30 years ago – August 9, 1991
Denver police officers arrested one suspect on August 3 in the murder of Rex Miller. Joseph Nick “Joey” Aguayo, 21, was picked up at a friend’s northeast Denver home after following an anonymous tip. Aguayo is being held without bail at the Jefferson County jail. The Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office has issued an arrest warrant for a second man, Marvin Dennis Jr., 30, who was still not caught Thursday morning. Dennis, whose last known address was in southeast Denver, is described as being six feet two inches tall, weighing around 205 pounds, with a skull tattoo on his left arm and a tattoo of the grim reaper on his right arm. Dennis is considered armed and dangerous. Both men are being charged with first degree murder in the death of the 40-year-old Rollinsville resident. Miller, a self-employed mechanic, had evidently been flagged down by two men who had run out of gas near Rollinsville on Old Stagecoach Road. Miller, who was returning home after dinner in Black Hawk with his girlfriend, took her home and came back to drive the men to Nederland for gas. Sometime after returning from the gas station, said District Attorney’s Investigator Phil Anderson, Miller was shot in the neck and robbed. The red 1969 Ford Cortina he was driving was taken. It was found burning in a parking lot at Kalamath and Bayaud Street in Denver. The fire appeared to be deliberately set, Anderson said, to destroy evidence. Both men who have been charged in the murder have criminal records. Aguayo is on probation for attempted theft in Denver and a traffic charge in Jefferson County. Dennis, who is also known as Byron Dennis, Chris Martin or William Dennis, was imprisoned for assault until January 1990. He also served time in jail for other crimes, including burglary and theft. A grand jury indicted both men on charges of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, aggravated robbery, and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. Aguaryo will appear before Judge Barnhill in Jefferson County District Court August 9.
While digging for antique bottles in an old outhouse site on July 30, Lary Brown came across a Mason jar with the inscription “pat. Nov. 30, 1858.” Because he had been told Mason jars bearing that date had been manufactured throughout the 1930s, he put the bottle aside for a closer look. When he took a break later in the day, Brown cleaned the dirt off to see what he found. “At first I thought there was a chicken or something inside the jar,” he said. Brown realized that the jar contained a male fetus and afterbirth. After trying unsuccessfully to locate County Coroner Dick Allen, Brown turned the jar and its contents over to Central City Marshal Elmo Gatlin. The jar appeared to contain, Gatlin said later, a well-preserved fetus that seemed to have been in its sixth month of development. The jar and its contents have been sent to Dr. Ben Galloway, forensic pathologist with the Jefferson County Coroner’s office for tests. The tests may not return conclusive results, said Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Trina Harper, Tuesday.
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