Crime and Public Safety | Alaska man accused of killing Longmont woman in 2006 set for trial
May 24—An Alaska man who was indicted by a grand jury in the 2006 death of a Longmont woman has pleaded not guilty and been set a seven-day trial in September.
John Angerer, 54, pleaded not guilty May 16 to second-degree murder in the death of 38-year-old Angela Wilds.
He is currently in custody on a $1 million bond and set for a motions on Aug. 8 before his trial is set to start on Sept. 5.
In February 2023, Angerer was indicted by a grand jury after prosecutors said they found new evidence in the case.
Wilds' decomposing body was found on June 4, 2006, by two hikers in the South St. Vrain Canyon, roughly 3 miles outside of Lyons. The body appeared to have been dragged from a nearby shallow grave by a large predator, and deputies located a pair of yellow ski pants, a sleeping bag, and a pillow in a pillowcase, all neatly folded up near the gravesite.
The body remained unidentified until DNA analysis confirmed it was Wilds five months later. The Boulder County Coroner's Office was ultimately unable to rule on a cause or manner of death, though an outside forensic pathologist brought in by prosecutors opined that Wilds died of homicide by asphyxiation.
In 2009, DNA evidence connected Angerer to Wilds' body and the area where the body was found. Angerer was arrested and charged with second-degree murder but a judge ruled that there was not enough evidence for the case to proceed past a preliminary hearing, and Angerer was released and the case dismissed.
But prosecutors continued investigating and developed "significant and new evidence, leading to the case being presented to a grand jury.
While the specifics of the new evidence were not released, prosecutors said the investigation "has included identifying new witnesses, re-interviewing individuals previously known to law enforcement, consulting with forensic pathologists, and submitting further items to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for testing and DNA analysis."
