The science behind the attacks
by Dan Campbell
Here are the cold case stories of John Jacoby and Cori Romero.
TWO LINKED
CASES NEVER SOLVED
A VIDEO OVERVIEW OF BOTH CASES
By: Rachel Hallam
A TIMELINE OVERVIEW OF BOTH CASES
By: Reed Slater
CORI ROMERO:
INTO THE WIND
By Laura Studley
A late night drive, an anonymous shooter and an investigation left unsolved.
On April 22, 2015, 20-year-old Cori Romero was driving home from her shift at Holiday Inn when her life changed forever.
The drive-by shooting occurred at approximately 11:15 p.m. Romero was heading eastbound on Harmony Road. The bullet went into Romero’s neck, shattering her car window.
Pulling over to call 911, Romero believed she had been in a car accident, assuming the blood loss was from the broken glass. She was taken to the hospital for surgery.
Despite her serious condition, Romero’s arteries were left unharmed.
An orange Chevy or GMC pickup truck is considered to be a vehicle of interest, but the suspect remains at large.
The Northern Colorado Shooting Task Force continues to monitor cases of shattered vehicle windows, however the leads have run cold.
After the shooting, friends and loved ones rallied in support of Romero, donating and commenting on a GoFundMe page. Today, Cori is married and has taken the surname Hernandez.
Cori Romero could not be reached for comment.
Five years ago, well-known and beloved Windsor resident, John Jacoby, 47, pedaled his bike pulling a trailer on Weld County Road 15, on his way to a community member’s home to help with some yardwork.
But he never arrived at his destination. Someone shot and killed Jacoby on May 18, 2015, at approximately 10:15 a.m..
A passing motorist found Jacoby’s body in a ditch and immediately called 911. One of Jacoby’s two brothers, David Jacoby, a paramedic, responded first on the scene.
“When I got there, the back of his head had been blown apart,” David Jacoby said. “I was like, okay, he’s pulse less. We started CPR. More blood came out and I’ve been doing this long enough that I was like, ‘stop, just stop.’ That was really hard.”
At the scene, David Jacoby and his team were not aware that John had been shot.
“I was like, ‘what is going on?’ He didn’t fall off of his bike. He’s still on the bike, it just fell over. I kept saying, ‘something is just not right.’”
Police initially thought Jacoby was a victim of a hit-and-run, but the investigation revealed he had been shot twice. It wasn't until the news broke on TV that the Jacoby family knew John Jacoby had been shot.
“When they said he was shot…you know, that’s ridiculous. It’s Windsor!” David Jacoby said.
Jacoby was a friendly face to most residents in Windsor. In fact, many knew him as Johnny and described him as someone who always had a smile on his face and was a friend to everyone. If Jacoby wasn’t riding his bike to work as a bagger at Windsor’s only King Soopers, he could be found relaxing at a park nearby or cheering on high school athletes at a local sporting event. Jacoby was by no means a stranger to the Windsor community as he made his mark on their small town.
Despite it being broad daylight when Jacoby was shot, no one saw what happened or have since reported any information to lead police to a suspect or possible motive. Prior to Jacoby's murder, Cori Romero, was shot through the neck April 22, 2015 while driving on Interstate 25 between Fort Collins and Windsor. Romero survived. Authorities do believe the murder of John Jacoby and the shooting of Cori Romero were both random acts and have since been forensically connected by the caliber of the gun used in both incidents.
Jacoby’s murder was the first homicide in Windsor in eight years.
THE LIFE OF
JOHN JACOBY LIVES ON
By Riley Bircham & Emily Luft
Windsor, Colorado, is a small town that is not exactly known for violent crime. Windsor has consistently been rated one of the safest cities in Colorado and the country by SafeWise’s annual “Safest Cities” report.
The Jacoby family are Windsor natives. John, his brothers David and Mark, and their wives Kendra and Kristen all grew up in Windsor, went to Windsor High School, and are active members in the community. David and Mark were volunteers with the Windsor Fire Department.
“The shooter just kind of waited until there wasn’t anybody around. Now that road is heavily traveled but 5 years ago, there might have been 5 cars a day,” Kendra Jacoby said.
At the time of the shooting, law enforcement were unsure whether John’s death was connected to a rash of reports of other shattered windows and shootings. Forensics had not yet linked Cori and John’s shootings. The idea of a shooter at large was still a concern to everyone in the area.
“Two weeks later, they were going to have the triathlon but they called it off because everybody was nervous,” Mark Jacoby said. “That was just a testament to everybody being nervous and sketchy of being out by themselves. It took us a long time to get out and ride our bikes, especially to go down the county road where the incident happened.”
Windsor, Fort Collins, Loveland Police Departments and the Larimer County Sheriff's Office brought in the FBI and created the Northern Colorado Shooting Task Force to tackle the incidents which straddled several counties.
“When we went to the funeral, the FBI and the police had a huge presence,” David Jacoby said. “They had to search all of our cars. They did a very good job of protecting us. It was such a strange time.”
John’s death proved how connected the small town was, and how important John was to the community.
“I always knew John was a good person,” Kristen Jacoby said. “But when we started planning his service, we had to come up with a plan to have it video streamed and to open up the high school auditorium for overflow because the church couldn’t handle how many people showed up. It’s just a testament to what he’s done in the community and how much people loved him.”
Approximately 400 people showed up for John’s funeral.
“John loved the fire department,” Mark Jacoby said. “John would always try to get a rise out of me because I was a Greeley firefighter, he would say things like, ‘oh the Windsor engine number two is better than Greeley Fire’s engine number two,” or ‘Greeley fire department is slow!’ But the Windsor Fire Department gave us a convoy of fire trucks through the whole city, stopping traffic and letting us get through.”
John was 47. He died a few days shy of his 48th birthday.
SMALL TOWN, VIOLENT CRIME
THE UNOFFICIAL MAYOR
OF WINDSOR
In a video released by the Northern Colorado Task Force, Windsor Police Chief, Rick Klimeck, calls John a “fixture of the community.” John had also earned the nickname of “The Unofficial Mayor of Windsor.”
“Most people didn’t realize he was as disabled as he was," Kendra Jacoby said about John. "They knew he had a disability because of his hearing loss.But they didn’t know that his cognition was as low as it was because he was pretty active and social."
John worked as a bagger at King Soopers. He also worked for the town, cleaning the rec center, the parks, and the police station. He went to Windsor High School and lettered in football management. He was a member of the Lions Club. He was an avid NASCAR fan, college football fan, and a Denver Broncos fan.
“He was in special ed all of his life, but he participated in everything. Literally everything known to man,” David Jacoby said. “When he worked at King Soopers, he’d be talking to people, bagging their groceries. He’d probably talk a whole lot more than he’d get stuff done, but you know that was Johnny.”
John didn’t have a driver’s license so he rode his bike everywhere, with a trailer attached to the back, usually full of equipment for various outdoor projects. His family says that everyone around town recognized him, even if they didn’t know him. He just wanted to be included.
“For every holiday he’d dye his beard and mustache, green for St. Patrick's Day, or red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July,” Kendra said. “He didn’t mind being a goof, you know, that was Johnny.”
COMING UP COLD
May 18, 2020, will be the five-year anniversary of Johnny’s murder. Law enforcement still do not have a suspect.
“To this day, it’s difficult. It’s just so senseless,” Mark Jacoby said.
The Jacobys are familiar with many members of law enforcement who worked and continue to work the case.
“Growing up in town we’ve known all of the police officers,” Mark Jacoby said. “John had personal relationships with most of these police officers. We put our trust in them. We just figured it would be solved quicker, and unfortunately, we know it’s hard for them. They’re human.”
One of the first questions detectives asked the Jacobys was whether they knew or had any connection with Cori Romero. But the Jacobys had never met Cori Romero.
“We never had any contact with her,” Mark said. “But I wish her well. I know it’s hard to sleep at night when you've gone through an incident like what she’s gone through.”
The task force continued to call the family with updates after the shootings. But after awhile, there were no new updates.
“We had regular meetings, like weekly for awhile,” Kristen said. “Then it turned into every two weeks, and then every month, and it sort of just eventually fizzled out.”
In 2018, police arrested Christopher Parker for the shooting of William Connole in and an attempted shooting involving a motorcyclist, both which occurred in Loveland. In 2015, law enforcement investigated the possibility of Connole's murder being connected to John Jacoby’s murder and Cori Romero’s shooting. But Parker's arrest was not connected to either of the Windsor shootings.
“When they identified the other guy, it really kind of messed with us there. It was hard because you are excited, sad, mad,” David Jacoby said.
The arrest reignited hope for many who were close to the case.
“We’ve talked to Ms. Connole before,” Mark Jacoby said. “We had similar incidents, so we reached out to her and she reached out to us and we’ve met a few times. We just want to keep them in our prayers too.”
And now the Jacobys are stuck with a case that is still cold.
“In the almost five years, there are so many new people in Windsor, that many people don’t even know, they haven’t even heard of it,” David Jacoby said. “They haven’t heard of the murder, or of Johnny. It’s frustrating but, yeah, okay, it goes on.”
COMEUPPANCE
Since John’s death, the Jacoby family has placed a memorial in his honor on the side of the road where he was killed. Numerous other memorials exist in his honor around Windsor. The Johnny Jacoby Greenhouse stands in front of Windsor High School. A bench is engraved in his honor at Main Park and a memorial for John sits in front of the Windsor Recreation Center where he used to work.
“Every year it is hard that time of the month in May, we always think about it,” Mark Jacoby said. “We try to do stuff to honor John’s legacy, his spirit, like Johnny’s Community Run. We are able to donate to Stepping Stones, the Windsor FFA, 28 Hours of Hope, all charities that were John’s favorite around Windsor.”
While the family feels alone in their experience of losing John, they feel supported by the community.
“I just want to thank the community, the task force, our families for continuing the support for the past five years,” Mark said. “For our family, we just want justice for Johnny.”
They are still holding out for answers. The case is still active.
“Yeah they even said that this person, the reason that things have died down is they may be in prison for something else,” David Jacoby said. “And nothing else is surfacing. So if they get out, and do something again, that may be what links it together. I mean, well, if you are going to shoot two people, you have probably done other crimes too. Like Kendra always says, ‘God is just not ready for us to know yet.’”
In the meantime, the family works to honor John. They have faith that someone might remember something that could lead to a suspect or an arrest.
“Well and [the shooter] is getting their comeuppance. Whether it’s here on Earth or, in another life, it’s not for us to say one way or another,” Kendra Jacoby said. “I guess I’ve always been of the mindset, when I see these people who are like, ‘everyday I’ve been crying and this happened 20 years ago,’ I’m thinking, why are you letting this person control your life? And we have been of the mindset since it happened that, we are not going to let whoever this person is, because they are an evil person. And you know that’s all there is to it. You can’t let them write your story, you know.”
