Denver police solve old murder case, killer’s mom had role

Denver police say the killer in an 18-year-old murder mystery was shielded by his mother until his own death.

The Denver Post reported that at a news conference Friday, police said Jonathan Clinton, then 20, was a suspect at the time. But his mother told investigators he was home with her the night 67-year-old Surle Goldfogel surprised a burglar at her home and was beaten to death.

Years after Clinton’s death in 2003, his mother told a neighbor the truth. The neighbor called police, and the mother admitted to them that her son had confessed to her on the night of the murder.

District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said the statute of limitations on accessory to murder after the fact had passed by the time of the mother’s admission.