HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Andrew Louis "Lou" Smit (April 14, 1935 – August 11, 2010) was an American police
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
in
Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
who worked on a number of notable cases before his retirement in 1996. He was later recalled to work on the murder of JonBenét Ramsey.


Life and career

Smit having tried various businesses and failed, prayed for a solution and saw as an answer from God a call he received from a cousin who served on the
Colorado Springs Police Department The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is the police department for the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado. History In 1923, Chief Hugh D. Harper helped transfer 50,000 fingerprint files from the International Association of Chiefs of P ...
suggesting that he apply to serve. Smit fell just short of the department's minimum height of five feet and nine inches, but was able to join the force in 1966 after he had his cousin hit him over the skull with a nightstick, allowing him to meet the height minimum when he was remeasured the following day with the bump on his head.Taha, Nadia
"Lou Smit, Detective in JonBenet Ramsey Case, Is Dead at 75"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', August 13, 2010. Accessed August 14, 2010.
Working his way up to the rank of detective, Smit was involved in a number of notable cases including the conviction of
spree killer A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders in a short time, often in multiple locations. There are different opinions about what durations of time a killing spree may take place in. The United States ...
Freddie Glenn Freddie Lee Glenn (born January 6, 1957) is an American spree killer and rapist. Along with his accomplice, Michael Corbett, Glenn was responsible for up to five deaths in and around Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1975. Glenn and Corbett were fou ...
for a series of murders, including the 1975 killing of Karen Grammer, younger sister of actor
Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...
.Staff
"Detective who defended Ramseys dies in Colorado"
Associated press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, August 12, 2010. Accessed August 14, 2010.
In 1995, he arrested
Robert Charles Browne Robert Charles Browne (born October 31, 1952) is an American murderer who is currently serving two life sentences for the murders of two teenage girls in Colorado Springs, Colorado, committed in 1987 and 1991, respectively. A few years into his ...
for the 1991 murder of Heather Dawn Church. Church's father had been one of the original suspects in his daughter's murder, but Browne ultimately confessed to a total of 48 murders and was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
. Smit retired in 1996 from the
El Paso County, Colorado El Paso County is the List of counties in Colorado, most populous county in the U.S state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 730,395, surpassing the city and county of Denver. The county seat is ...
Sheriff's department where he had served as captain of detectives. Some of Smit's cases, such as the Grammer and Church murders, were featured on the
Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...
series ''
Homicide Hunter ''Homicide Hunter'' (also known as ''Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda'') is an American crime documentary television series which aired on the Investigation Discovery (ID) television network for nine seasons, totalling 144 episodes. The series show ...
''. In 1997, three months after the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, Smit was asked by the district attorney's office to come out of retirement to assist with the investigation. While initial suspicions had been that Patsy Ramsey was responsible for the murder and that John Ramsey had been protecting his wife, Smit resigned from the case after 18 months having concluded that the Ramseys were not responsible for the murder and that the Boulder Police Department had been unjustifiably pursuing the Ramseys as suspects despite DNA and other evidence that showed that some other person was responsible for the killing. In his September 1998 resignation letter, Smit stated that "the Ramseys did not do it" and cited "substantial, credible evidence of an intruder and a lack of evidence that the parents are involved". Smit later worked for the Ramseys in helping establish their innocence. After the Ramsey case, Smit continued to work on cold cases. As a detective, Smit boasted that he "never lost a homicide case" in a career in which he worked on more than 200 murder cases in which a suspect had been arrested and tried for their crime. Smit went to a doctor in April 2010 after experiencing abdominal pain. After a CAT scan identified a tumor as the cause of the pain, surgeons discovered that the cancer had spread throughout his body and was untreatable. Smit died at age 75 on August 11, 2010, at the Pikes Peak Hospice in Colorado Springs due to
colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...
. John Ramsey came to pray at his bedside shortly before Smit's death.Mitchell, Kirk
"Springs detective Lou Smit, 75, prayed with, helped Ramseys"
''
The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...
'', August 12, 2010. Accessed August 14, 2010.
Smit was survived by three daughters, a son and nine grandchildren.


Portrayals

Smit has been portrayed by
Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...
in the CBS television miniseries ''
Perfect Murder, Perfect Town ''Perfect Murder, Perfect Town'' is a 2000 American television miniseries directed by Lawrence Schiller. The teleplay by Tom Topor is based on Schiller's book of the same title. Including historic news and talk show footage, it covers in great ...
'' (2000); Hrothgar Mathews in Lifetime's ''Who Killed Jonbenet'' (2016) and
Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''.Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...
limited series titled ''Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Lou 1935 births 2010 deaths American police detectives Place of birth missing Deaths from colorectal cancer in Colorado Killing of JonBenét Ramsey People from Colorado Springs, Colorado