In the summer of 1973, a night that began with casual recreation ended in tragedy for Carlos Balderrama, a 32-year-old Hispanic male. On July 17th, he was at the Alpine Inn in Denver, Colorado, where he had been enjoying a game of pool. After the bar closed, Balderrama made his way to a house party in the vicinity of West 35th Avenue and Pecos Street.
Shortly after his arrival at the party, an altercation broke out.
The friendly atmosphere of the gathering turned volatile, and in the ensuing conflict, an unknown individual shot and killed Balderrama. The circumstances of the argument and the identity of the person who fired the fatal shot have remained a mystery for decades.
The Denver Police Department investigated the homicide, but a suspect was never identified, and no arrests have been made in the case. The death of Carlos Balderrama is now considered a cold case, one of the many unsolved homicides that the city's police department continues to seek information on. The case, filed under number 73-104948, remains open in the hopes that new leads will one day bring closure to a violent night that ended a young man's life.
