Joseph Corbett Jr.
| Joseph Corbett Jr. | |
|---|---|
| FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive | |
| Alias | Walter Osborne |
| Description | |
| Born | October 25, 1928 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 2009 (aged 80) Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
| Status | |
| Penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Status | Paroled (1980) |
| Added | March 30, 1960 |
| Caught | October 29, 1961 |
| Number | 127 |
| Captured | |
Joseph Corbett Jr. (October 25, 1928 – August 24, 2009)[1] was convicted of the 1960 kidnapping and murder of Adolph Coors III, heir to the Coors beer fortune.[2]
Background[]
Corbett was convicted of shooting a man in the back of the head in 1951, which he claimed was self-defense. Corbett was placed in a maximum-security prison and due to good behavior, he was later transferred to minimum security, from which he then escaped.[3]
On the morning of February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III, the 45-year-old CEO and chairman of the board of the Coors brewery, left his house for work, but never arrived.[3] A delivery man found Coors' station wagon abandoned, and blood droplets were found nearby.[3] Corbett was implicated, and the FBI began a manhunt that spanned from California to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and eventually to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[3] In March 1960, the FBI added Corbett to its Ten Most Wanted list.[3]
On September 11, 1960, Coors' remains were found in the local forest, with two bullet wounds in his back.[3]
Corbett was arrested October 29, 1960 in Vancouver by Canadian police. The FBI had issued wanted poster type photo copies, and a woman called in, stating a man of his description was in her area. Afterwards, the Vancouver police saw his car parked outside a motor inn. He was extradited back to the U.S. Since the kidnap and murder occurred in Colorado, the state charged Corbett with murder.[4]
On March 29, 1961, Corbett was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.[4] He was paroled and released from prison on December 12, 1980.[5]
In 1996 Corbett gave his only interview following his release from prison; in it, he maintained his innocence.[5][6]
Corbett committed suicide on August 24, 2009.[7][8]
References[]
- ^ Vaughan, Kevin (August 25, 2009). "Coors killer Corbett takes his own life". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
- ^ "FBI pdf source document listing all Ten Most Wanted year by year" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 27, 2002.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Swierczynski, Duane (February 4, 2014). The Encyclopedia of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List: Over Fifty Years of Convicts, Robbers, Terrorists, and Other Rogues. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781628739060.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "A Look Back at the Coors Kidnapping Case". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "1996 interview with Joe Corbett". The Denver Post. August 25, 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
- ^ "My Encounter With Joseph Corbett Jr". 5280.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014.
- ^ Vaughan, Kevin (August 25, 2009). "Coors killer Corbett takes his own life".
- ^ Post, Kevin Vaughan | The Denver (August 29, 2009). "Adolph Coors murder: Notorious killer's quiet end".
External links[]
- A Look Back at the Coors Kidnapping Case (FBI)
- Jett, Philip. The Death of an Heir: Adolph Coors III and the Murder That Rocked an American Brewing Dynasty New York: St. Martin's Press, 2017. ISBN 978-1250111807
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- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
- 1928 births
- 2009 suicides
- American kidnappers
- American people convicted of murder
- American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
- Fugitives
- People convicted of murder by Colorado
- People paroled from life sentence
- Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Colorado
- Suicides by firearm in Colorado