Viswa Vanapalli
In February 1993, an escalating argument at a bar on a Saturday night turned deadly when a young James Holmes was shot to death. After some initial confusion regarding who pulled the trigger, the authorities zeroed in on Rodney Geer. Investigation Discovery’s ‘Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda: Rearview Mirror’ chronicles the work that went into bringing James’ killer to justice as one of two cases featured in the episode. So, if you’re wondering how it all unfolded, here’s what we know.
Who is Rodney Geer?
At around 11:55 pm on February 27, 1993, the authorities received an alert regarding a shooting at a bar in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The victim was 25-year-old James Holmes, who suffered a solitary gunshot wound in his chest; he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. While there were several witnesses, almost all of them were intoxicated, which led to some initial confusion regarding who fired the weapon. The police took 24-year-old Joseph Brown into custody, but he was later ruled out as a suspect; Joseph was at the bar with James that night.
Later, the bartender told the police that Joseph and the shooting suspect wore red flannel shirts. According to her, the shooter was with a woman and another man in a cowboy hat. It was reported that some sort of altercation eventually led to James being shot in the chest. The authorities arrested Rodney Geer at the same bar later that night; he still had the flannel shirt tied around his waist and had an empty holster on his person. The gun, however, wasn’t in his possession.
As per the show, the woman was identified as Evelyn Blankenship, Rodney’s girlfriend, and the man in the cowboy hat was Chuck Sizemore. While Rodney didn’t cooperate, Evelyn initially claimed that she left the bar when the shooting happened and went to a friend’s house before coming back to look for Rodney. Chuck, who was tracked down to another bar, then provided the missing pieces in the case. As per the show, Chuck had a run-in with James a couple of weeks prior.
Chuck was arguing with his girlfriend at the time, and James allegedly accused him of abusing her. Then, on the night of the incident, Chuck claimed that James began calling him out at the bar. As per the show, Evelyn confronted James regarding that, and this incident led to Rodney becoming enraged. It was stated on the show that Rodney attacked Joseph Brown and then pulled out a gun; while he had it pointed at Joseph, Evelyn grabbed the hand, resulting in the bullet hitting James instead.
Where is Rodney Geer Today?
The authorities eventually found the firearm at Evelyn’s friend’s place. As per the show, she asked the friend to hide it. In the end, Rodney pled guilty to manslaughter. As a result, he received 16 years behind bars. On the other hand, Evelyn was convicted of tampering with physical evidence. From what we can tell, Rodney has since been released from prison, but he seems to have maintained a low profile. It’s unclear what he currently does; Rodney’s last known location remains Colorado Springs.
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