The murder of John Curtis Patterson
Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado · 1975
Overview
John Curtis Patterson, a 20-year-old gas station clerk, was found fatally stabbed in the chest in the restroom of the Cascade Service Station on North Broadway in Boulder, Colorado, on September 29, 1975. The cash register had been emptied, pointing to a robbery. A 32-year-old career criminal named Louis Jess Locicero, who was staying at a nearby motel, was arrested days later after detectives found a .30 caliber M1 carbine, a knife matching the victim's wound, fibers from Patterson's shirt and hairs matching Patterson's head in his room, yet he was released before charges were filed and the case went cold for nearly 50 years. In 2025 the Boulder County Sheriff's Office announced the case solved after modern ballistics technology and re-examined physical evidence tied Locicero to the killing; the district attorney concluded the proof established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but Locicero had died in 2024.
How it was solved
The break came not from DNA but from a re-investigation that re-examined the original physical evidence with technology that did not exist in 1975. Detectives with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office took up the long-dormant case and applied a ballistics-imaging tool known as the Ballistics IQ device, made by a company called Evidence IQ, to the two unfired .30 caliber cartridges recovered from the murder-scene restroom and the cartridges found decades earlier in Louis Jess Locicero's motel room. The device, and the ballistics experts who confirmed its findings, linked all of the cartridges to a single firearm: Locicero's .30 caliber M1 carbine. That ballistic connection was the decisive piece that 1975 investigators had lacked, and it reinforced the other physical evidence collected at the time, a knife that matched Patterson's fatal wound, fibers from Patterson's shirt found on the knife and in its sheath, and hairs found on Locicero's boots that matched hair from Patterson's head. The Boulder County District Attorney's Office reviewed the assembled evidence and concluded it established proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Locicero committed the robbery and murder, and that probable cause existed to arrest him had he still been alive. Locicero, who had a criminal history including robbery, burglary, drug and weapon charges, had died in March 2024, so no charges could be filed. On May 7, 2025, the Sheriff's Office and District Attorney Michael Dougherty publicly identified Locicero as the killer and announced the nearly 50-year-old case closed.
Sources
- New Ballistics Technology and Forensic Findings Lead to Closure of Cold Case
“20-year-old John Curtis Patterson, a clerk at the Cascade Service Station, deceased in a restroom ... Key evidence found in Locicero's motel room, including a .30 caliber M1 carbine firearm, a knife that matched the victim's wound, and fibers from Patterson's shirt found on the knife and in the sheath, and hairs found on Locicero's boots matched hair from Patterson's head ... the Ballistics IQ device from Evidence IQ ... linked the cartridges found at the murder scene and cartridges found in Locicero's nearby hotel room to a single firearm.”
- 1975 Boulder cold case solved with the help of new ballistics technology, forensic findings
“John Patterson, 20, worked as a clerk at the Cascade Service Station. On September 29, 1975, he was found dead from a stab wound in the gas station bathroom ... The cash register was open with money missing ... Detective Don Dillard stated: This is why the Boulder County Sheriff's Office spends time investigating cold cases.”
- Boulder County Sheriff's Office solves 50-year-old cold case
“He was arrested but mysteriously released before charges could be filed ... Locicero died in 2024 and cannot be charged. However, District Attorney Michael Dougherty concluded: with this new evidence, we would have been able to file charges.”
- Deputies use new technology to solve 1975 cold case
“Deputies found two unfired .30 caliber cartridges near Patterson's body bearing extractor marks and indications of light hits on the primers ... Detectives recently utilized the Ballistics IQ device to link cartridges from the crime scene and Locicero's hotel room to his firearm. Evidence IQ ballistics experts confirmed the findings.”
- Boulder County deputies use new technology to solve 1975 cold case
“On September 29, 1975, deputies found 20-year-old John Curtis Patterson dead in the Cascade Service Station restroom at 4500 North Broadway in Boulder ... District Attorney Michael Dougherty concluded: with this new evidence, we would have been able to file charges.”
- New ballistics technology, forensic findings closes nearly 50 year old Colorado cold case
“Locicero was arrested but released three days later for unknown reasons before charges were filed ... The Boulder District Attorney's Office determined that had he lived, authorities possessed probable cause to arrest him and would have charged him with first-degree murder.”
- New ballistics technology, forensic findings closes nearly 50 year old Colorado cold case
“Locicero, who was 32 years old at the time of the murder, died in Idaho in March 2024 ... The Boulder County District Attorney's Office reviewed the case and concluded the evidence establishes proof beyond a reasonable doubt Locicero committed the murder.”
- Deputies use new technology to solve 1975 cold case
“Using advanced Ballistics IQ technology, detectives linked cartridges from the crime scene to Locicero's firearm. Evidence IQ experts confirmed the findings ... Detective Don Dillard stated the investigation demonstrates why the Boulder County Sheriff's Office spends time investigating cold cases like this.”