GREELEY, Colo. (KDVR) — Investigators said Friday they arrested a Kansas man in the second oldest unsolved homicide in Weld County.
The Weld County District Attorney charged 64-year-old James Dye, of Wichita, in the 1979 death of Evelyn Kay Day. Day was 29 years old at the time of her murder.
Coworkers found her strangled by the belt of her overcoat in her station wagon in unincorporated Weld County. Investigators found she had been beaten and sexually assaulted.
After Detective Byron Kastilahn was assigned to the case in spring of 2020, there was a push to compare the DNA collected at the crime scene to national DNA networks. Kastilahn linked DNA from the scene to Dye.
Dye had a criminal history of sexual assault in Weld County around the time of the murder, including multiple arrests for sexual assault on a child, according to the arrest affidavit and investigators. He was also a student at Aims Community College, where Day worked, around the time when she was killed.
Dye told investigators he denies knowing, having a sexual relationship with or killing the victim, according to the affidavit.
Dye faces two counts of first-degree murder. District Attorney Michael Rourke said the two charges reflect the two theories on this case.
Dye is being held in a Sedgwick County Jail in Wichita and awaits extradition to Colorado with a pending court date.
The sheriff’s office asked anyone with information to contact Det. Byron Kastilahn at (970) 400-2827 or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com. Tippers who help lead investigators to an arrest and charges may be eligible for a cash reward.
You can re-watch the full press conference in the video above.