In the winter of 1993, a horrific act of violence cut short the life of 17-year-old Colleen O'Connor in Aurora, Colorado. On the evening of December 14th, O'Connor was working at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, performing her closing duties alongside her fellow employees. She had recently learned her parents were gifting her a car and was undoubtedly looking forward to the future. However, the night took a tragic turn as a former employee, 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap, emerged from a hiding spot in the restroom shortly after the restaurant had closed to the public.
Motivated by revenge for being fired from the restaurant five months prior, Dunlap embarked on a shooting rampage. Armed with a. 25-caliber semiautomatic pistol, he systematically targeted the five employees present. After shooting and killing two of her teenage coworkers, Sylvia Crowell and Ben Grant, Dunlap turned his attention to O'Connor. In a desperate plea for her life, she sank to her knees, but Dunlap tragically shot her once in the top of the head. The restaurant's manager, Marge Kohlberg, was also murdered. A fifth employee, Bobby Stephens, was shot in the jaw but survived by playing dead. Dunlap then fled the scene after stealing cash and other items from the restaurant.
The investigation swiftly led to Nathan Dunlap, who was apprehended at his mother's apartment just twelve hours after the murders. He was subsequently charged with four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and other offenses related to the robbery and burglary. In 1996, a jury found Dunlap guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to death. Following his conviction, Dunlap's case went through numerous appeals. In 2013, he received a temporary reprieve from execution by then-Governor John Hickenlooper. Ultimately, in 2020, after Colorado abolished the death penalty, Dunlap's sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
