Salt Lake City police detectives are trying to keep the heat on a cold case from 1995, according to a recently filed search warrant.
The warrant requests a DNA sample from a man in Fort Collins, Colo., who was interviewed during the initial investigation and again in March 2011, but refused to give a sample.
 |
Join the Discussion |
 |
Post a Comment |
In late July 1995, two Gold Cross ambulance workers found the body of John Wollshleger, 30, of Sandy, in the bed of a pickup truck near 1600 South and 700 West. Wollshleger had been shot in the head and had long, vertical scratches on his upper and lower back. A medical examiner determined the manner of death to be homicide.
Six months later, Salt Lake City police detectives interviewed a man in Wyoming who told them Wollshleger was at a party near 1300 South and 740 West when he was shot. The witness said another man dragged Wollshleger’s lifeless body by the feet toward a street and tossed it into the back of a truck.
Flash forward to 2011, where two detectives again interviewed the Colorado man, who claimed to not recall the event at all. He later acknowledged that he knew some details of the crime. After the interview, police asked the man, with his attorney present, for a DNA sample. The attorney agreed, but the man took the attorney aside and later refused to give a DNA sample.
In April 2011, police interviewed another witness, who told them she believed Wollshleger came to the party that night trying to buy cocaine. She said her boyfriend and another man, whose identity she couldn’t remember, dragged the body to the truck and threw it in the bed.
She said her boyfriend drove the truck to an unknown location to "dump the body."
Also in April, police had DNA samples taken from a pair of socks and shoes Wollshleger was wearing when he died. Test results identified Wollshleger’s DNA and the DNA of an unknown male.
In August 2011, police went to West Virginia to obtain a DNA sample from the woman’s boyfriend. DNA evidence excluded the man from the case.
Police are now also seeking DNA samples from three men believed to be at the party that night.
Twitter: @CimCity
Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
