Suspected Serial Rapist Arrested By Boulder Police

BOULDER, Colo. -- A real estate agent and part-time ski instructor, accused in a series of rapes in Boulder; Lakewood, Colo., and Austin, Texas, was arrested at his Glenwood Springs home Friday, after an exhaustive multiyear investigation by Boulder police.

Bradford Thomas Wagner, 36 (pictured, left), was arrested by detectives at his home in Glenwood Springs, Colo. According to the police, Wagner was linked to the crimes by DNA.

A break in the case came in 2002 when detectives were advised that four rapes committed in Boulder between 1993 and 1998 were linked to a single suspect, by DNA. They were also advised the same DNA was linked to rapes in Lakewood and Austin.

As part of the investigation, detectives began an exhaustive computer search of public and commercial databases that would link a potential suspect to Boulder, Lakewood and Austin near the times of each of the sexual assaults. It was through this tedious task and other investigative means that Bradford Thomas Wagner, 36, was identified as a potential suspect on May 18, police said. Detectives also learned he worked at a real estate office in Glenwood Springs.

On May 19, a Boulder police investigator working undercover called Wagner’s business phone posing as a potential real estate client. On May 20, the undercover investigator met with Wagner in Glenwood Springs. During this meeting several samples of Wagner’s DNA were obtained surreptitiously. The samples were then submitted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for analysis.

On Wednesday, police received lab results from the CBI linking Wagner to the four sexual assaults that occurred in and around the Tantra Lake apartment complex in Boulder. It at least one of the rapes, the suspect wore a stocking mask and surgical gloves and was armed with a weapon.

The suspect in the apartment rapes was described as a white man in his mid- to late-20s, about 5-foot-8, with a medium build and short brown hair. The suspect had no noticeable accent and sounded well-educated. The attacker also smelled of cigarette smoke, according to several of the women who were raped.

Friday morning, detectives drove to Glenwood Springs and arrested Wagner at his residence on four counts of first-degree sexual assault. Wagner was taken into custody without incident and was transported to the Boulder County Jail.

Bond was set at $1 million. Additional search warrant affidavits were completed to allow the search of Wagner’s residence, vehicle and person, to look for additional evidence.

Wagner is employed as one of several managing directors at Coldwell Banker Commercial Resort Investment Group in Aspen until May, according to employees of the company. He left the Aspen company to take a job at the Remax Mountain West realty firm in Glenwood Springs, according to the Aspen Daily News.

Wagner is a part-time ski instructor at Snowmass, the News reported.