Authorities link 1987 cold case murder to one of the ‘most prolific serial killers’

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV/Gray News) - A 1987 cold case has recently been solved, linking the murder to one of Colorado’s “most prolific serial killers.”

According to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, 30-year-old Rhonda Marie Fisher was found dead on April 1, 1987, by a person driving past an embankment in Colorado.

Investigators at the time determined Fisher was last seen alive the night before her death, walking north on Monaco toward Leetsdale in Denver.

Investigators said multiple people were investigated early in the case, including a friend Fisher had been staying with, as well as multiple serial offenders active in the Denver area from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Despite investigators’ extensive efforts, the case remained unsolved, even after renewed DNA testing was done in 2017.

In October, investigators registered a “case-to-case” DNA match, with some of the DNA recovered from paper bags that were over Fisher’s hands matching evidence in three other homicides committed in 1979 by Vincent Darrell Groves.

Groves is considered “one of Colorado’s most prolific serial killers.”

His crimes primarily targeted vulnerable women between 1978 and 1988. Some of the women Groves targeted were prostitutes, while others were acquaintances.

Groves was originally convicted of second-degree murder in 1982 for killing 17-year-old Tammy Sue Woodrum and was released in 1987 on mandatory parole, CBS News reported.

In 1990, Groves was sentenced to life in prison for killing 19-year-old Juanita Lovato and 25-year-old Diane Montoya Mancera.

He died in custody in 1996.

Officials said through DNA evidence and “strong” leads, Groves is believed to be responsible for at least 12 homicides, an attempted murder and a sexual assault.