A fallen Pueblo police officer remembered 100 years later

PUEBLO, Colo.(KRDO)-- The Pueblo Police Department is working on an effort to honor a Pueblo police officer who was murdered more than a century ago.

The department wants to make sure people never forget Marshal Casper Zweifel.

Friday, an officer told KRDO that they have a saying, " Never leave a fallen officer behind." That officer and others say they feel that a weathered-down gravestone is not how a Pueblo officer should be honored.

In 1884, Marshal Casper Zweifel died after only a few days on the force with South Pueblo Policemen.

On July 25, 1884, Zweifel, had arrested a young man for defrauding businesses along Union Avenue with pewter "silver dollars," according to Peg Powell, Pueblo Historian. While escorting him to jail, Zweifel was stabbed twice in his left and right groin.

Historians said Zweifel was able to fire at the suspect during a 75-yard chase, but he didn't make it. Powell said the stab wound just missed the femoral artery.

After almost 138 years after Zweifel's death, Private Investigator, Salvadore Torres, was told Zweifel was a veteran needing a gravestone. In June 2022, Torres searched for the marshal’s gravestone in the Pueblo Pioneer Cemetery and, before giving up, found Zweifel. He began uncovering his true history and found out he was not in the military but was a cop.

"I was saddened because I know the rain has been damaging it, and he will be forgotten, said Salvadore Torres.

Torres searched newspapers to find more information about the case. He came across an old article that had a confession from the man, John Carp.

Sergent Frank Ortega with the Pueblo Police Department said after finding out the history, he had to do something about it.

"He died before I was even born, but I still feel a connection to this gentleman because he was a Pueblo Policemen," said Sergeant Frank Ortega.

Ortega said the Pueblo Police Department started jumping on this project quickly since the anniversary of his death was approaching.

"We have to honor the sacrifice this gentleman made 138 years ago trying to protect the citizens of Pueblo," said Sergeant Frank Ortega.

The Pueblo Police department told KRDO that there are 13 fallen police officers on record.

Ortega said they don't know when this project will be finished. They're currently working with the Pueblo Police Union and Pueblo Police Association about how to re-vamp the area around the stone. They hope to put a plaque or another stone next to his current one.