Joseph Corbett Jr.

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]

Joseph Corbett Jr.
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
AliasWalter Osborne
Description
Born(1928-10-25)October 25, 1928
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
DiedAugust 24, 2009(2009-08-24) (aged 80)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Status
PenaltyLife imprisonment
StatusParoled (1980)
AddedMarch 30, 1960
CaughtOctober 29, 1961
Number127
Captured

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]

See also

References
  1. Vaughan, Kevin (August 25, 2009). "Coors killer Corbett takes his own life". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  2. "FBI pdf source document listing all Ten Most Wanted year by year" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 27, 2002.
  3. 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.
  4. "A Look Back at the Coors Kidnapping Case". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  5. "1996 interview with Joe Corbett". The Denver Post. August 25, 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  6. "My Encounter With Joseph Corbett Jr". 5280.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014.
  7. Vaughan, Kevin (August 25, 2009). "Coors killer Corbett takes his own life".
  8. Post, Kevin Vaughan | The Denver (August 29, 2009). "Adolph Coors murder: Notorious killer's quiet end".
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