Lena Tapper, a French-born woman working as a sex worker in Denver, was found strangled to death in her bed on Market Street on September 3, 1894. She was involved with a man named Richard Demady and both were linked to a group referred to as the Macquereaux or Les Cavaliers d’Amour, an organization suspected of involvement in human trafficking.

Three men — Richard Demady, John Callahan, and Charles Schoten — were arrested the day Tapper’s body was discovered. Demady was indicted on December 17, 1894, and tried for her murder but was acquitted. Callahan and Schoten were also investigated in connection with the deaths of Tapper and another woman, Marie Contassot, but were not convicted. A separate allegation later implicated Alphonse Le Mair after an acquaintance said he confessed while drunk, but no conviction followed.

Tapper’s killing was one of three similar strangulations in Denver that fall, including Marie Contassot and Kiku Oyama, and the case remains officially unsolved. Does anyone have additional information about Tapper, the Macquereaux, or the other victims from that period?