On the evening of January 9, 1975, 69-year-old Leslie Roberts, a Black man born in Minnesota in 1905, was found inside the Burlington Hotel on Larimer Street in Denver with a fatal gunshot wound. The Denver Police Department responded to a report of a shooting and discovered Roberts; his death was ruled a homicide. He died ten days before his 70th birthday.

What brought Roberts to the Burlington Hotel that night and who shot him remain unknown. The investigation began immediately but went cold, and no arrests or publicly identified suspects have been reported. The case remains open in the Denver Police Department’s cold case files.

If anyone knew Leslie Roberts, saw him at the Burlington Hotel, or has information about his death, please share what you know with Denver police.