Suspect named in death of clerk found stabbed in a gas station bathroom in 1975
05/09/2025 11:56 am PDT
BOULDER, Colo. (TCN) -- A cold case recently came to a close after investigators identified a suspect in the death of a 20-year-old gas station clerk who was found dead nearly five decades ago.
According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, on Sept. 29, 1975, deputies responded to a report of a deceased man and discovered John Patterson, a clerk at the Cascade Service Station, in the gas station restroom with a fatal stab wound to his chest. Authorities also found unfired cartridges on the bathroom floor near Patterson’s body.
The cash register was reportedly open with cash missing, suggesting robbery was the motive in the deadly stabbing.
Investigators identified 32-year-old Louis Locicero as a person of interest early on in the case. Locicero reportedly had a criminal history, including charges of robbery and burglary, as well as drug and weapon charges.
According to authorities, Locicero had been staying at a local motel, where investigators located a firearm and a knife consistent with the victim’s wound that also had fibers from Patterson’s shirt on it. Additionally, officials reportedly found Patterson’s suspected hair on Locicero’s boots.
Investigators interviewed Locicero and other individuals in connection with Patterson’s death. Authorities arrested Locicero in 1975, but he was released for an "unknown reason" before charges were filed. The case eventually went cold.
On May 7, the sheriff’s office announced that investigators were able to connect the cartridges found at the crime scene and at the nearby motel room to Locicero’s firearm. Locicero died in 2024, but the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said they would have charged him with robbery and murder if he were alive.
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