Juanita Lovato was 19 when her naked body was found in a rural area east of Denver in April 1988. The discovery in Adams County began an investigation that would later link her death to a wider pattern of violence against women in the Denver area.

Investigators eventually focused on Vincent Darrell Groves, who was arrested on September 1, 1988, in connection with a separate assault. DNA testing tied Groves to Juanita’s murder; he was tried in 1990, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison for her killing. A month later he was extradited to Adams County and later received an additional 20-year sentence for the murder of Diane Mancera. Prosecutors said he was implicated in at least eight other murders and was believed responsible for more than 20 women’s deaths.

Groves, once a high school basketball player, died in prison in 1996.