This twisted trail kept giving up more murders and mayhem the more I looked into it. The timelines and the lists of murders grew more than I realized. This group of spree killers was so bad they even turned on each other. Hold on tight as we work our way through this one.

Unexpected Late-Night Visitor

Picture this if you will; it’s July 1, 1975, you have just come home from work, and it’s 3 AM, and you’re ready to sleep. It’s been a long day, and you go to your back porch to shut off your porch light. As you reach for the switch, you glance down and see feet. Annoyed, you open your back door, thinking it’s a vagrant on your back porch. When you look outside, you realize something horrific has happened.

A woman is lying on your porch steps with blood all around her. Your mind begins to race. You just stare, shaken to your core. You don’t know what happened. What’s going on? Who is this woman? How did she end up here, on your porch step? She’s dead. Her hazel eyes are open and looking up at you from her horror-stricken face. Your fear and anxiety are just overwhelming. Your next thought is, I should call the police!? You run back through your home to dial 911. When you finally hear the voice on the other end, you tell the operator, “There’s a dead woman on my back porch! Send the police! Send help! I don’t know what happened. I just got home!”

This is where our true crime story for this week will start, with the discovery of a Jane Doe.

Who Is This Jane Doe

Homicide Detective Lou Smit takes the lead in this investigation, along with the officers initially dispatched to the scene. They begin their investigation at the crime scene, around the porch and mobile home, where the body was found.

While awaiting the arrival of the coroner and the Assistant District Attorney, Chuck Heim, they realize a blood trail leads from the porch to the alleyway. Close to the alley, there is a large pool of blood. They realize this must have been where the stabbing took place. This poor woman had crawled and dragged herself about 800 feet with dying breaths. Toward the porch light, thinking she could get help.

When one of the officers followed the trail back to the porch, they noticed a bloody handprint reaching up toward the doorbell. It was only four inches below the button. Then it slid down the metal wall. This young woman was fighting for her life.  

Investigation At Mobile Home Park

The mobile homeowner, John, was distraught as he relayed his account. He strained to recall any strange things he could remember happening in the last twenty-four hours. When he arrived home, he vaguely recalled hearing clunking noises but wasn’t sure what it was. While telling his story, a man came through the mobile home park riding a bicycle with a broken pedal.

The police officer questioned the man, Alex Calzetto, about what he was going out at this hour and his whereabouts in the last few hours. Alex told them that he had gone on a beer run. The police officers went to the convenience store where Alex had told them he had been. The clerk confirmed Alex’s story, he had indeed come in for the beer, and this was something he did on several occasions, so it wasn’t something out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, while the officers were verifying Mr. Calzetto’s alibi, another officer found Mr. Calzetto was wanted for an outstanding warrant for assault. The police took him into custody.

The police had very little to go on this early in the investigation. The young woman didn’t have any identification on her: in fact, the only thing that they found in the front pocket of her jeans was a golden key that appeared to be a house key, but they weren’t confident at this point. The woman was five foot six inches tall, dressed in a bloody two-tone green pullover and blue jeans, and she wore brown open-toe shoes. She was caucasian and appeared to be around 20 years old, with brown shoulder-length hair and hazel eyes. At this moment, the police didn’t know who this Jane Doe was.

The Coroner Arrives

The coroner, Dr. Urich, arrived at the crime scene to take Jane Doe’s body back to his office to begin the autopsy. While the coroner was looking at the crime scene, Detective Smit asked him if he could determine the time of death. Or if he might be able to say what had killed this woman. The coroner hesitated on the time of death, but he did say that clearly, the woman had bled out from the gaping stab wound to her neck that had severed her carotid artery. Besides the obvious, in his preliminary exam of the body at the crime scene, it appeared to him that she had been stabbed four times in the back. There were also scratches on the victim’s face. The detectives would have to wait for the autopsy findings. The coroner removed the body from the crime scene to start the autopsy.  

No Tips Left Univestigated

Since this happened in 1975, Jane Doe’s fingerprints were submitted to NCIC (National Criminal IdentificationCenter’s database, which started in 1967), but it would take weeks to review them. In the meantime, Detective Smit was running out of leads to track down the woman’s identity. He asked the media for help with getting descriptions of the woman out to the public and was hoping to get some tips.

A possible tip is about a man covered in blood walking into an apartment. Detective Smit and another detective went to the apartment complex to follow up on this tip. They contacted Ms. Erickson, who told them about a man in the same apartment complex who was hobbling into his apartment, and that he was covered in blood.

The detectives located the man, Mr. Connely, and questioned him in his residence. Mr. Connely stated he was recently involved in a motorcycle accident, and he’s had issues walking ever since. The detectives noted that he had a cut over his right eye, and they asked him about it. Mr. Connely stated that he had forgotten his cane at home when he went for beer and had tripped. His shirt was covered in blood before he got to the store, and he told the detectives the clerk would be able to verify. He also gave the detectives a receipt for the beer and bandages he purchased at 3:15 PM on July 1.

The detectives then confirm Mr. Connely’s story with the convenience store clerks. Mr. Connely’s story checks out, and he is eliminated from being tied to the Jane Doe murder.

Tip to Identity

Another good tip comes from a lady named Pamela Rouse, who says the victim was her roommate. The detectives meet with Ms. Rouse at her apartment and take her information to see what they might find out. Ms. Rouse tells the detectives about Karan, her roommate. Also, how she always carried a gold key when she left the apartment.

This sounds very promising since the information about the key hadn’t previously been released to the public. Detective Smit then takes the key from an evidence bag and tries it in the front door lock, which works. The detectives have hit pay dirt. They have unofficially found the identity of their Jane Doe. Now they might be able to get some traction on their investigation.

Ms. Rouse shows the detectives a picture of Karen Grammer and tells them she was a waitress at the Red Lobster restaurant on South Academy Blvd. She also means that she doesn’t have any family in the area. Karen’s family is from Florida, and Karen’s brother Kelsey is devastated. Ms. Rouse t en tells the police about how the two siblings were very close. She also tells them that Karen is blind without her glasses.

Thanks to Ms. Rouse, the detectives now have more to go on. They are more determined than ever to solve this case. They have a name, place of employment, and a new question. Where are Karen’s glasses?

The Leads Are Heating Up

Detective Smit goes to the Red Lobster on South Academy Blvd. He first speaks with the manager, who lets the police know Karen hasn’t shown up for her last few shifts, which isn’t normal for her. After the manager is educated on why the detectives are at the Red Lobster, the manager tells Detective Smit he didn’t work on Karen’s last shift, but the host did. And he points out the host to the detectives.

Next, Detective Smit speaks with the host, Tyler Harrington (who is 17 at the time). Tyler ends up letting the detective know that after Karen’s shift, she changed and was waiting outside for another employee to get off of work. There was a failed robbery attempt by three African American men. The reason the robbery had failed. The cash drawer was locked in the safe before the attempt. Then Detective Smit was informed that all the men had military haircuts, and one wore a field jacket.

Family Touched by Tragedy Again

The detectives flew down to Florida to tell Karen’s mother and brother the news of Karen’s death. When the detectives arrived at Karen’s mother’s home, they met Kelsey, her 20-year-old brother, who officially identified Karen as his sister. Kelsey went on to relay to the detectives that Karen and Kelsey’s father had been murdered five years before. Through their grief, they became extremely close.

Do We Have Spree Killings Or Serial Murder?

Detective Smit returns to the Colorado Springs Police Department, and two other homicide detectives were working on two other robbery homicides. The other detectives were brainstorming and comparing their investigations. Detective Smit then begins to ask these detectives if there are any suspect descriptions. Bells started going off for the three separate murders, and they realized their cases might be linked.

On June 19, 1975, the first victim was Daniel Von Lone, who was found on the side of the road by a patrolman. Daniel was a cook at the Four Seasons restaurant. He had a scarf over his face and was shot in the left temple.

On June 27, 1975, Winford Proffitt was murdered only three days before Karen. Winford was stabbed in the chest with an Army-issued bayonet and found at Prospect Lake. The witness had also reported seeing a green Oldsmobile driving around the area just before and after the murder.

At this point in the investigations, it was only theorized that both Proffitt and Von Lone had also been robbed. (We will explain in just a bit how bad these evil spree killers were at robbery.) Witness descriptions of all three murders seemed to match up. Each detective continued to work on tips and various angles of their cases but came together to compare the similarities and differences of their criminal investigations.

Time to Make a Deal With the Devil

Larry Dunn was arrested in New Orleans, Louisiana, on unrelated charges. While being interviewed by police, He said he had information about some murders in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Dunn said he would talk but wanted to get complete immunity in Colorado for those murders. Once the immunity deal was agreed to, he gave information on the spree killers and spilled the beans on everything. Oh, boy, did he! According to Dunn, the Colorado Springs detectives were right. The three murders were tied together, and so much more.

Dunn’s story of how things unfolded will make the Grim folk mad. Such senseless acts show these murderers were not only horrible at robbery but were vicious and had no regard for human life.

Three Murders Become Linked

Let us start with the list of spree killings that have convictions. Then we will go on to discuss separately the two that didn’t.

On June 19, 1975, the murder of Daniel Von Lone was committed by Freddie Glenn, but Michael Corbett and Larry Dunn were also present. The three waited for Von Lone to get off his job as a chef at the Four Seasons to rob him. Von Lone pleaded for his life and was shot and killed for fifty cents in his pocket.

On June 27, 1975, Winford Proffitt wanted to buy some marijuana, so he agreed to meet up with Freddie Glenn, Michael Corbett, and Larry Dunn at Prospect Lake. There were never any drugs. It was just a setup to rob Proffitt (who only had ten dollars). Dunn stated that Corbett stabbed Proffitt with a bayonet during the robbery and that he had committed it. He wanted to feel what it was like to stab a man. They left Proffitt there, and witnesses stated they had seen a green Oldsmobile leaving the scene.

On June 30, 1975, Karen Grammer was sitting outside the Red Lobster on South Academy Blvd., waiting for a coworker to get off their shift. Glenn, Dunn, and Corbett had all been partying at their apartment, drinking, and taking hits of acid. They hatched a plan to go rob someplace. Driving around, they decided they would rob the Red Lobster restaurant. They entered the restaurant but were told the cash drawer had already been locked in the safe. So, they leave. On their way out, they noticed the girl sitting outside, and they were afraid the girl could identify them. So, they kidnapped her. Then they go up the street to the 7-Eleven store (on Pikes Peak and South Academy Blvd) and rob it. Next, they take Karen back to their apartment and rape her for four hours.

“They had raped her every which way that was possible, and

that is all I am going to say about that.”

Chuck Heim from Homicide Hunter, episode “Animals,”

They decided they were going to dump her somewhere. They were going to let her live. The three men loaded her back into Glenn’s car and drove around. The men removed Karen’s glasses and placed them on the dashboard. Then they eventually went down an alleyway near a trailer park in southern Colorado Springs and stopped. They get Karen out of the back seat. Dunn says Glenn had a change of heart about letting Karen live. Glenn got out of the car after grabbing a knife and stabbing her in the back and neck. He twisted the knife’s blade with the last wound to her neck. Glenn gets back in the car, and the three men leave.

Karen then stumbled, fell, and dragged her way towards the light, hoping to get help. She was nearly blind without her glasses and was severely wounded. Even with all of this, she made her way to the porch. Karen died, reaching for the doorbell, merely inches away.

Murder’s Kill One of Their Own

On July 25, 1975, Richard Mobley and Michael Corbett shot Winslow Watson III four times in the face. Watson, it turns out, had been running with some of the evilest spree-killers. Newspaper articles state that he was also a murderer, but I couldn’t find what murder (or murders) he might have been tied to. Let’s get back to why they killed him. Watson had stolen a loaf of bread from one of their neighbors. When Corbett about the theft confronted Watson, he was shot. His body was dumped off on the 1300 block of Baylor Drive like trash.

Supposedly, the Watson murder is what caused Dunn to flee from Colorado.

Spree Murders At Bell’s Nightingale Night Club

On August 30, 1975, Corbett and Mitchell Carlton Martin went to Bell’s Nightingale Club on Las Vegas Street in Southern Colorado Springs. The men went on a shooting spree that killed Ricky Lewis at the scene. Five other men were also injured from the shotgun blasts. Melvin Cole, 22, was immediately taken to the ICU in critical condition. Also wounded were: Arlee Fulton Sturdivant, 24: John E. Hudson, 23: King Leon Moore, Jr., 19; and Thomas Lee Lilledge, who was also only 20 years old when he died later from his injuries at a hospital in Ft. Carson Army base.

In this particular case, Michael Corbett was charged with first-degree murder for Lewis. Corbett was also charged with three counts of first-degree assault (Hudson, Cole, Milledge) and two counts of second-degree assault for Moore and Sturdivant. Mitchell Martin was arrested and later pleaded down to accessory to murder only for Ricky Lewis’s murder after he too turned on Corbett. On September 1, 1975, Michael Corbett was arrested.

Wait! Who did What?

If the Grim folk has been following along so far, it is clear there is a leader in this twisted trail of famous spree killers, and that would be Michael Corbett. Some of the killers were on active duty in the Army at the time. Those would be Corbett, Dunn, and Glenn, for sure. What I wasn’t able to find was how Richard Mobley fit in, nor Mitchell Martin, so there are still some unanswered questions. If any of the Grim folk can find answers, please feel free to let us know, and we can make corrections with verifiable sources.

Below is a makeshift chart to try and explain which spree killers were involved in each murder. There are no lines to two of the victims, but we will explain a bit about each of them shortly and let you all make up your own minds.

Spree Killer List

What Do You Mean There is More!?

There are two murder victims that may or may not be from our spree killers. I will let you decide.

Unsolved Murder of Francis Romish

Francis Romisch was murdered. On June 17, 1975, he was found ten miles south of the main gate to Ft. Carson on Highway 115. He was shot outside his bullet-riddled truck. If he were a part of this, this would make him the first victim. Try as I might, I couldn’t find anything on his murder other than the preliminary report. It remains unsolved, and I don’t know if any suspects might be related to this one. All I know about this case is that it was being investigated by the El Paso County Sherriff’s office since it was outside the city and federal limits. Currently, this case is with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation Cold Case Unit.

Next, y’all may not have been aware that Larry Dunn was under investigation by the FBI when he was arrested in New Orleans. This fact alone implicates him in this subsequent murder. As this one was committed on Ft. Carson’s Army base, this was being investigated by the FBI since any military bases are federal land.

The murder of Milton Abramson, Cab Driver

On July 3, 1975, cab driver Milton Abramson, 54, died from multiple stab wounds. Mr. Abramson was found three and a half miles from his cab on Butts Road near the airfield on Ft. Carson Army base. Abramson had reported to his dispatch that two men had flagged him down for a ride to the airport. The cab company Mr. Abramson worked for became concerned after not hearing from him for 45 minutes. They told authorities that he had not reported in after his last fair. Mr. Abramson was stabbed over twenty-five times in the neck, chest, and abdomen.

The FBI (which has jurisdiction over murders committed on federal land) was working with military police to investigate this murder. The FBI was said to have believed Mr. Abramson was also robbed before his murder.

Wrapping Things Up

As of January 2022, when this was researched and written, I was able to find out that Larry Dunn was sent to a prison outside of Colorado on separate unrelated charges and has since died.

Michael Corbett converted to Islam during his incarceration and went by the name Hasani Chinangwa. He got an associate degree in sociology and social studies and had been working on a bachelor’s degree. In 2019 he was suffering from kidney failure and was transferred from a Colorado prison to a Denver hospital and died after life support had been withdrawn by his daughter.

All I could find on Richard Mobley was that at some point, he was arrested in Florida.

Convicted Murderer Freddie Glenn

This leaves us with Freddie Glenn, who is still alive and serving a life sentence for Karen Grammer’s death. Glenn also converted to Islam and went by the name Siyani Masamba. Initially, he was sentenced to death in the gas chamber, but Colorado changed its death penalty laws, which changed his original sentence to life in prison. He was also convicted for the murders of Proffitt and Von Lone. He has been up for parole several times. The most recent was in 2021, and all have been denied.

There is a Linked In story where the author is reporting “Glenn’s side of the story.” This makes for an exciting read but rubbed me the wrong way in the end. I would hope folks would look at it for what it is worth. And see through the smoke and mirror shenanigans. Glenn, at one point, stated he was the only one of the murderers with a car, so he had to drive them everywhere. Unpack that a moment. If he genuinely drove them everywhere, how many of the rest of the murders did he not get convicted of?? Wow! Just wow! That is all I can say.

If any of you would like to take a gander, it is listed in the sources below. I also found that Karen’s brother Kelsey and Proffitt’s wife have gone or given statements for each parole hearing, and Detective Smit and the District Attorney that prosecuted the cases.

Families That Were Impacted

Kelsey is very passionate about having a voice in each parole hearing due to his father’s murder not being able to be tried due to his murderer’s insanity. When that murderer was released, Kelsey found out from a headline in the National Inquirer. Kelsey Grammer is a far better person than most. I am not sure I could be as forgiving as he has been with Glenn.

In the video, Kelsey says, “I accept that you live with remorse every day of your life, but I live with the tragedy every day of mine.” This is only a two-minute clip from ABC News off of YouTube, Kelsey’s words were very moving.

Final Thoughts on This Twisted Trail of Murders

After listening to a podcast that stated Karen’s murder was unsolved, I began looking into the case. I found this information not only inaccurate but there was a list of spree killers. I have slimmed down the information I was able to verify due to the sheer volume.

All of these victims had families who loved them, people who cared and had suffered at the hands of these evil spree killers. I don’t want to discount the victims or their families or friends. Proffitt’s widow is just as active in the parole hearings as Kelsey. She has remarried, and still, she continues every couple of years. It is plainly evident she is still in pain over these senseless acts.

This was a tough case with so many different rabbit holes. Nothing about this whole killing spree was straightforward. We could blame drugs and alcohol for some of the chaos, sure. But not everything.

Unanswered Questions About These Murders

I can say there is a massive number of things I don’t understand. For instance, Dunn was investigated by the FBI for the Ft. Carson murder. Why wasn’t he charged with that? After all he got away with Karen’s, Proffitt’s, and Von Lone’s murders. Who was the second man in the cab driver’s murder? Was Dunn not charged for Abramson’s murder as part of the immunity deal? But the immunity deal was only for El Paso County and wouldn’t include Ft. Carson? I have so many questions. . .

What are your thoughts? Do you think justice was served?

Wanting More True Crime?

If you want more Colorado true crime, we have a couple of more posts you can get your hands on. Colorado’s Other Cannibal is not about Alferd Packer. This case wasn’t out of survivalist need, and it has a dramatic twist. We also have the story of the first act of domestic terrorism with air travel in High Flying Murder. The High Flying Murder case had the first televised court case for the U.S., the earliest use of fingerprinting being used for mass identifications, and was the start of the FAA crash investigation techniques that are still used today.

Sources

All pictures and videos used in this blog are done, so under the Fair Use Act, I have tried to give credit to all originators.

https://apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=1183

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5163229/Kelsey-Grammer-forgives-sisters-brutal-murderer.html

https://gazette.com/news/lindas-world-murder-boxes-of-cash-tax-evasion-prison/article_498fbb57-4994-5b79-a136-54bc15017431.htm

Homicide Hunter Season 9 Episode 18 “Animals”

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/freddie-glenn-story-his-side-kenneth-patterson/

https://more.ppld.org/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/Homicides/19750701.pdf

https://more.ppld.org/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/Homicides/19750617.pdf

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94068474/gazette-telegraph-sunday-august-31-1975/

Supreme Court of Appeals May 12, 1980, 611 P.2d 965 People of the state of Colorado vs. Michael Corbett https://law.justia.com