This story is a long sordid story of celebrity, murder, money, the rich and cocaine. Boulder was all abuzz in the early disco punk 80′s when Cocaine made everyones eyeballs buldge out and turned one poor Longmont drug dealer into a murderer.
The way the story goes is that Sid Wells and Shauna Redford were part of the rich cool CU cocaine set.. Thayne Smika was the poor kid from Longmont who was a drug dealer who wormed his way into Sid Wells life. According to a source who was part of their inner CU circle and now a Boulder businessman “Wells was trying to get away from Smika who was crazy. Noone could figure out why Sid would want to hang out with Thayne who was not at CU. It was the cocaine pure and simple. But I didn’t like the guy….he was a scumbag..”the source said.
Smika shot Sid Wells with a shotgun. Because the case was so convoluted, the DA at the time found it difficult to file charges which infuriated The Wells family and led to a nasty attack on the Boulder DA office.
Robert Redford who himself is a 1955 CU graduate with friends in Boulder was also vocally not happy. But according to sources in the Boulder DA’s office at the time , Wells and Smika well heavily involved in drugs and crime. Ballistics on the shotgun were difficult although there were bloody clothes found and everything led to Smika. Over the past decade Boulder PD has issued statements that they wanted to talk to Smika… as though he would turn himself in. No he was long gone and disappeared off the face of the earth. This new warrant on Smika may put him a little higher on police radar worldwide, but if Smika has evaded police for 14 years, don’t expect an arrest anytime soon.
This was the first big Boulder Police and DA screw up years before the JonBenet Ramsey case hit and missed. Long time Boulder residents remember it all. But it is all news to our social media kids who read this blog. The Ramsey case again put the DA and cops at odds, but the Sid Wells murder case really split the cops and DA’s office. The filing of charges puts both DA and Police working together. However, let us not forget that DA Stan Garnett took the Ramsey case out of the DA’s office and gave it back to the police where it belonged the whole time.
Boulder police have wanted to talk to Burke Ramsey who is now in his 20′s. Though former DA Mary Lacy cleared John and Patsy Ramsey, the new DA Garnett undid that in short order. There has always been suspicion on the entire Ramsey family over at Boulder PD as well as with Alex Hunter the original DA on the Smika and Ramsey case. They both rejected the intruder theory put forth by assistant DA Tripp Demuth. That got Demuth fired.
We may see a whole turn of events on both the Smika and Ramsey case: right or wrong. Boulder DAs office and the Police department have tarnished reputations over the Sid Wells and JonBennet murder cases. They want these murders solved like no other. Below is the PD official press release concerning Smika. It was written by Police chief Mark Beckner who worked on the Sid wells murder case and was lead investigator on the Ramsey case after it blew up. Boulder doesn’t have many murder cases but when we do they are Murder Mysterys.
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011
Contact:
Chief Mark Beckner, Police Department, 303-441-3310
Boulder police obtain arrest warrant in 1983 homicide
The Boulder Police Department has obtained a warrant for the arrest of a longtime suspect in the homicide of Sid Wells, who was shot in the head and found in his home in the 800 block of 29th Street on Aug. 1, 1983. The warrant orders the arrest of Thayne Smika, who was one of Wells’ roommates at the time of the crime. The charge is first-degree murder. Bail has been set at $5 million.
The warrant was issued by a Boulder District Court judge in December and unsealed this afternoon, Thursday, Jan. 13, after police efforts to locate Smika were unsuccessful. Smika, born Feb. 27, 1959, disappeared from the local area in 1986, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. There are some indications that he may have fled to another country and assumed a new identity.
“The Boulder Police Department has been committed to solving this case since the day it happened,” said Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner, “and 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.”
Beckner noted that the warrant is the initial step in what is likely to be a long process. The chief urged anyone with information about Smika or his whereabouts anytime since 1986 to contact detectives through a voicemail hotline at 303-441-1974.
“We are asking for the public’s assistance in determining this individual’s current location so that we can bring him back to Colorado to be held accountable for the death of Sid Wells,” Beckner said. “Even information that appears to be outdated may be of help to this ongoing investigation.”
The Boulder Police Department has worked closely with the District Attorney’s Office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on this case.
“We appreciate the support of our fellow law enforcement agencies. They have helped with the forensic analysis of available evidence and in attempting to locate the suspect,” Beckner said. “We also appreciate the cooperation of witnesses who stepped forward when the crime occurred and those who have spoken with investigators more recently. We know they share our commitment to resolving this case on behalf of Sid Wells and his family.”
A copy of the affidavit is available through the courts. A copy of a 1983 booking mug and three artist renditions of how Smika might look today are attached to this release.
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