Colorado 1984 Hammer Killings: Man Pleads Not Guilty

A man has pleaded not guilty after he was charged in connection with deadly hammer attacks in 1984.

Alexander Ewing, 60, was held in a Nevada prison since 1985 on an unrelated case, and he was extradited to Colorado. He entered a guilty plea Monday in Arapahoe County, according to The Denver Post.

Patricia Louise Smith, 50, was raped and beaten to death with an auto-body hammer in her Lakewood home Jan. 10, 1984. There were several other similar hammer attacks on people in their metro Denver homes around the same time, but those victims survived. In 2018, DNA testing linked Ewing to Smith's death, officials said.

Six days after Smith was killed, three members of the Bennett family — Bruce, Debra and their 7-year-old daughter, Melissa — were murdered with a claw hammer in Aurora. Only one Bennett family member survived — 3-year-old Vanessa.

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Ewing was serving a 110-year sentence in Nevada for an ax-handle attack on a Henderson couple. He was extradited to Colorado, where he's being held in the Arapahoe County jail.

Monday's guilty plea was for the Bennett murders. Ewing will not face the death penalty, The Denver Post reports. A trial date in Jefferson County has not been released.