On a cool autumn evening in Denver, Colorado, on October 6, 1979, a man named Willie Bender, 42, entered a local restaurant named Pooh's and Sha's, located at 1616 E 34th Ave. The night took a tragic and violent turn when Mr. Bender was shot and killed inside the establishment. The specifics of what led to the fatal encounter remain shrouded in mystery, as the case quickly went cold.
Decades have passed since Willie Bender's life was cut short, yet there has been no resolution for his
family or the community. The Denver Police Department lists his death as an unsolved homicide. Information regarding any potential suspects or the motive behind the shooting has not been made public. The case remains a stark reminder of a violent act that has gone unpunished for over four decades.
The investigation into the death of Willie Bender is ongoing, held within the cold case files of the Denver Police Department. With the passage of time, the hope of bringing the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice diminishes, but the file remains open. There is no publicly available information regarding any arrests ever being made in connection with this long-unsolved crime.
