Crack cocaine was the drug that took over Nathan Kisken’s life.
Because “Nate” spent rent money and everything he had feeding his addiction, it was likely what drew him to a dirt alley behind West 14th Avenue near Zenobia Street on March 8, 2003.
Nathan Kisken
There, someone beat him to death with a blunt object, lifted his body up to the lip of a dumpster and dropped it onto a bed of trash.
A coroner’s report indicated that a secondary cause of death was asphyxiation: He landed face down in the Dumpster and couldn’t breathe.
Kisken was a tall, lanky redhead.
Denver attorney Sybil Kisken, Nate’s sister, recalls the horrifying day she and her parents saw his battered body lying on a gurney behind a curtain in the Denver coroner’s office, appearing as though he was asleep.
“This wasn’t just a drug addict who was beaten to death; he was a person with some incredible qualities,” Sybil Kisken said. “The sad thing is, I think he was really close to getting the treatment he needed.”