Robert Cooper

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Aurora Police Department (CO)

Missing From:

Aurora, Colorado

Summary:

"Robert Cooper" is the alias used by a man who is the prime suspect in the 2004 murder of Oakey Albert "Al" Kite. On the evening of May 22, 2004, Oakey Albert "Al" Kite Jr., a 53-year-old engineering consultant, was bound, tortured, and stabbed to death in the basement of his Aurora, Colorado home by a tenant using the alias "Robert Cooper." Despite DNA genealogy testing and FBI involvement, the case remains unsolved.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

In May 2004, Kite placed a newspaper advertisement seeking a boarder for his basement. A man introduced himself as Robert Cooper, claiming to be relocating from the East Coast for work in the technology sector. The man met Kite on May 18, 2004, paid a half-month's rent and a security deposit, and moved in. On the evening of May 22, 2004, Kite was bound, tortured for several hours, and fatally stabbed with his own kitchen knives, which were later found soaking in bleach. His body was discovered in the basement on May 24, 2004, when concerned coworkers contacted police after he failed to report to work. Following the murder, the suspect steals Kite's blue-gray GMC pickup truck and uses Kite's debit card to withdraw approximately $1,000 from a nearby Wells Fargo ATM while wearing a ski mask and gloves.

Additional Details:

Every piece of information that Cooper had filled out on the rental agreement was false. The social security number belonged to an 80-year-old woman who lived in Indiana; the address was for an elementary school in Denver, and his reference phone number was from an Aurora retirement village. Detectives discovered Cooper's cell phone was a burner (prepaid) phone purchased at a 7-11 in March 2004. Cooper waited 30 days to activate the phone; exactly how long the store kept their surveillance footage before taping over it. This made it impossible for the police to see who purchased the phone. After the murder, many witnesses came forward to tell police that Robert Cooper had also met with them regarding property they were trying to rent out. The strange thing is that each witness met a slightly different version of Robert, as it appeared he was tweaking different characteristics to conceal his identity. Witnesses described Cooper as a white male in his 40s or 50s, about five-foot-ten and between 170 to 180 pounds. He walked with a limp and used a cane, possibly having a Romanian accent. In December 2017, Aurora Police released a forensic composite image depicting what the suspect may have looked like at age 25. Analysis indicated the suspect had brown eyes, dark hair, and southeastern European ancestry. Aurora Police submitted the blood sample for forensic genetic genealogy testing, and the FBI is currently building family trees based on the results in an effort to identify "Robert Cooper." The case remains open.

Case Last Updated:

Aug 20, 2026