m sorry I never got to hear him tell the story about this case.)
The 10 pieces of evidence that had been collected at the scene where the running truck was located were given to the Je Co undersheri who left for Washington, D.C. and delivered all of the evidence to the FBI Laboratory on February 10, 1960 at 1:40AM.
After taking the evidence to the FBI, procedures were conducted on the evidence, and it was returned to the Undersheri in time for him to return to Denver that afternoon.
On February 10, 1960, the day after Mr. Coors disappeared, a letter was delivered to his residence, addressed to “Mrs. Adolph Coors III, Morrison, Colorado.”
The carefully-typed note inside read:
“Mrs. Coors: Your husband has been kidnaped. His car is by Turkey Creek. Call the police or F.B.I.: he dies. Cooperate: he lives. Ransom: $200,000 in tens and $300,000 in twenties.
There will be no negotiating. Bills: used / nonconsecutive / unrecorded
/ unmarked. We will know if you call the police or record the serial numbers.
[Very speci c directions for the delivery of the money were included–removed for sake of space.] “Understand this: Adolph’s life is in your hands. We have no desire to commit murder. All we want is that money. If you follow the directions, he will be released unharmed within 48 hours after the money is received.”
Mrs. Coors followed all of the ransom directions. Then silence.
Within days, the FBI in Denver developed a lead on a yellow 1951 Mercury sedan with Colorado plates, “AT62_ _” when three individuals reported to them that they noticed this vehicle parked near the Turkey Creek bridge, several times before February 9, 1960. There was only one vehicle that matched this description, and
it was registered to Walter Osborne, 1435 Pearl Street, Denver. When the right index ngerprint on the driver’s license was run through the ngerprint database it matched Joseph Corbett, Jr, who had escaped from a Men’s Prison in Chino, California.
Joseph Corbett, Jr., pled Guilty to Second Degree Murder in March, 1951 in San Rafael,
California and was
sentenced to 5 years to life in San Quentin. He was transferred to Chino, CA where he escaped 4.5 years into his sentence.
Continued on next page...
Joseph Corbett, Jr.
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Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters” • April 2022