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Colo. police say Stutzman knew victims, killed in '85
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Jan 01, 2008
A former Amish man from Wayne County remains a suspect in two decades-old, unsolved slayings in Colorado, despite the fact that a bloody palm print found at one of the scenes doesn't match his, police said Monday.
''We are still working on DNA evidence that might come through and have some sort of connection,'' Durango, Colo., police Sgt. Rita Warfield said.
One-time Dalton resident Eli Stutzman, who became infamous nationwide in the late 1980s as the father of ''Little Boy Blue,'' committed suicide a year ago in Texas at the age of
56.
Durango police requested fingerprints and DNA from his body in an attempt to link him to the 1985 killings of two gay men in their community.
Stutzman, who was gay, lived in Colorado for a short time and authorities have said that he knew both victims, David Tyler, 36, and Dennis Slaeter, 24, who were killed a month apart.
Palm print unidentified
A bloody palm print found in an automotive shop where Tyler was killed didn't match, but Stutzman could have had an accomplice, Warfield said. Authorities don't know whose print it is.
Police are waiting for other DNA evidence from Stutzman to be analyzed at a state crime lab and tracking down people to interview them again about the killings.
''The interviews may really prove to be a big link for us,'' she said.
Some people declined to talk with authorities at the time of the slayings or never stepped forward because they were afraid of Stutzman, she said.
Wife and son dead
His troubled past included the suspicious deaths of his pregnant wife, Ida, in a barn fire in Dalton, Wayne County, in 1977, and the death of his 9-year-old son Danny, whose body was found abandoned in a frozen ditch in Nebraska in 1985.
Danny, who was wearing blue pajamas, became known as Little Boy Blue. His real name and connection to Stutzman remained a mystery for two years until someone reading a Reader's Digest story about the case recognized his picture.
Although authorities believed Stutzman had killed his son, there was no physical evidence and he was convicted in 1988 on misdemeanor charges of abandoning a body and concealing the death of another person.
Killed roommate
He also was convicted a year later of killing his roommate in Texas in 1985 and spent several years in prison before being paroled in 2002.
Gregg Olsen, who wrote the book Abandoned Prayers about Stutzman and runs the Web site http://www.crimerant.com, said he's disappointed that the palm print didn't match Stutzman.
''There is other evidence that points to Stutzman and I'm sure as late as they are on it, Colorado investigators will still be able to solve the crimes,'' he said in an e-mail.
''I've always believed he was involved in those murders in Colorado, but I guess my greatest frustration in Stutzman's trail of death was the death of his wife Ida in Wayne County. I'm 100 percent certain that Eli killed Ida and I think it could have easily been proved at trial.''
At the time, Stutzman told authorities that Ida was overcome in the fire and he tried to revive her.
Olsen has accused Wayne County authorities of not fully investigating because the death involved an Amish family.
''Just think, if Wayne County had done its job, it is likely that four other people would still be alive — including Danny, Little Boy Blue,'' he said.
Anyone with information about the Colorado slayings should call Durango police at 970-375-4730.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
A former Amish man from Wayne County remains a suspect in two decades-old, unsolved slayings in Colorado, despite the fact that a bloody palm print found at one of the scenes doesn't match his, police said Monday.
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