CO CO - Cassandra Rundle, 37, & her 2 kids, Colorado Springs, 14 Feb 1985

From the Denver Post's excellent Cold Case blog:

http://blogs.denverpost.com/coldcas...beaten-with-hockey-stick-strangled/#more-1253

Just found this one, so I haven't done much research on it. I am amazed that this case hasn't been solved yet, but then again, it was way back in 1985 when things weren't so advanced in terms of forensics, etc.

Just horrible.

That is a horrible case. I've been trying to find more information about it. I can't help but think that it is someone she met when she was running personal ads - even though the police say otherwise.

I guess my question would be what the time line was. Given how he was found, it makes sense that Dietrich might actually have been outside and then might have walked back into the house as the witness stated....BUT, his sister at least fought her attacker which would have made quite a bit of noise if there was in fact over turned furniture. So where was Dietrich when that was going on? Someone was in the house long enough to bind and rape an adult woman, fight, bind and rape a 10 year old and then strangle and beat everyone to death.

That is a whole lot of expelled energy....it must have taken a little while. I wonder if Dietrich spent the night somewhere else??

Boy, I would be looking closely at the ex husband...jmo.

This article mentions a suspect her father felt was responsible, Phillip E. Wilkinson.

http://www.csindy.com/colorado/getting-away-with-murder/Content?oid=1127733

My brother was kidnapped from Colorado Springs in 1986 from his crib in the middle of the night. www.findchristopher.com The Detectives working my brothers case made horrible mistakes and his kidnapping remains unsolved. He was only 7 months old and someone entered our home and took him from his crib. The Lead Detective assigned to his case worked in Sex Crimes and lacked the experience needed. In 23 years I was only interviewed one time the morning my brother was kidnapped, yet I slept in the very next room just feet away. It is hard not to harbor some resentment for the lack of investigating that took place to find this coward who stole an innocent baby. My Family now knows who kidnapped my brother because of our own investigating and new Detectives were assigned to the case. I am determined to make sure justice is served and my baby brother has a voice. Take a look at his facebook page we have set up which has more information on the suspect. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/findchristopher

believe09 said:

I guess my question would be what the time line was. Given how he was found, it makes sense that Dietrich might actually have been outside and then might have walked back into the house as the witness stated....BUT, his sister at least fought her attacker which would have made quite a bit of noise if there was in fact over turned furniture. So where was Dietrich when that was going on? Someone was in the house long enough to bind and rape an adult woman, fight, bind and rape a 10 year old and then strangle and beat everyone to death.

That is a whole lot of expelled energy....it must have taken a little while. I wonder if Dietrich spent the night somewhere else??

Boy, I would be looking closely at the ex husband...jmo.

Click to expand...

That is a lot of energy...and not just that......but for one person to be able to accomplish this it would seem that the victims would know this person. My thought is that the kids may not have immediately escaped or run if they thought (or were told) that they would be OK if they cooperated.

The ex seems hinky to me as well. If he was bringing a record as a valentine gift......it seems inappropriate considering the fact that she was currently seeing someone. To have taken the whole family to a move just prior to the event almost seems planned.

From February 2012:

http://gazette.com/few-left-to-remember-horrific-valentines-day-killings/article/133323

The truth is that Valentine’s Day haunts her. Feb. 14, 1985, marks the day her 37-year-old step-daughter Cassandra Rundle and Cassandra’s two young children were found brutally killed in their Ivywild home. The triple slaying is one of the more horrific crimes in Colorado Springs history — and no one was ever arrested...

Now, after 27 years, the number of people with direct knowledge of the case is dwindling. Cassandra Rundle’s mother, father and sister have all died. So has Lou Smit, one of the detectives who revisited the case years after the killings...

Reisler said police inside worked meticulously to preserve evidence, and even called in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for help. “We locked that house up for more than a month,” he said. The problem wasn’t finding a suspect, he said, it was narrowing down a long list of possible suspects...

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“The July 10 match identified Ewing as the person who matched the genetic profile left by the suspect who raped and killed Patricia Smith, then 50, on Jan. 10, 1984, in her Lakewood apartment and to the suspect wanted in connection with the Jan. 16, 1984, deaths of Bruce and Patricia Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter Melissa.”

I’m not sure if Alex Christopher Ewing was in Colorado at this time but these cases seem similar to me. Just last month he was “arrested” for the Lakewood murders. He’s been in a Nevada prison for years.
1984 hammer killings cold cases linked to Alex Christopher Ewing through mandatory DNA testing

Bbrobozio said:

“The July 10 match identified Ewing as the person who matched the genetic profile left by the suspect who raped and killed Patricia Smith, then 50, on Jan. 10, 1984, in her Lakewood apartment and to the suspect wanted in connection with the Jan. 16, 1984, deaths of Bruce and Patricia Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter Melissa.”

I’m not sure if Alex Christopher Ewing was in Colorado at this time but these cases seem similar to me. Just last month he was “arrested” for the Lakewood murders. He’s been in a Nevada prison for years.
1984 hammer killings cold cases linked to Alex Christopher Ewing through mandatory DNA testing

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They were similar Bbro and up until Ewings arrest I thought there was a chance they were related because in this Rundle case they didn't speak about DNA in the case with any certainty. But with Ewings arrest comes the knowledge of his past movements and history after January 1984 and it turns out he has been in Jail or prison since then except for a few short days in 1984.

This was posted on another thread.

How the search for the East Area Rapist helped revive another serial killing cold case

"Two years ago, as investigators were in their fourth decade of searching for a suspect in the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer attacks, six California prosecutors sent a letter to Nevada’s attorney general with a simple request:

Start taking DNA samples from Nevada inmates who had been in custody before that state’s DNA collection law took effect....

Their September 2016 request dovetailed with a similar one from Washoe County District Attorney Christopher Hicks in Reno. Within three months, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt declared that DNA could be taken from any inmate, “regardless of the date of conviction.”

The result was explosive: Instead of finding a Golden State Killer suspect, authorities say the new DNA testing led them to an inmate believed to be a Colorado serial killer in a case had that vexed investigators since 1984.

The identification of that suspect – Alex Christopher Ewing, a 58-year-old former Sacramento resident – was announced last month by detectives in the Denver area who had never given up on solving two grisly rape and murder cases that left four people dead...."

They were looking for the East Area Rapist — but found a Colorado serial killer suspect instead

WS thread: CO - CO - Cassandra Rundle, 37, & her 2 kids, Colorado Springs, 14 Feb 1985
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Joint News Press Conference Referencing 1984 Cold Case Homicides
"On Friday, August 10, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., the Aurora Police Department held a joint press conference to provide updates to the 1984 Cold Case Homicides of the Bennett Family and Patricia Smith."

https://r1---sn-uxaxufv-8ove.google...3957981637825&expire=1537837883&mt=1537816171
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Alex Christopher Ewing: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Alex Christopher Ewing: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

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She was the sole survivor of one of Colorado's most brutal crimes. Now, she's telling her story.

Aug. 10, 2018

"Vanessa Bennett sat under a picnic shelter on a muggy Arizona morning and talked for the first time about the physical and emotional toll she bears as the only surviving victim of one of Colorado’s most brutal crimes.

Bennett is 38 now, and the scars of the 1984 hammer attack that left her clinging to life are visible...."

She was the sole survivor of one of Colorado's most brutal crimes. Now, she's telling her story.

Well I tried looking him up in Arapahoe & Jefferson counties, but he's not there. Don't know what county in Nevada he's in. Did try Clark but not there.
Guess he hasn't been extradited since the last article - August. I'll keep an eye out though.

Niner... did you intend to put those two posts in the Bennett thread? Alex Ewing was in prison when when the Rundle murders happened.

Here's the Bennett thread, which dealt with the Aurora crimes of his.
CO - CO - Bruce, 27, Debra, 26, & Melissa Bennett, 7, Aurora, 16 Jan 1984

It's gone quiet about AW, no news in over a month.

Yes - I just did the whole post that someone posted. I haven't been to the Bennett thread yet.... Did I goof??

Just an update on this case - in red
*CO – Cassandra Susan Rundle (37), Detriecht Strum (12), son & Melanie Strum (10), daughter (Feb. 14, 1985) – Alexander Christopher Ewing (58/25 @ time of crime) charged (8/9/18 warrant) from Arapahoe County for the killing of Bruce & Debra Bennett & Melissa (7) their daughter (Jan. 16, 1984) & charged (8/10/18 warrant) from Jefferson County for the killing of Patricia Smith (50) (Jan. 10, 1984).
DNA genetic profile match. Ewing is serving a 8 to 40 year sentence in Nevada. Waiting for extradition to CO.
10/3/18 Update: Fighting extradition to Colorado.


So - the Bennetts should NOT be on this list? Guess I better get up to speed here with these new cases, at least for me. Sorry if I mislead anyone.

Okay - I did make a BIG goof.... sorry - I thought he was linked to this case also. Can't edit my above post. Sorry!!

Niner said:

Okay - I did make a BIG goof.... sorry - I thought he was linked to this case also. Can't edit my above post. Sorry!!

Click to expand...

No worries Niner, no harm done.

I would like to give this horrible case a bump as there has been recent discussion of unsolved Colorado murders on this site and we are coming up to another anniversary of the crime which was of course on Valentine's Day. I have read there was talk of a suspect at one time in this case but as far as I know this case is unsolved but other posters can correct me if I am wrong. Of course I am not implying I know who committed this crime because I do not but would like to make the point there appears to many unsolved horrific murders in Colorado and I think even the great Joe Kenda dodged a bullet metaphorically speaking in not really being involved in the JonBenet Ramsey case:

Colorado Springs family beaten with hockey stick, strangled

If the case is not solved I wonder if that man identified in the Aurora Hammer Murders might be a viable suspect.

35 Years Later

Colorado Cold Case: Lonely Hearts



Season 4 of Colorado Cold Case examines 1985 Valentine's Day triple homicide

Bumping this up - still a cold case?

Feb. 14, 2023
.....
Cassandra Rundle, a 37-year-old office worker and mother of two from Colorado Springs, was found dead with her 12-year-old son, Detrick Sturm, and 10-year-old daughter Melanie Sturm in 1985. All three had been strangled.
[.....]
The bodies were discovered by her second ex-husband, David Peltzer, who was reportedly dropping by with a Valentine's Day gift.

The Associated Press reported in 1985 that Rundle, twice divorced, had put out a pair of personal ads in the local newspaper and received 85 responses. She was believed to have met about 12 of them in person by the time of the slaying.
[.....]
"For Colorado Springs Police Department, it’s our only unsolved triple murder, and not only that, but there are two children involved, so the case itself is pretty traumatic," Colorado Springs Cold Case Detective Rachel Cruz-Rodgers told FOX 21 in 2020, 35 years after the slayings.