On this day, Feb. 9, in 1960, Coors beer heir Adolph Coors III was shot to death in a botched kidnapping attempt on his way to the family brewery in Golden, Colo.
Eight days later, a burned-out car was found in New Jersey with dirt traced back to the site of the abduction. Evidence pointed to a former Fulbright scholar-turned-crook, a convicted murderer named Joe Corbett, who had escaped from a minimum-security prison four years earlier.
The FBI started a massive manhunt, distributing 1.5 million wanted posters.
In September 1960, Coors' remains were found near Pikes Peak.
A month later, Canadian police captured Corbett after citizens recognized him from a magazine article. Corbett was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 1980.
In 2009, he shot himself to death at age 80.
Scott McCabe
