30 years ago – January 11, 1985
Lowering two men in a cage almost 300 feet into an old mine shaft is not an easy task. Especially at night. And even more especially on a cold January night. But, that is exactly what happened last Saturday at the Scandia Mine, which is near the Glory Hole Mine southwest of Central City. The two men, Van Cullar and his son-in-law, Chuck Lambert, went down into the hold, with the assistance of 16 people above. They were searching for a gun believed to be the weapon used in the murder of David Hardin Dockery. The two year old case remains unsolved, and Saturday night’s foray into the depths of the mine did nothing to remedy that situation. The shaft was empty: “Not even a beer can,” Cullar said. Dockery died of a gunshot wound in October 1982, on Alps Hill, in the general vicinity of the Scandia. Although two men were arrested for the murder, charges against one were dropped after a preliminary hearing, and dismissed against the other before his trial. A tip that the murder weapon might be found in the Scandia shaft was received by district attorney’s investigators several months ago. Since then, it has been a matter of logistics and setting up a time when everyone who needed to be there could get to the mine at the same time. Although the Dockery case is “not being worked actively,” according to Cullar, a homicide case is never closed until it is solved. In most cases, that would mean getting a conviction.
Support authors and subscribe to content
Subscribe to read the entire article.
