The ex-girlfriend of a homeless man who was found dead in a Loveland irrigation ditch believes he was killed for a new pair of hiking boots he bought after selling a bicycle.
Sander “Sandy” W. Hansen, 48, drowned in the ditch behind a liquor store at 3655 N. Garfield Ave. after he was stabbed twice in the abdomen, said Dianne Fairman, chief deputy coroner for the Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office. Children playing nearby found the body Sunday.
Fairman said Hansen’s death has been ruled a homicide.
“That’s the place where a lot of homeless people go,” said Robbie Drewer, Hansen’s ex-girlfriend. “I’m thinking another homeless man may have stolen his boots.”
Drewer said Hansen also had money in his wallet after helping clear rebar from a friend’s yard. He sold his bike about two weeks ago at a garage sale and bought the boots because his tennis shoes had worn out, she said.
Police told her Hansen didn’t have his boots when his body was found, she said. Loveland police spokesman Benjamin Hurr said police don’t have a suspect.
Drewer said Hansen was the nicest man in the world when sober. “He would get vodka in him and he was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” she said. According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records, Hansen was arrested for investigation of assault, domestic violence and repeatedly violating restraining orders.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
