The argument broke out in the middle of the day on August 9, 1997 in the parking lot of Plaza Liquors, 1144 Yosemite St. in Aurora.
Joseph Michael Neiens, 71
It was an unusual confrontation, with an older man squaring off against a much younger person. But he was stubborn, standing his ground.
But within minutes, 71-year-old Joseph Michael Neiens was dead, his body leaning against a telephone pole – crushed.
Police would speculate that the woman who killed Neiens had been an acquaintance of some kind.
But the mystery of who had killed Neiens has never been solved.
Neiens had a small cleaning business he called “All Fase Cleaning.” He lived and worked in Thornton.
Witnesses later told police about the argument they had watched between an elderly man and a much younger woman.
They told police the black woman had acne on her face, was about 5-feet, 6-inches tall and weighed about 130 pounds. It appeared that she was in her late 20s or early 30s.
During the argument the woman snatched the man’s keys to his red Dodge Neon, and shoved her way into the front seat of the car. Was it a carjacking?
Neiens was yelling at the woman to get out of the car. He was grabbing at her and trying the best he could to pull her physically out of the car.
The woman started the car, revving the engine menacingly. It could have been her way of warning the old man that she was indeed about to take off with his car.
Neiens was between the open driver’s side door and the seat when the woman put the car into reverse and backed up quickly.