Sid Wells Murder: Arrest Warrant in 1983 Killing of Wells, Boyfriend of Robert Redford's Daughter

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS/AP) Police in Boulder, Colo. believe they finally have enough evidence to arrest Thayne Smika, the man many have long suspected was responsible for the 1983 murder of Sid Wells, a journalism student who was dating Robert Redford's daughter, Shauna, at the time.

Now they just have to find him.

Police said Smika has been at-large since he disappeared from the Boulder area in 1986, and that he might have fled the country. He is wanted on a first-degree murder charge, and his bail was set at $5 million.

An arrest warrant for Smika, 51, was issued by a judge in December and unsealed Thursday, Boulder police said.

"There hasn't been a national or international hunt for Mr. Smika," Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner told the Boulder Daily Camera Thursday. "There will be now."

Smika has been the prime suspect in the murder since Wells' Aug. 1, 1983 death in his Boulder condominium. Police believe that Smika, who was living in Wells' apartment, shot Wells with a single blast to the back of the head with a 20-gauge shotgun. Smika, who was often late with rent, was supposed to pay Wells that afternoon, according to the paper.

Smika was arrested in the killing two months later but wasn't charged. A grand jury failed to indict him, and two previous Boulder County district attorneys declined to prosecute.

But the current Boulder County District Attorney, Stan Garnett ,told the Daily Camera that he feels confident in his decision to charge Smika. "We spent two years putting the pieces together, and I made a decision based on this stage of evidence," Garnett said

One of the original investigators on the case, now deputy chief of Boulder police David Hayes, said they relied heavily on ballistic testing that found a match between the shotgun pellets recovered from Wells' body, and pellets taken from shells found at Smika's family home, the Daily Camera reported.

Smika hasn't talked with Boulder police since 1985. Still, authorities have continued their search for him. In the spring of 1998, police received one tip that Smika had been spotted in Ventura, Calif., and another that he was in Mexico after CBS' "48 Hours" aired information about the case.

Investigators flew to Ventura but did not find Smika, although investigators have long suspected he was living in California under a new name.

Wells' mother, June Menger, who lives in Longmont, said she was very happy to learn about the arrest warrant.

"It's definitely a step forward that we've been waiting for years," Menger told the Daily Camera. "We've always felt he was the one, but to get an arrest warrant is a big deal."

Hayes said Robert Redford's family, including Shauna, has been made aware of developments in the case against Smika.