A nearly two-decade-old Boulder County killing has ended with a guilty plea, but not a murder conviction or additional prison time for the man prosecutors once accused of leaving a woman’s body near a shallow grave.
John Angerer pleaded guilty Tuesday to criminally negligent homicide in the 2006 death of Angela Wilds, according to MyFox28 Columbus. The plea came after two trials on the original second-degree murder charge ended in mistrials, leaving prosecutors and Wilds’ loved ones facing the prospect of a third trial.
A 2006 Discovery Near Lyons Started The Cold Case
Two hikers discovered a badly decomposed nude body on June 4, 2006, in South Saint Vrain Canyon, roughly 3.3 miles outside Lyons in unincorporated Boulder County. The body appeared to have been dragged from a nearby shallow grave, while deputies found yellow ski pants, a sleeping bag and a pillow in a pillowcase folded near the site, according to a Boulder County release.
The woman was initially unidentified, but DNA testing confirmed in November 2006 that she was Angela Wilds, who was 38. Investigators later connected Angerer to the crime scene and Wilds, though the original case was dismissed in 2010 after a judge found the murder charge was not supported by probable cause.
Investigators Rebuilt The Case Over More Than A Decade
Authorities continued working the case after that dismissal, identifying new witnesses, re-interviewing people familiar with the investigation, consulting forensic pathologists and submitting additional evidence for DNA testing. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office eventually presented the updated case to a grand jury, which returned a second-degree murder indictment in 2023…