The Telltale Shotgun Shell

In 1983, in Boulder, Colorado, someone shot 22-year-old college student Sid Wells in the back of the head with a .20 gauge shotgun. At the time, Wells was dating Robert Redford's daughter, so the case received widespread news coverage. Nevertheless, the crime was never solved.

Police suspected Wells roommate, Thayne Smika, of committing the murder over a rent dispute, and even arrested him. But, unable to gather enough evidence to bring him to trial, they released him.

Last year, Boulder police reopened the case.

Trying to link Smika to the case, they compared the shotgun shell that killed Wells to two unfired shells found by police in Smika's pocket shortly after the crime. Using tests that were not available 15 years ago, they concluded that the shells closely resembled one another.

On the basis of this evidence, Boulder police plan to put out an arrest warrant for Smika. The only problem: Three years after the crime, he disappeared. Police believe he may have changed his appearance and his identity.

If you have any information about Thayne Smika (see the sketches below to get a sense of what he might look like today) call the Boulder Police at: 303-441-3300.

Artist's renderings of what Thayne Smika might look like today.