THE COLD CASE FILES: Citadel Village murders, 1995
Each victim is a face frozen in time, haunting investigators whose job it is to bring their killers to justice decades after the trail has gone cold.
The Gazette in cooperation with the Colorado Springs Police Department runs a weekly feature called “The Cold Case Files.” The Colorado Springs Police Department Homicide Cold Case Unit is currently responsible for approximately 90 unsolved homicide cases dating back to 1949. CSPD considers a case to be cold if it remains unsolved for more than one year. If you have any information that would be of assistance in these investigations, please contact 719-444-7613, by e-mail at CSPDColdCase@springsgov.com or you may remain anonymous and could earn a cash reward by calling Crime Stoppers at 634-STOP (7867).
The Victims: Rosa DeSalvo, 84, and Marjorie Mock, 96. Neighbors at the Citadel Village Apartments, the women died a few months apart in what investigators suspect were homicides committed by the same person or persons.
Mock, who was born in France, had lived in Colorado Springs since 1960. One of the most well-known residents of the complex, Mock was called the “Mayor of the Mall” for her daily 4-mile walks through The Citadel mall.
DeSalvo moved to Colorado Springs from Bloomington, Ill., in 1978. Relatives told the Gazette she did arts and crafts with many of her neighbors and attended Mass at Holy Apostles Catholic Church.
File Numbers: 95-3052, 95-38910
The Crime: DeSalvo’s body was found in her first-floor apartment, 3431 Galley Road Apt. 107, on Sept. 6, 1995. Although she was able to live on her own, the 84-year-old had health problems and her death initially was not considered a homicide. The El Paso County Coroner’s Office ruled the cause as “undetermined.”
Mock’s body was found by the manager of the complex in the bedroom of her ground-floor apartment, 3419 Galley Road Apt. 115, around 8 a.m. on Nov. 10, 1995. She died of asphyxiation, the victim of strangulation or suffocation, according to The Gazette report at the time.
The investigation: Mock’s killing just two months after DeSalvo’s death prompted police to re-examine the earlier death and reopen the investigation. There was no sign of a break-in or struggle in Mock’s death. Detectives interviewed several neighbors but were not able to identify any suspects.
