dna identifies carl frazier's killer

i am very happy to report that the blessings of modern science and technology have brought closure to a family and his friends this week. i received a note on facebook from carl fraziers sister and have asked permission to reprint it. i am still deciding whether to include it in the next newsletter, but certainly include it here, as i have posted a few other items referencing this. you can read those earlier posts here. a friend of mine, and a then transplant to colorado was murdered in july 2008 in a parking are and left to die in the street. there were rumors about the circumstances and many more questions than there were answers.

subsequently, i befriended his sister who has been struggling with grief and loss since this all happened. she graced me enough to reach out and share some of her thoughts and feelings, and we met that year at holiday time to visit the spot where carl left us. it made my heart smile to hear the news from the police investigation. and i could tell the beginnings of a very heavy burden lifted. and i am quietly thrilled to say "please carl.... rest in peace"

here is the note from kathy about this development....

The call I’ve been praying for literally every day for the past 20 months finally came this week. The Denver Police have identified the person who murdered my brother. The story behind this tragedy is a sad reminder that there is no promise of any tomorrows. It makes me thankful that Carl seized every opportunity he had to travel and meet new people. Yet, it also reminds me that my little brother ran out of time far too soon.


The night my brother was murdered, he had the misfortune of meeting someone who he thought he could trust and didn’t realize what a mistake he had made until it was too late. He agreed to give someone a ride that ended up costing him his life. Carl had no way of knowing that this person was a convicted felon who hadn’t been out of prison very long before he and Carl crossed paths. This man had a history of increasingly more violent crimes in his life that started with burglary and aggravated assault and escalated to murder…the murder of my brother. At some point during their time together, this man revealed to Carl that his intent was to rob him. When Carl realized what was happening and tried to get away, this man panicked and shot Carl. This man knew the neighborhood and knew he could get away from where he took Carl without anyone noticing him – he knew he could run and blend in with the surroundings.
I’ve always been a firm believer in karma and never have I witnessed it played out as poetically as it did in the case of my brother. We now know that this thug met the same violent ending as he put my brother through. My brother’s murderer was killed less than two weeks later in July 2008 in a shootout that was less than a mile from where he killed Carl. This idiot was in the middle of a drug deal/robbery that quickly went bad and was killed by other thugs.


The police let us know that Carl’s murder was solved 100% because of solid lab work based on the evidence they found in Carl’s truck. Thanks to the Colorado laws, anyone who is sentenced to jail time is required to have their DNA added to the law enforcement database, which meant this thug’s DNA came up as a match when Carl’s information went into the system. While it has taken an incredibly long time to match everything, between the DNA, the gun found on the killer when he was found dead at the scene of the gun battle, and statements from his family, the police were able to conclude that he was indeed the man who murdered Carl. They’ve been diligently piecing this together for 20 months. God bless the Denver police for sticking with it. Finally, they were able to get answers to enough of the questions that were surrounding his murder and the scene of the crime that it all fit together and pointed toward one man as being responsible.


So, Carl’s murder case is finally solved and family and friends don’t have to go through the pain of a trial….karma decided what was to be considered a fair and equitable judgment for this man.


For me personally, this provides some of the answers I needed and gives me a face to the evil that took my brother from me. I don’t have to worry whether or not this man is ever going to be out on the streets again to hurt someone else. I still don’t have my brother, but at least I feel like we were able to make sure his killer wasn’t still out there living his life when Carl couldn’t.
I want to thank you for being there for Carl and for us. I seriously understand why you meant so much to Carl and I’m so grateful that you were part of his family, too. It gives me great comfort knowing that Carl had such good people in his life.


Hugs,


Kathy

today's sound choice is actually a playlist i found on the soundcloud site. it is a complilation of chill music posted by a cat named senor dick. i thought chill would best represent how i feel after all this. and i hope everyone i know will find some of this same feeling today. peace....

here is "senor dick" and his soundcloud sample:

Senordick031309 192k by Señor Dick

darkside

Ain't nothin' gonna save you from a love that's blind
When you slip to the dark side you cross that line
On the dark side, oh yeah
On the dark side, oh yeah

i am reprinting a news report about carl frazier's that is posted on the 9news website. it is followed by a link to the televised report that ran last night in denver- a full 4 1/2 months after his murder. it is in the midst of the first holiday season carl's sister kathy and her family will be going through without their loved one. my heart goes with them this season.

DENVER - Police have many questions and few answers. Who wanted to kill 41-year-old Carl Frazier? Why was he outside of his truck at 3:40 a.m.? Where had he been since leaving a bar two hours before?


“The last thing I can do as my brother’s big sister is to try to help get some resolution to this and I want him to be proud of me too,” she said.
The perplexing murder, described by police as one of the more frustrating unsolved murders this year, has led the victim's family to beg for clues and police to change their tactic in hopes of finding the killer.

"He's my little brother. He's my own brother. We grew up together," said Kathy Anderson, Frazier's sister.

She says in the early morning hours of July 12, she lost her best friend when someone murdered her brother.

Frazier had just completed his second masters degree. He told his friends having two degrees made him lay-off proof.

"I was just so proud of him because he was so driven and he never goes out and the night he goes out and he has fun (he is killed.) It's a hard one to swallow," said Anderson.

"The last thing I can do as my brother's big sister is to try to help get some resolution to this and I want him to be proud of me too," she said.

Before Frazier was murdered he spent the evening at the Wrangler, a bar at 17th and Logan in Denver. His friends say they took him out to celebrate his second masters degree.

Police know he left before the bar closed. What they don't know is where he went for the next two hours.

He was found shot to death at W. 14th Ave. and Federal Blvd. at 3:40 a.m. His black Nissan truck was found nearby, police say.

"We have several people that heard gunshots," Denver Police Homicide Detective Randy Stegman told 9NEWS, but he says no one actually saw Frazier's killer.

After searching for eye witnesses to the crime, Stegman says he's now hoping to find someone who knows the killer.

"Often times, after a person does this, they will tell someone else and maybe that person thought the person or persons was bragging or making it up," said Stegman, "So if [people] have heard anything similar (about a murder) we need to know."

"He has family who are really struggling with this. They deserve justice. They deserve to know what happened. I want to make good on that," he said.

Anderson hopes people sympathize with her family and come forward with information.

"We can't do it. We can't put this to rest without someone coming forward," she said.

If you have a tip for police, you can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 720-913-STOP.

You could be eligible for a cash reward even if you don't leave your name.

You can contact investigative reporter Jace Larson by e-mailing him at jace.larson@9NEWS.com or calling 303-871-1432.

for 9news video report please click here

today's sound choice is pink floyd with "us and them"

a broken heart

yesterday, i went with my buddy and carl frazier's sister kathy to place a wreath at the spot where he was found dead. above the wreath, they placed a plea for help from crimestoppers with a small reward offered. kathy was in town from illinois to talk to the police about the unsolved case, and to do some interviews with local tv stations. we then went to breakfast and chatted for almost an hour and a half.

i have no idea what she is really going through. she is sunny, bright, and very warmhearted. she seemes quite open, and she seems like she has learned that finding some closure to this situation is going to take more time.

i found out that she didn't know he was positive. somehow that doesn't surprise me. it is such a whole lot to orchestrate when one is disclosing to family and friends. they have a tendency to give advice and interference which can be difficult to accept, even if its in the name of love.

but i now understand a little better how sad she must be. just being at that spot, and finding out more details about the events, and trading insights and perceptions caused me to grieve a little for carl once more. i think he most definitely got dogged, and i would have rather have it happened to anyone else but carl.

today's sound choice.... michael buble singing "how can you mend a broken heart"

grace of my heart

I can't hold onto her, God give me strength
When the phone doesn't ring
And I'm lost in imagining
Everything that kind of love is worth
As I tumble back down to the earth

while i was at a clinic yesterday working with a client, the social worker there pulled me aside to speak privately. he informed me that a co-worker of mine had been found dead in her apartment on monday. foul play was almost certain. broken furniture and blood were scattered everywhere. i went numb as i heard the news.

aimee and i had taken a ride last thursday to the food bank. it was about an hour and a 1/2 together. we talked about her life, her apartment, and how much she liked her new life. she moved to colorado last year from california after getting clean from years of meth use. she was pre-operative transgendered and could easily pass. she was smart, easy to talk to, and had been hiv positive for about 8 years.

she came to work at our agency with the "transaction" program which does outreach for the trans community around hiv care and prevention. it is a new program, but aimee has been very instrumental in promoting it to the hiv community and the gay community at large. she had spoken on two panels that i know of, sharing her story of recovery from drugs and her story of transition with small audiences.

in my car last week, i played a cd that i put together as we were driving. today's song choice is on that cd. the car was silent as this played. she sighed at the end of it, and said that is a beautiful song. we talked about all the other songs and laughed and shared stories. i am mad as hell that somebody can lose their self control like this and can snuff out another persons light. i am also a bit stunned that this is the 2nd friend of mine to be murdered in less than 3 months. are these hate crimes? is this related to hiv? how angry should i get?

i have rambled a bit here, but please know i am okay. i am just trying to stay in my feelings. i am sad, very sad. but i do know that she struggles no more with her identity. or her body. and that causes me to smile.

song choice is "god give me strength" by kristen vigard from the film "grace of my heart"(both of which i love, love, love)

and i also love the vid posted at absolutewille