In the quiet Denver neighborhood of Hilltop, the evening of April 1, 2017, was shattered by the sound of gunshots. Henry Wagner, a 56-year-old male, was at home with his wife when she noticed their truck was running in the driveway. Wagner went outside to turn it off and was met with a fatal burst of violence. His wife, a former 911 dispatcher, heard the pops and immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
Training kicking in, she resisted the urge to run toward the danger and instead called for help, a decision that marked the beginning of a long and painful ordeal.
When police arrived at their home near East 6th Avenue and North Olive Street, they found Wagner in his driveway with multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries. In the initial moments of the investigation, his wife was questioned by police as they worked to rule her out as a suspect. It wasn't until she arrived at the hospital that she learned her husband, an Army veteran, was gone. The nightmare she had feared upon hearing the gunshots had become a devastating reality.
In the years that have followed, the murder of Henry Wagner remains unsolved, leaving a void in the lives of his family and community. The Denver Police Department has investigated the case, but no suspects have been publicly identified, and no arrests have been made. The motive for the killing also remains a mystery. Wagner was described as a good man and an active member of his church, with no known enemies, making the seemingly random act of violence even more difficult to comprehend. His family, desperate for answers and justice, has offered a substantial reward for any information that leads to an arrest. The case is now considered a cold case, a painful reminder of a life cut short and a killer who remains at large.
