DENVER -- Denver police released suspect sketches and fresh information Wednesday in the unsolved slaying of Adams County prosecutor Sean May, who was gunned down in the back yard of his north Denver home after coming home from work in August 2008.
Police hope the sketches of the mystery gunman and new details about two possible "unknowing witnesses", in conjunction with a Saturday episode of America's Most Wanted TV featuring the May case, will spur new leads in the 15-month-old killing of the respected prosecutor.
As the 37-year-old May arrived home about 6 p.m. on Aug. 27, 2008, he was ambushed from behind by a gunman who fired several shots. He was struck in the head and lower back.
Police said "May was murdered in cold blood."
The new sketches showed the suspected gunman wearing a baseball cap backwards. One drawing showed the man with a mustache and goatee, another showed him clean shaven.
Denver police Chief of Detectives David Fisher would not disclose information about the witness who help police craft the suspect sketches, saying it could jeopardize the investigation.
He said investigators had been quietly using the sketch for sometime, but "it was not appropriate (to released it publicly) until this time."
Police also showed security camera images of two men shopping at a 7-Eleven at 38th Avenue and Irving Street the day of the murder. The men might have been "unknowing witnesses" who caught a glimpse of the fleeing killer, Fisher said.
Authorities also showed a blue Jeep Liberty at the 7-Eleven that these "witnesses" may have been driving.
The hope is that the two men, if identified, might come forward and provide new information about the suspect, Fisher said.
"They may be unknowing witnesses that could provide information to us," Fisher said. "It may be that when they walked out of the store they saw something."
Denver homicide detective Aaron Lopez, who has been working on the case, will travel to Washington, D.C., to appear on America's Most Wanted.
"We're hoping that that (show) will bring significant attention to this case, including to generate tips as to who may be involved and committed this horrible crime," Fisher said.
May left behind a wife who at the time was pregnant with their first child. Corin May is raising the baby boy her husband never knew.
Fisher was joined by Jim Davis, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Denver office, and Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey in the Wednesday afternoon press conference.
The FBI, which has assisted with the May case from day one, will now be a full-time partner in the probe, providing nationwide resources to the case, Davis said.
Morrissey, who has assigned two prosecutors to the probe, lauded detectives who have run down "thousands of leads."
The reward for information in the case currently stands at $125,000.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP(7867).
The suspect has been described as a white or Hispanic male, in his late teens to early 20s.
He's approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall, and is believed to have dark medium-length hair and a dark colored mustache and goatee. He was seen wearing a black baseball style cap -- worn backwards -- with a white, short-sleeve T-shirt, khaki-colored knee-length cargo style shorts and unknown color tennis shoes.
Check out America's Most Wanted case profile of the case on
AMW.com.
