DENVER (KDVR) — In 1874, two years before Colorado was granted statehood, a man was accused of killing and eating five people while crossing the San Juan Mountains. This man, Alfred Packer, would eventually become one of the state’s most enduring legends.
The story has inspired a wide variety of tributes, from an eatery at the University of Colorado Boulder bearing his name to the 1993 comedy film “Cannibal! The Musical” by pre-South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Who was the ‘Colorado Cannibal?’
Alfred – also sometimes spelled Alferd – Packer, who is known as the “Man Eater” or, more popularly, the “Colorado Cannibal,” was born in Pennsylvania in 1842 and eventually found himself leading a team of men looking to strike it rich in the gold fields near Breckenridge in 1873.
The 21 men set off from Bingham Canyon in Utah and, after three months, came across the camp of Ute Indian Chief Ouray, which is near present-day Montrose. The men were provided shelter and food, but Packer and five other men decided to continue eastward against Ouray’s advice.
Weeks later, Packer emerged from the mountains as the sole survivor of the group and originally claimed that he had been separated from his traveling companions. However, after being confronted, he claimed that four of the five had died from the harsh winter conditions and had been eaten by the others.
He also claimed that he had killed the fifth man, Shannon Bell, in self-defense after being attacked before eating him.
The alleged scene did not match this story, so Packer was charged with murder, though he escaped from his jail cell and was on the run for several years.
After he was caught a second time, he was found guilty and sentenced to death, but this was overturned because of an error in the criminal codes that happened when Colorado became a state in 1876, according to the Littleton Museum.
Packer was then convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 40 years in prison, but he only served 16 years before being paroled. This was due, in part, to the efforts of Denver Post reporter Polly Pry, who was convinced of his innocence.
Packer died in 1907 and was buried in the Littleton Cemetery.
