On a spring afternoon in Denver, Colorado, on May 29, 1976, police were called to a residence in the Baker neighborhood following a report of a shooting. Inside the home located at 58 W. Irvington Pl., officers discovered a grim scene. Fifty-six-year-old Billie E. Harris, a white female, had been fatally shot. She was not alone; her roommate, Cecil Richards, was also found deceased from gunshot wounds.
The initial investigation into the double homicide did not lead to any immediate
arrests or the identification of any suspects. The Denver Police Department worked the case, but with no solid leads, it eventually went cold. The passage of time did not bring any new information to light, and the person or persons responsible for the deaths of Billie E. Harris and Cecil Richards have never been brought to justice.
Decades later, the case remains an unsolved mystery. The files on the murders of Ms. Harris and Mr. Richards are now part of Denver's cold case records. Law enforcement continues to ask for the public's help, hoping that someone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will come forward. A reward of up to $2,000 is available for information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of the individual or individuals responsible for this long-unsolved crime.
