Twenty-seven years after the execution-style murder of 22-year-old Sid Wells, Boulder Police announced Thursday that they have obtained an arrest warrant in the case.
A Boulder District Court Judge has issued an arrest warrant for longtime suspect Thayne Smika, 51, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said. Wells was found dead by his older brother at the condominium where Wells lived on Aug. 1, 1983. He had suffered a close-range .20 gauge shotgun blast to the back of the head.
Smika, a college dropout and purported cocaine user with a criminal record was one of Wells’ roomates at the time.
“The Boulder Police Department has been committed to solving this case since the day it happened,” Beckner said. “We are pleased that a judge has looked at the evidence that has been compiled over 27 years and agreed that Thayne Smika should stand trial.”
Boulder Police suspected that Smika owed Wells rent money, and that a confrontation over the debt may have been the cause of Wells’ death.
After finding Wells’ body, police found Smika at his mother’s house in Akron, washing clothes. They also found a recently-cleaned shotgun. Smika was arrested several months later on suspicion of Wells’ murder, but released because prosecutors felt the case was too circumstantial.
Wells’ mother, June Menger of Longmont, told the Daily Camera Thursday that the warrant was a long time coming.
“It’s definitely a step forward that we’ve been waiting for for years,” Menger said. “We’ve always felt he was the one, but to get an arrest warrant is a big deal.”
The murder attracted national attention because Wells was dating Shauna Redford, the daughter of actor Robert Redford. Redford interrupted the filming of “The Natural” to attend Wells’ funeral in Longmont.
Evidence from the crime scene, including shotgun pellets and spent .20 gauge shells were sent to the FBI crime lab in 1997, but tests were discontinued in 2005.
Smika disappeared from the area in 1986 while facing unrelated forgery and theft charges, and police are asking for help in determining his whereabouts. “Even information that appears to be outdated may be of help to this ongoing investigation” Beckner said.
Police urge anyone with information about Smika or his whereabouts anytime since 1986 to contact detectives through a voicemail hotline at 303-441-1974.
Kyle Glazier:
303-954-1638 or kglazier@denverpost.com
Staff Writer Kirk Mitchell contributed to this report.
