In 1984, the Aurora Hammer Killer terrorized Colorado. Four people murdered in their sleep. A 3-year-old girl left for dead with catastrophic head injuries. For 34 years, the killer’s identity remained a mystery.
Then in 2018, a routine DNA swab in a Nevada prison changed everything. Alex Ewing, already serving 110 years for a different crime, was identified through genetic genealogy as the man who murdered Patricia Smith and the Bennett family in January 1984.
He’d been in prison the entire time. Just across state lines. And nobody knew.
This is the complete story of the Aurora Hammer Murders—the brutal crimes, the little girl who survived, and how genetic genealogy finally caught a killer who thought he’d gotten away with murder for over three decades.
🔍 What You’ll Discover:
January 10, 1984: Patricia Smith murdered in Lakewood, Colorado
January 16, 1984: Bennett family (Bruce, Debra, Melissa) murdered in Aurora
3-year-old Vanessa Bennett’s miraculous survival despite severe head trauma
How Alex Ewing attacked another family in Nevada just 11 days later
Why he was arrested in Nevada but never connected to Colorado murders
The 2018 genetic genealogy breakthrough that identified him
How a routine prison DNA swab in Nevada solved a 34-year-old Colorado cold case
Vanessa Bennett’s powerful testimony 37 years after the attack
The 2021 trial that finally brought justice
Why Alex Ewing will die in prison
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