The identification of a suspect in four murders in Denver over 40 years ago has further cemented the importance of cold case units within police departments, as well as investigative genetic genealogy.
On Friday, the Denver Police Department announced they identified Joe Michael Ervin as the man responsible for stabbing four women to death in separate incidents between 1979 and 1981. The investigators expressed their disappointment that they couldn’t bring Ervin to justice themselves. He committed suicide in 1981 in a suburban Denver jail after he shot and killed officer Debra Sue Corr of the Aurora Police Department when she tried to arrest him during a traffic stop.
“With her sacrifice, (Corr) prevented him from killing anyone else. It’s clear he wasn’t going to stop on his own,” Molly Livaudais, the daughter of one of the stabbing victims, told The Denver Post.
Madeleine Furey-Livaudais was Ervin’s first victim in December 1978. He entered her residence and stabbed her multiple times. In August 1980, Ervin murdered Dolores Barajas, leaving her stabbed body in the middle of the road. He did it again in four months, also leaving Gwendolyn Harris’ stabbed body in the road. Just one month after that, in January 1981, Ervin stabbed Antoinette Parks to death and left her body in a field.
The cases went cold pretty quickly, but funding and grants provided by Metro Denver Crime Stoppers and the NIJ allowed Denver Police’s Cold Case Unit to review the cases multiple times in the ensuing four decades.
Initially, and decades later, investigators worked and reviewed each case as separate incidents—until evidence started linking them. In June 2013, DNA evidence linked the murders of Livaudais and Barajas. In December 2015, DNA from Harris’ case was linked to the two prior cases. Finally, in October 2018, DNA from Parks’ case was linked to the other three—leaving investigators with an unknown serial killer.
In 2019, using in-house genetic genealogy, the investigative team was able to narrow down their focus to a man with Texas roots. In 2021, the Denver crime lab and cold case investigators worked with their counterparts in Texas to conduct a familial search of the Texas CODIS database. Detectives identified a relative in the database and quickly focused their efforts on one person: Joe Michael Ervin.
Detectives hit another wall when they realized Ervin died 40 years earlier. Commander Mat Clark of Denver PD’s Major Crimes Division said countless efforts to secure his archived DNA failed. So, investigators did the next best thing—they obtained a search warrant to exhume Ervin’s body to obtain a DNA sample for comparison.
In January 2022, the crime lab revealed the DNA sample taken from Ervin’s body matched the previously unmatched DNA profile of the offender believed to be responsible for the stabbing deaths of the four victims.
“This is why we have a dedicated cold case unit,” said Paul Pazen, Chief of Police, Denver Police Department. “Their motto is ‘we will never forget.’ That is why we have a world-class crime lab with forensic scientists and professional staff and dedicated individuals to bring closure to families.”
The identification of Ervin via genetic genealogy and familial DNA research was a result of Denver’s Integrated Cold Case Project, which is funded in part through a $470,000 Genetic Genealogy & Familial Match Searching grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
The successful model of Denver’s Integrated Cold Case Project, which launched in 2004, has produced unprecedented results for a jurisdiction its size, says the Denver Police Department. This includes: DNA analysis of more than 1,120 cases, a CODIS hit rate of 50%, and filing of 130 criminal cases and adjudication of 126 cases.
Pazen said the department and cold case unit is committed to using technology to solve more cases, but believes there is more that can be done.
“Often, there is witness information out there that can help,” said Pazen during the Friday news conference. “Today, not only do we remember victims and their families but we also have a call to action. My plea, my ask, if that if you have any information on any homicide or crime, please come forward. We need to help more families in our community.”
Photo: Antoinette Parks, Madeleine Furey-Livaudais and Gwendolyn Harris. At the family’s request, Dolores Barajas’ photo was withheld. Credit: DPD