November 9, 2025 • 21 mins
A winter crossing turned deadly when Alfred Packer led five men into the San Juans against Chief Ouray’s warning, then returned alone with shifting stories and other men’s gear. We trace the confessions, the trials, and the forensics that still complicate his guilt.
• Packer’s troubled past and failed careers
• The mining party’s formation and dire route choice
• Chief Ouray’s warning and the fatal decision to proceed
• Packer’s lone arrival and suspicious possessions
• First and second confessions with conflicting details
• Discovery of the bodies at Dead Man’s Gulch
• Trials, appeals, and a landmark sentence
• Media advocacy, parole, and late-life image
• Modern forensic findings and the revolver analysis
• Our take on motive, survival, and responsibility
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Special thank you to Lunarfall Audio for producing and doing all the heavy lifting on audio editing since April 13, 2025, the Murder of Christopher Meyer episode https://lunarfallaudio.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
February sounds like a good time to go for a hike in
the mountains of Colorado,right?
Watch the snow cover thelandscape.
Take in the sights of the snowcovered mountaintops.
Get lost in the snowstorm withfive other people you barely
know.
Use up all of your suppliesuntil you're starving and
looking at the guy next to youlike there are cartoon turkey
(00:22):
drumstick on legs.
Sounds like a good time to me.
And that's what happened in 1874when Alfred Packer led a group
of five men into the mountains.
So, what happened?
I'm Andrew, and this isHistory's A Disaster.
(00:46):
Tonight we're diving into thelife of an old West icon,
Jeffrey Dahlmer's hero, theColorado cannibal, Alfred
Packer.
And tonight's episode is broughtto you by the Long Pig Sausage
Company.
The Long Pig Sausage Company isback with their take on an
American classic, Rocky MountainOysters, with their very own
(01:09):
Colorado Oyster.
They're available now for alimited time at the low price of
$9.95 a pair.
Limit 5.
Just be sure to use coupon codeITSDEFINTLYPORK at checkout.
Alfred Packer, who also went byAlford, was born on January
21st, 1842, in Algany County,Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.
(01:35):
His parents were James andEsther Packer.
He was one of three children,and in the early 1850s, they
moved to LaGrange County,Indiana, where his dad was a
cabinet maker.
Old Alford unsurprisingly had adifficult relationship with his
parents, so in his late teens,he said fuck it and moved to
(01:56):
Minnesota to work as ashoemaker.
And his illustrious shoemakingcareer got fucked up by the
Civil War.
So in April 1862, he enlisted inCompany F, 16th US Infantry.
However, he was discharged inDecember of the same year due to
epilepsy, which caused him tosuffer quote unquote fits.
(02:20):
Despite this, this persistentshithead moved to Iowa to
re-enlist there in Iowa's 8thCavalry Regiment.
You know, since they had suchgreat record keeping in the
Civil War, they let him in onlyto kick him out again months
later.
Can't be getting all shaky whileyou're trying to kill your
fellow countrymen.
(02:41):
Although he probably would havemade a great distraction.
Just saying.
At some point during this time,he got his name tattooed on his
arm, which is just weird.
Could he not remember his nameso he got it tattooed so he just
had to look down to remember it?
Fuck, I don't know.
Either way, the tattoo artistfucked it up and spelled it
(03:02):
Ulford, which apparently amusedhim so much he'd often go by
Ulford.
Either that or he did forget hisactual name and thought Ulford
was it.
One of the two.
So after his military servicefailed, he headed out west to
try his luck in the goldfields.
Can't make it as a soldier?
Maybe he can make it as aprospector.
(03:25):
Which apparently didn't work outtoo well either, because he
eventually ended up working as aguide in the wilderness of Utah
and Colorado by 1873.
In November of 1873, a party of20 men led by Robert McCrew set
out from Provo, Utah to the goldcountry of the San Juan
(03:45):
Mountains in Colorado.
Out near Lake City, theyencountered now 31-year-old
Alford, who claimed to be aprospector and a guide familiar
with the San Juan territory.
Despite having no supplies ofhis own, or rifle, or really not
much of anything but a coldrevolver, he offered$25 to join
(04:06):
the group, and since theydesperately needed a guide, they
accepted his offer.
However, members of thisexpedition would later state
that maybe Alfred had overstatedhis experience and
qualifications.
They apparently forgot to callhis references.
Throughout the journey, theyclaimed he was greedy with
rations, lazy, obstinate, andobsessed with the amount of
(04:30):
money other members carried.
He often fought with one memberFrank Miller and was
characterized as a whining fraudby Preston Nutter.
His epileptic seizures also puta little bit of a strain on the
group.
As they set out, the travel wasslow going, game was scarce, and
it was snowing heavily.
(04:51):
Facing dwindling rations, theexpedition was forced to eat
livestock feed.
By late January 1874, theexpedition made it to the Oot
Indian camp of Chief Ouray inColorado, which is just near
present-day Delta.
Ouray shared his food and firewith the white men.
(05:11):
He knew the country as well asanyone, and he warned his guests
that to venture into themountains at this time of year
was to risk certain death.
No Oot would attempt such apassage until spring.
Despite this warning, onFebruary 9th, Alford and five
other men, George Noon, IsraelSwan, James Humphrey, Frank
(05:34):
Miller, and Shannon Wilson Belldecided to leave camp and head
for the Los Pinos Indian Agency,just a measly 75 miles away.
And unsurprisingly, no one wassad to see Alfred go.
And seeing they wouldn't beswayed from this course of
action, Ure gave him directionson how to get there.
(05:56):
Follow the gulches for 300trees, turn left at the rock
shaped like a buffalo, thenfollow the river.
It'll take you right there.
Shouldn't take more than sevendays.
Alfred, being the excellent guythat he was, disregarded Ure's
advice, led his party along adifferent path into the San Juan
(06:19):
Mountains, and subsequently gotlost.
65 days later, on April 16th,Packer emerged alone from the
woods and made his way acrossthe frozen lake bed to the Los
Pinos Indian Agency nearSagawacha Colorado.
He strolled into town all fatand sassy despite claiming
(06:41):
prolonged near starvation andwas spending money like it was
going out of style.
He carried a rifle, a knife, asteel coffee pot, and a satchel,
so a whole lot more than hestarted out with.
Initially, he told the agencymen that he had been hired to
guide five men to Breckenridge,but had become snowblind and was
(07:01):
abandoned by his companions,forced to survive on his own
with minimal ammunition andsupplies.
However, it wouldn't be longbefore other members of the
original party soon arrived atthe agency and immediately
called out his bullshit.
They stated that the men theyknew would never abandon a
companion.
(07:21):
Preston Nutter and OliverLutzenheiser expressed
suspicion, noting that theWinchester rifle Alford carried
belonged to Israel Swan and apipe he left behind belonged to
Shannon Bell, both men who hadgone missing.
General Charles Adams, theIndian agent, was convinced to
dispatch an officer to retrieveAlford for questioning under the
(07:45):
guise of recruiting him for asearch party.
Confronted by General Adams,Alford eventually broke his
silence, stating it would not bethe first time that people had
been obliged to eat each otherwhen they were hungry.
And if that's not just fuckedup.
Through tears, he began toconfess, marking the first of
many confessions he would giveover the next three decades with
(08:08):
details that just happened tochange each time.
In this first confession, heclaimed that the group had
endured nearly 20 days fromUre's camp and more than 10 days
without substantial food.
He said he had left camp togather firewood and returned to
find four men around the slainbody of Israel Swan who had been
(08:29):
struck in the head with ahatchet.
Alfred claimed the others hadbutchered Swan and he joined
them, just accepting thesituation.
Well, he's already dead, mightas well eat him.
He also said that severalthousand dollars were found on
Swan and divided among the men,and he just happened to take
Swan's rifle.
(08:50):
Within two days, out of meatagain, Alford, Bell, Humphrey,
and Noon secretly decided thatFrank Miller would be next.
Alford confessed that Miller waschosen for his soft flesh and
was killed with a hatchet blowto the head while picking up
wood.
Miller's share of the money wasredistributed and Alfred took
(09:11):
Miller's knife.
And it's kind of funny how hekept something from everyone,
almost like he was collectingtrophies.
Or maybe it's because hisdumbass came into the woods with
nothing.
Whatever.
Anyways, Alfred was arrested andheld in a Sega jail, and I know
I'm mispronouncing that, whichwas a log cabin on the Sheriff's
(09:33):
Ranch property.
Months passed without evidenceor bodies, and no formal charges
were lodged against him otherthan an attempt on
Lutzenheiser's life.
Zegawatch County authoritieswere unhappy about the cost of
keeping Packer, so someoneslipped him a makeshift key and
(09:56):
supplies, and he easily escapedin August of 1874, which pissed
off the townspeople who wereconvinced of his guilt and
constantly threatened to killthe man-eater.
Also in August, John A.
Randolph, an illustrator forHarper's Weekly magazine,
discovered the remains of thefive missing men at the foot of
(10:18):
Slumgolan Pass, two milessoutheast of Lake City in a
pine-shaded gulch.
This location, now known as DeadMan's Gulch, matched Alfred's
description of where only Bellwas killed.
The snow had melted, revealingthe bodies, and Randolph
sketched the scene and alertedauthorities in Lake City.
(10:38):
This story, including hisillustrations, was covered in
the October 17th edition ofHarper's Weekly.
The discovery of the bodies,which showed evidence of murder
and cannibalization, caused abit of a stir.
The accepted theory at the timewas that Alfred, under highly
overstated qualifications, hadled the men to their deaths due
(11:00):
to gross incompetence, or, morethan likely, that he had
purposely led them into thewilderness to kill and rob them.
Local papers provided constantsensational coverage, fueling
negative comments about Packer'scharacter and imaginative
theories that garnered nationaland international attention.
(11:20):
Alfred remained at large fornine years, living under the
alias John Swartz in FortFeather, Wyoming, which was
pretty easy to do up untilreally here very recently.
You could up and move a fewtowns over, claim to be someone
else, and no one would ever knowthe difference.
Unless, of course, you had themisfortune of running into
(11:44):
someone who knows the real you.
Which is what happened to oldAlfie here on March 11, 1883.
Gene Frenchie Kebazon, anoriginal member of the Utah
Mining Party, who was smartenough to stay at Chief Ure's
camp, ran into Alfred.
He reported him to the localsheriff, who quickly apprehended
(12:06):
him.
Alfred claimed he fled due tofear of mob justice in Sega.
General Charles Adams confirmedhis identity, and Packer was
transported to Denver for hissecond confession, which he
signed on March 16, 1883.
In this second confession, hechanged his story.
He claimed that after 20 daysfrom Ure's camp and 10 days
(12:30):
without substantial food, JamesHumphrey died of exposure.
George Noon was then killed dayslater by Shannon Bell for food.
Now only Bell and Packerremained.
Packer stated that they agreednot to eat each other.
But after more days of hunger,Bell rushed at Packer with his
rifle, intending to beat him todeath.
(12:52):
Alfred then shot Bell with hispistol in self-defense.
He confessed to taking valuablesfrom the deceased, claiming they
no longer needed them, but didnot specify the items or
amounts.
Multiple people challenged hiscredibility, suggesting he had
set a trap to kill and rob hisgroup.
Israel Swann's family reportedhe had$6,000 in cash in gold,
(13:16):
which is roughly$167,000 intoday's money, along with a
valuable Winchester rifle, whichprovided a strong motive for
murder.
But he was not found withthousands of dollars and his
spending had been prettyfrivolous.
(13:38):
Since the crime occurred inHensdale County, Packer was sent
to Lake City for detention andprosecution.
His first trial began on April6, 1883 in Lake City.
The prosecution argued thatAlfred's perilous journey with
minimal supplies was apremeditated plan to kill and
rob the men.
(13:58):
Alfred pleaded not guilty.
After a seven-day trial, he wasfound guilty of the murder of
Israel Swann and sentenced todeath by hanging, scheduled for
May 19, 1883.
Swann's death was presumed tohave occurred around March 1st,
and his remains showed signs ofa struggle, while the others
(14:19):
appeared to have been killed intheir sleep.
Alfred would turn around and winan appeal, and his murder
conviction was overturned onOctober 30, 1885.
There was something with themurder charge at the time, not
being legal or there was somebullshit.
A second trial was held inGunnison in April of 1886,
(14:41):
following a change of venuegranted by the Colorado Supreme
Court due to perceived prejudicein Lake City.
Alfred again pleaded not guilty.
On June 8, 1886, after a splittrial, he was convicted of five
counts of voluntary manslaughterand sentenced to 40 years in
prison.
(15:02):
He got eight years for eachcount, which was the maximum
allowed.
And this was the longest prisonsentence in U.S.
history at the time.
When Alfred took the stand, hemaintained his second version of
events and requested a 40-yearsentence only for Shannon Bell's
death, which he claimed was inself-defense.
This request was denied.
(15:24):
And he was sent to the CannonCity Penitentiary.
He would file five appeals,which would all get denied.
He wrote letters to newspapersclaiming unjust conviction by an
unfair system and small-mindedpeople.
But in June 19, 1899, theColorado Supreme Court upheld
(15:45):
this sentence.
Despite this, he would beparoled on April 8, 1901, after
serving only 18 years of his40-year sentence.
His release was largely due to acampaign spearheaded by his old
acquaintance, Dwayne Hatch, andlater by Polly Pry, a reporter
for the Denver Post.
(16:05):
Pry had portrayed Alfred as acommon man, a victim of
circumstances forced intocannibalism to survive, who was
crucified for violatingcivilized sensibilities.
Her stories about him generatedpublic support, leading to
petitions to Colorado GovernorJames B.
Orman, who would ultimatelyrelent, and his last official
(16:28):
act before leaving office was toparole Alfred, with the
agreement that he would notprofit from his story, which led
Packer to hold deep respect forPry, referring to her as his
liberator.
After his parole, he would go onto work as a guard at the Denver
(16:51):
Post and later as a ranch hand.
He spent his final years livingin and around Littleton,
Colorado.
He was described as a kindly,charitable man, well liked by
children, who would tell themstories of his early days in the
Old West.
He would die on April 23, 1907,at the age of 65 near
(17:12):
Phillipsburg, Jefferson County,Colorado.
His cause of death was cited assenility, trouble, and worry,
which is kind of a fucked upcause of death, but clinically
it would be described as he hada stroke.
His dying words, according tothe Littleton Independent, were
I'm not guilty of the charge.
(17:32):
Whether that's true or not,hell, I don't know.
Packer was interred in LittletonCemetery.
His grave was marked with aveteran's tombstone listing his
original regiment, a replacementfor an original marker that was
stolen.
He was never successful inobtaining an official state
pardon for his crimes.
In 1973, the CemeteryAssociation cemented over his
(17:56):
grave to deter grave robbing andvandalism.
In 1989, James E.
Starr, a forensic scientist andlaw professor from George
Washington University, led ateam that exhumed the victim's
remains for modern forensicanalysis, which ended up
providing new insights.
Their findings showed cut markson bones confirming systematic
(18:20):
butchering with a sharpimplement.
Skull fractures were consistentwith hatchet blows from behind
or above.
No defensive wounds were found,suggesting the victims were
attacked while unaware or unableto defend themselves.
Nutritional analysis indicatedprolonged starvation before
death, which is kinda crazy.
(18:41):
How the I don't know how theyfigured this shit out, since
they had to have just been bonesby now.
Paramortum trauma, which isinjuries at or near time of
death, proved murder rather thanscavenging of already dead
bodies.
Like I said, I don't know howthe hell they figured some of
this shit out.
Like the cut marks on bones andskull fractures, yeah that makes
(19:01):
sense, but they're skeletons bynow, right?
It's been over a hundred years.
I don't know.
Fucking forensics.
More recently, David Bailey,curator at Grand Junction's
Museum of Western Colorado,tracked down a Colt revolver
found at the Packer site withthree of its five chambers still
loaded.
Using an electron microscope,his team compared samples from
(19:25):
the lead in the pistol's bulletsand lead from soil beneath
Bell's exhumed body.
The samples matched, supportingPacker's claim that he shot
Bell.
Whether or not this proves hisguilt one way or another, fuck,
I don't know.
Personally, I think the truth issome kind of combination of all
of his confessions.
Really, I think he was just anincompetent guide that got five
(19:48):
men killed and ate them tosurvive.
I just can't buy into it being apremeditated attempt at murder
and robbery.
Just doesn't make sense.
But maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe he killed the four men intheir sleep and Belle woke up.
Alfred would have had to shoothim then, because I doubt even
in their weakened states thatAlfred could have taken another
(20:09):
man down by himself.
But who knows, the truth diedwith Alfred Packer in 1907.
And that was the story of theColorado cannibal Alfred Packer.
Thanks for listening, and if youliked the show, please consider
leaving a rating or review onyour apple choice.
(20:30):
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As well as following the show onsocial media like Facebook or
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And share the episode.
Your friends will love it.
And take care of yourself outthere.
(20:52):
Chase that dream.
Live for today.
Because tomorrow is neverguaranteed.
Thanks and goodbye.
February sounds like a good time to go for a hike in
the mountains of Colorado,right?
Watch the snow cover thelandscape.
Take in the sights of the snowcovered mountaintops.
Get lost in the snowstorm withfive other people you barely
know.
Use up all of your suppliesuntil you're starving and
looking at the guy next to youlike there are cartoon turkey
(00:22):
drumstick on legs.
Sounds like a good time to me.
And that's what happened in 1874when Alfred Packer led a group
of five men into the mountains.
So, what happened?
I'm Andrew, and this isHistory's A Disaster.
(00:46):
Tonight we're diving into thelife of an old West icon,
Jeffrey Dahlmer's hero, theColorado cannibal, Alfred
Packer.
And tonight's episode is broughtto you by the Long Pig Sausage
Company.
The Long Pig Sausage Company isback with their take on an
American classic, Rocky MountainOysters, with their very own
(01:09):
Colorado Oyster.
They're available now for alimited time at the low price of
$9.95 a pair.
Limit 5.
Just be sure to use coupon codeITSDEFINTLYPORK at checkout.
Alfred Packer, who also went byAlford, was born on January
21st, 1842, in Algany County,Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.
(01:35):
His parents were James andEsther Packer.
He was one of three children,and in the early 1850s, they
moved to LaGrange County,Indiana, where his dad was a
cabinet maker.
Old Alford unsurprisingly had adifficult relationship with his
parents, so in his late teens,he said fuck it and moved to
(01:56):
Minnesota to work as ashoemaker.
And his illustrious shoemakingcareer got fucked up by the
Civil War.
So in April 1862, he enlisted inCompany F, 16th US Infantry.
However, he was discharged inDecember of the same year due to
epilepsy, which caused him tosuffer quote unquote fits.
(02:20):
Despite this, this persistentshithead moved to Iowa to
re-enlist there in Iowa's 8thCavalry Regiment.
You know, since they had suchgreat record keeping in the
Civil War, they let him in onlyto kick him out again months
later.
Can't be getting all shaky whileyou're trying to kill your
fellow countrymen.
(02:41):
Although he probably would havemade a great distraction.
Just saying.
At some point during this time,he got his name tattooed on his
arm, which is just weird.
Could he not remember his nameso he got it tattooed so he just
had to look down to remember it?
Fuck, I don't know.
Either way, the tattoo artistfucked it up and spelled it
(03:02):
Ulford, which apparently amusedhim so much he'd often go by
Ulford.
Either that or he did forget hisactual name and thought Ulford
was it.
One of the two.
So after his military servicefailed, he headed out west to
try his luck in the goldfields.
Can't make it as a soldier?
Maybe he can make it as aprospector.
(03:25):
Which apparently didn't work outtoo well either, because he
eventually ended up working as aguide in the wilderness of Utah
and Colorado by 1873.
In November of 1873, a party of20 men led by Robert McCrew set
out from Provo, Utah to the goldcountry of the San Juan
(03:45):
Mountains in Colorado.
Out near Lake City, theyencountered now 31-year-old
Alford, who claimed to be aprospector and a guide familiar
with the San Juan territory.
Despite having no supplies ofhis own, or rifle, or really not
much of anything but a coldrevolver, he offered$25 to join
(04:06):
the group, and since theydesperately needed a guide, they
accepted his offer.
However, members of thisexpedition would later state
that maybe Alfred had overstatedhis experience and
qualifications.
They apparently forgot to callhis references.
Throughout the journey, theyclaimed he was greedy with
rations, lazy, obstinate, andobsessed with the amount of
(04:30):
money other members carried.
He often fought with one memberFrank Miller and was
characterized as a whining fraudby Preston Nutter.
His epileptic seizures also puta little bit of a strain on the
group.
As they set out, the travel wasslow going, game was scarce, and
it was snowing heavily.
(04:51):
Facing dwindling rations, theexpedition was forced to eat
livestock feed.
By late January 1874, theexpedition made it to the Oot
Indian camp of Chief Ouray inColorado, which is just near
present-day Delta.
Ouray shared his food and firewith the white men.
(05:11):
He knew the country as well asanyone, and he warned his guests
that to venture into themountains at this time of year
was to risk certain death.
No Oot would attempt such apassage until spring.
Despite this warning, onFebruary 9th, Alford and five
other men, George Noon, IsraelSwan, James Humphrey, Frank
(05:34):
Miller, and Shannon Wilson Belldecided to leave camp and head
for the Los Pinos Indian Agency,just a measly 75 miles away.
And unsurprisingly, no one wassad to see Alfred go.
And seeing they wouldn't beswayed from this course of
action, Ure gave him directionson how to get there.
(05:56):
Follow the gulches for 300trees, turn left at the rock
shaped like a buffalo, thenfollow the river.
It'll take you right there.
Shouldn't take more than sevendays.
Alfred, being the excellent guythat he was, disregarded Ure's
advice, led his party along adifferent path into the San Juan
(06:19):
Mountains, and subsequently gotlost.
65 days later, on April 16th,Packer emerged alone from the
woods and made his way acrossthe frozen lake bed to the Los
Pinos Indian Agency nearSagawacha Colorado.
He strolled into town all fatand sassy despite claiming
(06:41):
prolonged near starvation andwas spending money like it was
going out of style.
He carried a rifle, a knife, asteel coffee pot, and a satchel,
so a whole lot more than hestarted out with.
Initially, he told the agencymen that he had been hired to
guide five men to Breckenridge,but had become snowblind and was
(07:01):
abandoned by his companions,forced to survive on his own
with minimal ammunition andsupplies.
However, it wouldn't be longbefore other members of the
original party soon arrived atthe agency and immediately
called out his bullshit.
They stated that the men theyknew would never abandon a
companion.
(07:21):
Preston Nutter and OliverLutzenheiser expressed
suspicion, noting that theWinchester rifle Alford carried
belonged to Israel Swan and apipe he left behind belonged to
Shannon Bell, both men who hadgone missing.
General Charles Adams, theIndian agent, was convinced to
dispatch an officer to retrieveAlford for questioning under the
(07:45):
guise of recruiting him for asearch party.
Confronted by General Adams,Alford eventually broke his
silence, stating it would not bethe first time that people had
been obliged to eat each otherwhen they were hungry.
And if that's not just fuckedup.
Through tears, he began toconfess, marking the first of
many confessions he would giveover the next three decades with
(08:08):
details that just happened tochange each time.
In this first confession, heclaimed that the group had
endured nearly 20 days fromUre's camp and more than 10 days
without substantial food.
He said he had left camp togather firewood and returned to
find four men around the slainbody of Israel Swan who had been
(08:29):
struck in the head with ahatchet.
Alfred claimed the others hadbutchered Swan and he joined
them, just accepting thesituation.
Well, he's already dead, mightas well eat him.
He also said that severalthousand dollars were found on
Swan and divided among the men,and he just happened to take
Swan's rifle.
(08:50):
Within two days, out of meatagain, Alford, Bell, Humphrey,
and Noon secretly decided thatFrank Miller would be next.
Alford confessed that Miller waschosen for his soft flesh and
was killed with a hatchet blowto the head while picking up
wood.
Miller's share of the money wasredistributed and Alfred took
(09:11):
Miller's knife.
And it's kind of funny how hekept something from everyone,
almost like he was collectingtrophies.
Or maybe it's because hisdumbass came into the woods with
nothing.
Whatever.
Anyways, Alfred was arrested andheld in a Sega jail, and I know
I'm mispronouncing that, whichwas a log cabin on the Sheriff's
(09:33):
Ranch property.
Months passed without evidenceor bodies, and no formal charges
were lodged against him otherthan an attempt on
Lutzenheiser's life.
Zegawatch County authoritieswere unhappy about the cost of
keeping Packer, so someoneslipped him a makeshift key and
(09:56):
supplies, and he easily escapedin August of 1874, which pissed
off the townspeople who wereconvinced of his guilt and
constantly threatened to killthe man-eater.
Also in August, John A.
Randolph, an illustrator forHarper's Weekly magazine,
discovered the remains of thefive missing men at the foot of
(10:18):
Slumgolan Pass, two milessoutheast of Lake City in a
pine-shaded gulch.
This location, now known as DeadMan's Gulch, matched Alfred's
description of where only Bellwas killed.
The snow had melted, revealingthe bodies, and Randolph
sketched the scene and alertedauthorities in Lake City.
(10:38):
This story, including hisillustrations, was covered in
the October 17th edition ofHarper's Weekly.
The discovery of the bodies,which showed evidence of murder
and cannibalization, caused abit of a stir.
The accepted theory at the timewas that Alfred, under highly
overstated qualifications, hadled the men to their deaths due
(11:00):
to gross incompetence, or, morethan likely, that he had
purposely led them into thewilderness to kill and rob them.
Local papers provided constantsensational coverage, fueling
negative comments about Packer'scharacter and imaginative
theories that garnered nationaland international attention.
(11:20):
Alfred remained at large fornine years, living under the
alias John Swartz in FortFeather, Wyoming, which was
pretty easy to do up untilreally here very recently.
You could up and move a fewtowns over, claim to be someone
else, and no one would ever knowthe difference.
Unless, of course, you had themisfortune of running into
(11:44):
someone who knows the real you.
Which is what happened to oldAlfie here on March 11, 1883.
Gene Frenchie Kebazon, anoriginal member of the Utah
Mining Party, who was smartenough to stay at Chief Ure's
camp, ran into Alfred.
He reported him to the localsheriff, who quickly apprehended
(12:06):
him.
Alfred claimed he fled due tofear of mob justice in Sega.
General Charles Adams confirmedhis identity, and Packer was
transported to Denver for hissecond confession, which he
signed on March 16, 1883.
In this second confession, hechanged his story.
He claimed that after 20 daysfrom Ure's camp and 10 days
(12:30):
without substantial food, JamesHumphrey died of exposure.
George Noon was then killed dayslater by Shannon Bell for food.
Now only Bell and Packerremained.
Packer stated that they agreednot to eat each other.
But after more days of hunger,Bell rushed at Packer with his
rifle, intending to beat him todeath.
(12:52):
Alfred then shot Bell with hispistol in self-defense.
He confessed to taking valuablesfrom the deceased, claiming they
no longer needed them, but didnot specify the items or
amounts.
Multiple people challenged hiscredibility, suggesting he had
set a trap to kill and rob hisgroup.
Israel Swann's family reportedhe had$6,000 in cash in gold,
(13:16):
which is roughly$167,000 intoday's money, along with a
valuable Winchester rifle, whichprovided a strong motive for
murder.
But he was not found withthousands of dollars and his
spending had been prettyfrivolous.
(13:38):
Since the crime occurred inHensdale County, Packer was sent
to Lake City for detention andprosecution.
His first trial began on April6, 1883 in Lake City.
The prosecution argued thatAlfred's perilous journey with
minimal supplies was apremeditated plan to kill and
rob the men.
(13:58):
Alfred pleaded not guilty.
After a seven-day trial, he wasfound guilty of the murder of
Israel Swann and sentenced todeath by hanging, scheduled for
May 19, 1883.
Swann's death was presumed tohave occurred around March 1st,
and his remains showed signs ofa struggle, while the others
(14:19):
appeared to have been killed intheir sleep.
Alfred would turn around and winan appeal, and his murder
conviction was overturned onOctober 30, 1885.
There was something with themurder charge at the time, not
being legal or there was somebullshit.
A second trial was held inGunnison in April of 1886,
(14:41):
following a change of venuegranted by the Colorado Supreme
Court due to perceived prejudicein Lake City.
Alfred again pleaded not guilty.
On June 8, 1886, after a splittrial, he was convicted of five
counts of voluntary manslaughterand sentenced to 40 years in
prison.
(15:02):
He got eight years for eachcount, which was the maximum
allowed.
And this was the longest prisonsentence in U.S.
history at the time.
When Alfred took the stand, hemaintained his second version of
events and requested a 40-yearsentence only for Shannon Bell's
death, which he claimed was inself-defense.
This request was denied.
(15:24):
And he was sent to the CannonCity Penitentiary.
He would file five appeals,which would all get denied.
He wrote letters to newspapersclaiming unjust conviction by an
unfair system and small-mindedpeople.
But in June 19, 1899, theColorado Supreme Court upheld
(15:45):
this sentence.
Despite this, he would beparoled on April 8, 1901, after
serving only 18 years of his40-year sentence.
His release was largely due to acampaign spearheaded by his old
acquaintance, Dwayne Hatch, andlater by Polly Pry, a reporter
for the Denver Post.
(16:05):
Pry had portrayed Alfred as acommon man, a victim of
circumstances forced intocannibalism to survive, who was
crucified for violatingcivilized sensibilities.
Her stories about him generatedpublic support, leading to
petitions to Colorado GovernorJames B.
Orman, who would ultimatelyrelent, and his last official
(16:28):
act before leaving office was toparole Alfred, with the
agreement that he would notprofit from his story, which led
Packer to hold deep respect forPry, referring to her as his
liberator.
After his parole, he would go onto work as a guard at the Denver
(16:51):
Post and later as a ranch hand.
He spent his final years livingin and around Littleton,
Colorado.
He was described as a kindly,charitable man, well liked by
children, who would tell themstories of his early days in the
Old West.
He would die on April 23, 1907,at the age of 65 near
(17:12):
Phillipsburg, Jefferson County,Colorado.
His cause of death was cited assenility, trouble, and worry,
which is kind of a fucked upcause of death, but clinically
it would be described as he hada stroke.
His dying words, according tothe Littleton Independent, were
I'm not guilty of the charge.
(17:32):
Whether that's true or not,hell, I don't know.
Packer was interred in LittletonCemetery.
His grave was marked with aveteran's tombstone listing his
original regiment, a replacementfor an original marker that was
stolen.
He was never successful inobtaining an official state
pardon for his crimes.
In 1973, the CemeteryAssociation cemented over his
(17:56):
grave to deter grave robbing andvandalism.
In 1989, James E.
Starr, a forensic scientist andlaw professor from George
Washington University, led ateam that exhumed the victim's
remains for modern forensicanalysis, which ended up
providing new insights.
Their findings showed cut markson bones confirming systematic
(18:20):
butchering with a sharpimplement.
Skull fractures were consistentwith hatchet blows from behind
or above.
No defensive wounds were found,suggesting the victims were
attacked while unaware or unableto defend themselves.
Nutritional analysis indicatedprolonged starvation before
death, which is kinda crazy.
(18:41):
How the I don't know how theyfigured this shit out, since
they had to have just been bonesby now.
Paramortum trauma, which isinjuries at or near time of
death, proved murder rather thanscavenging of already dead
bodies.
Like I said, I don't know howthe hell they figured some of
this shit out.
Like the cut marks on bones andskull fractures, yeah that makes
(19:01):
sense, but they're skeletons bynow, right?
It's been over a hundred years.
I don't know.
Fucking forensics.
More recently, David Bailey,curator at Grand Junction's
Museum of Western Colorado,tracked down a Colt revolver
found at the Packer site withthree of its five chambers still
loaded.
Using an electron microscope,his team compared samples from
(19:25):
the lead in the pistol's bulletsand lead from soil beneath
Bell's exhumed body.
The samples matched, supportingPacker's claim that he shot
Bell.
Whether or not this proves hisguilt one way or another, fuck,
I don't know.
Personally, I think the truth issome kind of combination of all
of his confessions.
Really, I think he was just anincompetent guide that got five
(19:48):
men killed and ate them tosurvive.
I just can't buy into it being apremeditated attempt at murder
and robbery.
Just doesn't make sense.
But maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe he killed the four men intheir sleep and Belle woke up.
Alfred would have had to shoothim then, because I doubt even
in their weakened states thatAlfred could have taken another
(20:09):
man down by himself.
But who knows, the truth diedwith Alfred Packer in 1907.
And that was the story of theColorado cannibal Alfred Packer.
Thanks for listening, and if youliked the show, please consider
leaving a rating or review onyour apple choice.
(20:30):
And you can reach out to theshow at historiesadisaster at
gmail.com with questions,comments, or suggestions.
As well as following the show onsocial media like Facebook or
Instagram, a few others, TikTok,YouTube, whatever.
And share the episode.
Your friends will love it.
And take care of yourself outthere.
(20:52):
Chase that dream.
Live for today.
Because tomorrow is neverguaranteed.
Thanks and goodbye.
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