"The recent death of Robert Redford brought renewed interest to an unresolved search for a murder suspect the one accused of killing the boyfriend of the acclaimed actor's daughter in Colorado decades earlier. As local outlets recounted in the aftermath of Redford's death, his daughter Shauna was attending the University of Colorado Boulder when her boyfriend and fellow student, Sid Wells, was fatally shot in his apartment."
"Wells' roommate, Thayne Alan Smika, was ultimately arrested in connection with the slaying. But the district attorney of Boulder county, Colorado, later declined to file formal charges against Smika, citing insufficient evidence. And Smika then disappeared in 1986, as the Denver Post noted. In 2009, a successive Boulder district attorney, Stan Garnett, began weighing whether to process certain cold murder cases through new DNA tests. That effort led to authorities obtaining a warrant in 2010 to arrest Smika again for the murder of Wells."
"Redford received word that Smika was wanted again in Wells' killing and made sure to call the district attorney, Garnett told the Colorado news station KUSA. I was in my office and my secretary said: Robert Redford's on the phone do you want to talk to him?' Garnett recalled to KUSA. I said: Sure.' Garnett told KUSA that during the ensuing brief but very cordial conversation, Redford thanked him and police for continuing to pay attention to the case."
Shauna Redford's boyfriend and University of Colorado student Sid Wells was fatally shot in his apartment on August 1, 1983. Wells' roommate, Thayne Alan Smika, was arrested but later avoided formal charges when the Boulder district attorney cited insufficient evidence; Smika disappeared in 1986. In 2009, Boulder DA Stan Garnett pursued cold cases with new DNA testing, leading to a 2010 arrest warrant for Smika. Robert Redford contacted Garnett after learning Smika was wanted again. The FBI posted a $10,000 reward the day after Redford's death, and bail for Smika has been set at $5 million.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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