The Murder of Oakey “Al” Kite
In May 2004, 53-year-old Oakey “Al” Kite Jr. was searching for a new tenant to rent the basement apartment of his Aurora, Colorado townhouse. What seemed like a normal decision quickly turned into one of the most disturbing unsolved murders in Colorado history.
After placing an ad in the local newspaper, Al was contacted by a man calling himself “Robert Cooper.” He claimed he had just moved from the East Coast for a new banking job and needed a place to stay immediately. Al agreed to rent him the basement apartment.
Just days later, Al vanished.
When police arrived at his townhouse for a welfare check on May 24th, they discovered a horrifying crime scene inside the basement apartment. Al had been brutally tortured, restrained, and stabbed multiple times. Investigators believe the attack lasted for hours.
But what made the case even more chilling was what happened afterward.
The killer appeared to calmly remain inside the townhouse after the murder. He ate food from Al’s kitchen, showered in the home, slept in Al’s bed, and carefully cleaned the crime scene in an attempt to destroy forensic evidence. Knives and other items were soaked in bleach, drains had been flushed with chemicals, and nearly every surface had been wiped clean.
Investigators quickly realized the man calling himself Robert Cooper was not who he claimed to be.
The rental application he left behind contained fake information, including a stolen social security number and a false address connected to the University of Colorado Medical School. The burner phone he used had been activated in a way that avoided surveillance footage, suggesting a highly organized offender who understood investigative techniques.
Witnesses also gave conflicting descriptions of the suspect. Some reported he walked with a limp and used a cane. Others said he walked normally. Some believed he spoke with a European accent, while others noticed no accent at all.
Despite the killer’s extensive cleanup efforts, investigators recovered one critical piece of evidence: a single drop of blood believed to belong to the suspect. That DNA profile has never been identified.
Over the years, the case has attracted national attention, including analysis from retired investigator Paul Holes. Experts examining the crime scene pointed to the unusual bindings and torture methods used on Al, including injuries to the bottoms of his feet that resembled a form of torture known as falaka.
More than 20 years later, the murder of Oakey “Al” Kite remains unsolved.
Was Al specifically targeted by a predatory killer? Was this offender responsible for other murders? And will advances in forensic DNA testing finally reveal the identity of the man known only as “Robert Cooper”?
To this day, investigators believe the answer may still lie in the unidentified DNA left behind at the scene.
