After nearly 40 years, the family of Roger Dean has finally received the long-awaited justice they had been seeking for his brutal murder in 1985.
Roger Dean, 51, was tragically killed in a violent home invasion in Lone Tree, Colorado. A man wearing a ski mask broke into his home, forced Dean to tie up his wife, tape her mouth shut, and then shot and killed him. The intruder left behind a backpack and a ski mask, which would later help crack the case.
It took decades of advancements in DNA technology before detectives could connect Michael Jefferson to the crime. In 2021, Jefferson, then 67, was arrested and, in August 2022, pleaded guilty to the murder as part of a plea bargain.
On Thursday, Jefferson was sentenced to 32 years in prison for the murder, the maximum sentence allowed. However, Douglas County’s district attorney has stated that Jefferson could potentially be paroled in as little as 8 years.
Tamara Dean Harney, the victim’s daughter, shared her frustration over the lack of accountability from Jefferson. She mentioned that, despite attending court hearings over the past four years, Jefferson remained emotionless and unrepentant for his actions. “He doesn’t take any accountability… I have no respect for the person at all,” Harney said.
In the years following the murder, Harney and her mother, DJ, claimed to have received threats of violence and extortion from Jefferson. Tragically, DJ committed suicide in 2020, just months before DNA evidence confirmed Jefferson’s involvement in the crime.
Harney expressed relief that her mother wasn’t alive to witness the prolonged legal process. “If she wasn’t already dead, this process would have killed her,” Harney said, referencing the years of legal delays and complications in the case.
The breakthrough came when genetic genealogical evidence linked Jefferson to the crime scene. However, Jefferson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder instead of the original charges, after a scandal involving a forensic scientist—Missy Woods—who had been found guilty of manipulating DNA evidence in other cases. Despite this, Jefferson’s DNA match was also confirmed by an independent lab.
The family’s loss extends beyond Roger’s tragic murder. Two years before his death, Harney’s brother Troy was killed in a tragic train accident, further compounding the family’s pain.
This case underscores the importance of DNA technology in solving cold cases and the emotional toll it can take on the families of victims awaiting justice.