275:, where prostitution and drug trafficking were beginning to flourish due to social and economic upheavals, with the highest crime rates at the time being recorded. In March 1987, he met 20-year-old prostitute Sheila Washington on Colfax Avenue. Having paid for her services, Groves drove her to a motel, where, after sharing drugs together, he beat and attempted to strangle her. Motel residents overheard noises coming from the room, after which Groves fled the scene. Washington survived the ordeal and managed to describe her assailant and his car, but couldn't give a name, thanks to which Groves avoided detection. In August 1988, Washington identified his car and reported it to the police. At the same time, Groves became a suspect in the murders of more than 20 Denver girls, all of whom had been strangled. The investigators found that Groves was familiar with the victims and was a known drug dealer among the pimps and prostitutes on Colfax Avenue, even being the last person seen with the victims in some cases. Based on circumstantial evidence and testimonies, Vincent Groves was arrested on September 1, 1988, and interrogated. During said interrogation, he categorically denied any involvement and insisted on his innocence. A blood sample was taken from him, and his parents, ex-wife and a number of acquaintances were interrogated. His car and apartments were searched, but no incriminating evidence was found against him, as a result of which he was ultimately charged only with assaulting Sheila Washington. In a lawsuit that opened in early 1989, Groves claimed that he was acting in self-defense, after Washington stole $ 1,600 and tried to attack him, which was supported by the fact that she had been convicted of
260:. Neither Halford, nor her body, have been located to this day. At the end of 1979, Groves became addicted to drugs. During this period, he met Janett Hill, whom he married in March 1981. Due to his addiction, Vincent began to exhibit volatile behavior, quitting his job at the Gates Rubber Company and finding employment as a janitor with irregular working hours, from which his relationship with Janett became strained. On August 14, 1981, Groves killed 17-year-old Tammy Sue Woodrum while out camping. On the advice from his wife, after committing the murder, Groves surrendered himself at the police station and gave a full confession. He insisted that the girl had died from an overdose, but the autopsy later established that Woodrum had been raped and strangled, and that there were no traces of drugs in her blood. Vincent was charged with
303:. A month later, he was extradited to Adams County, where he was charged with murdering Diane Mancera. At the end of 1990, he was additionally convicted of her death and received 20 years imprisonment. At the trial, prosecutors provided evidence of his involvement in eight other murders in the Denver area, using testimonies and other evidence that placed Vincent as the last person seen with the victims before they were found dead or disappeared. However, no new charges were brought against him.
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35-year-old Pamela
Montgomery, who was strangled in August 1988. In 1989, during the trial, Groves was named as a suspect in Montgomery's killing because, during the investigation, a witness was found who identified Vincent as the driver of a car she got into on the day of her disappearance, after which she was found dead.
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With a tall and athletic physique, Vincent spent his high school years as a member of the school's basketball team, achieving outstanding results on the court. In 1972, his team reached the final in the annual interscholastic basketball championship in the state, with Groves being recognized as the
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In 2012, on the basis of DNA analysis, Groves' guilt was established in the murder of 25-year-old Emma
Jenefor, whose body was discovered in Denver in March 1978; 23-year-old Joyce Ramey, who was killed in July 1979; 20-year-old Peggy Cuff, whose body was discovered in November 1979 in Denver, and
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However, he did not go free, because by that time, according to results from a DNA profiling test, Groves was linked to the murders of 19-year-old
Juanita Lovato, whose naked body was found in April 1988 in a rural area east of Denver, and 25-year-old Diane Mancera, whose body was found in
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in 2012, 16 years after his death, as a result of which his total victim count remains unknown. According to the Denver Police
Department, based on circumstantial evidence and a number of testimonies, Groves could have been responsible for more than 20 murders.
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In late 1977, Groves met 17-year-old
Jeanette Baca, whom he persuaded to engage in prostitution and became her pimp. On June 11, 1978, Baca's naked body was found in the woodland in
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possession at the time. Since he was able to prove that she was a drug addict prone to committing such offenses, in
February of that year, Groves was acquitted.
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Vincent Groves was born on April 19, 1954, in the family of a postman and a teacher, the eldest of three sons. The family lived in the western Denver suburb of
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and found a job as a janitor, working both at one of the local churches and at a department store. In his spare time, he visited one of the main streets on
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Mark Brown (April 15, 1990). "Prosecutors put hopes on line in slaying cases solution to puzzle proving elusive". Rocky
Mountain News.
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440:"People v. Groves. The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Vincent Darrell GROVES, Defendant-Appellant"
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team's star player, thanks to which he was popular and had many friends and acquaintances. After school, he entered
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358:"Colo. Authorities: Deceased serial killer Vincent Groves may have had up to 20 victims from 1970s - '80s"
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Groves returned to Denver to live with his parents. With the support of his father, Vincent bought a blue
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In the early 1990s, Vincent Groves began to have health problems. He was diagnosed with
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Vincent Groves was convicted of Lovato's killing in 1990, receiving
471:"Dead Colorado serial killer tied to 4 other murders, maybe more"
457:"Deceased serial killer linked to murders of 4 Colorado women"
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Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by
Colorado
183:(April 19, 1954 – October 31, 1996) was an American
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522:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
187:who murdered at least seven girls and women in
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338:List of serial killers in the United States
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572:Serial killers who died in prison custody
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403:"Wheat Ridge High School Yearbook 1972"
389:"Wheat Ridge High School Yearbook 1972"
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552:People convicted of murder by Colorado
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517:American people convicted of murder
35:Denver District Attorney's Office
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507:20th-century American criminals
426:"Chasing A Ghost. October 2012"
512:American murderers of children
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567:Serial killers from Colorado
547:People acquitted of assault
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537:Criminals from Colorado
532:American serial killers
214:Wheat Ridge High School
117:+ 20 years imprisonment
181:Vincent Darrell Groves
81:Denver, Colorado, U.S.
49:Vincent Darrell Groves
16:American serial killer
542:Deaths from hepatitis
130:7–20+ (3 convictions)
428:. 24 September 2012.
262:second-degree murder
254:San Jose, California
234:Gates Rubber Company
104:Second-degree murder
238:red-light districts
136:Span of crimes
557:People from Denver
230:Cedar Rapids, Iowa
476:Los Angeles Times
301:life imprisonment
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170:September 1, 1988
115:Life imprisonment
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74:October 31, 1996
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76:(1996-10-31)
502:1996 deaths
497:1954 births
313:Hepatitis C
287:, near the
269:AMC Concord
226:Coe College
210:Wheat Ridge
204:Early years
491:Categories
344:References
258:Georgetown
218:Dave Logan
55:1954-04-19
323:Aftermath
140:1978–1988
363:CBS News
332:See also
193:Colorado
159:Colorado
154:State(s)
277:cocaine
145:Country
127:Victims
122:Details
189:Denver
99:Murder
63:Denver
307:Death
295:Trial
315:and
289:I-25
71:Died
45:Born
39:1988
228:in
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448:^
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106:x1
101:x2
37:c.
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53:(
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