Fred Kaysbier thought he was offering financial help to a troubled young man with a family. He thought he had a friend.
So, it was more than his body that hurt when Daniel Lowther, an Aurora home-improvement contractor now facing theft and fraud charges, allegedly punched Kaysbier and tried to run him over one snowy day last year.
“I don’t think as fast as I used to,” said Kaysbier, 78, of Aurora, who estimates he lost more than $180,000 to Lowther.
Kaysbier is among a growing number of people – many of them retirees – who have accused the 36-year-old man of taking their money.
Lowther, who has a lengthy criminal history, was arrested by U.S. marshals this month on the second hole of a golf course. Records show he faces 10 new charges that include theft, harassment and assault in four metro-Denver counties.
In a brief interview at Denver’s county jail, Lowther said that “some of the facts in the cases are far from true.”
He declined to elaborate, saying he wanted his lawyer present.
His lawyer, John Fuller, said it would be premature to comment because his client has not been formally advised of the charges against him.
Along with the criminal charges, records from civil court and federal bankruptcy court show that dozens of businesses, individuals and governments claim Lowther owes them money.
“I’m sure there are many more victims,” said Aurora police Detective Regina Britton. “He’s a very smooth talker. It’s an art, and he has definitely mastered it.”
Diana White said that when Lowther approached her about doing a remodeling job, she was swayed by the fact their children attended the same elementary school.
White said she has a daughter who uses a wheelchair, and she was planning to make a shower handicapped-accessible.
She also wanted her driveway fixed.
Lowther, she said, was taking his children to school and saw a contractor at her home giving a bid. He asked whether he could offer an estimate too. His bid was neither highest nor lowest, but they chose him because he seemed like a nice local guy, she said.
“Our kids go to school together. We thought, let’s just give it to him,” she said.
White said she paid him $1,800 upfront. The problems began almost immediately. He didn’t show up. He said he had problems with the concrete company. White said she gave him more money to buy materials.
Arapahoe County court records show she got a judgment against Lowther in 2003 for $3,320, but he hasn’t paid. White said she doubts she’ll ever see the money.
Joe Falco has the same feeling. The 59-year-old retired Aurora truck driver said he needed a new roof and found Lowther through a newspaper ad.
Falco gave Lowther $1,100 down, according to court records. First, Lowther said he was going to Oklahoma. Then, he was in jail on a larceny charge and couldn’t do the job, according to court records.
Eventually, Falco filed a report with police. And while he plans to vigorously pursue Lowther, he doesn’t see his roof getting done anytime soon.
“I’m on a restricted income because I’m retired,” Falco said. “It took awhile to get up that $1,100 to put down.”
Lloyd Zufelt, a middle-school teacher, also says Lowther owes him money. Zufelt said he paid Lowther $2,500 for new windows – work that was never done.
Britton, the Aurora police detective, said Lowther has been difficult to pursue because the kind of fraud he is accused of committing seems to fall in a gray area between criminal and civil proceedings. But she said she believes authorities will see facts that support criminal charges when they dig a little deeper.
“I think other agencies are finally starting to realize that they can file on him,” Britton said.
Kaysbier, the man who says Lowther assaulted him, remembers the day he met Lowther. It was dinnertime, he said, and Lowther was going door-to- door pitching vinyl siding.
He eventually signed a contract for a siding job and gave Lowther nearly $3,000.
“He can talk the wallpaper right off the wall,” Kaysbier said.
It was the beginning of a long relationship between the two.
Over a three-year-stretch that ended this month, Kaysbier bought materials for Lowther’s construction jobs, paid his utility bills and even bought him a used pickup truck. Soon, the retired radio announcer’s credit- card bills became so large that he could pay only the interest.
“I thought he was my friend, and I was trying to help him get on his feet,” Kaysbier said.
At the end of 2004, Kaysbier said, he became concerned about the debt and decided to take back the pickup.
On a November morning, he went to Lowther’s house with a key to the truck. Kaysbier was trying to figure out how to start it when Lowther “came flying out of the house” and got in the passenger door, Kaysbier said.
Kaysbier said Lowther hit him several times in the head and face and pushed him out of the truck. He said he dialed 911 as Lowther spun the truck around and drove toward him.
Kaysbier said his wrist hooked around the truck’s side mirror and he found himself running and being dragged for 20 to 25 feet as he struggled to get free.
When he did, he said, he was done with Lowther.
Kaysbier, who says he will have to file for bankruptcy, blames himself for thinking he could help Lowther.
“I should have known better,” he said.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
