Morton Rosenfeld was born in Chicago in 1935. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1957 with a B.S. in English. There he met his future wife, Judith. Morton then studied acting in New York City, appearing in some off-Broadway plays.
Morton was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1958 and served in the Public Information Office at Fort Bragg, NC. Morton and Judith were married in August, 1958, when she returned from a year of post-graduate study in France. To this union was born a daughter, Stephanie, in 1960 and a son, David, in 1964.
Morton attended the NYU School of Filmmaking and worked in New York City in film editing until 1970. Then a cousin of his told him of an opening teaching filmmaking at the University of Utah. He applied for, and got, the job. Morton loved Utah, enjoying skiing and hiking especially. He also enjoyed all sorts of music, from jazz to classical. He was very popular with his students.
In May of 1979, he bought a VW Beetle and headed for the film festival in Telluride, CO. At first he stayed with his father-in-law in Boulder, but through a friend in Salt Lake City, he arranged to stay at a condominium in Windcliff Estates, near Estes Park.
Morton had been in Colorado only ten days when his badly beaten body was found on May 19, 1979 by Tom Rack, the owner of the condominium, on returning to Windcliff Estates. There were no signs of forced entry. Many people were distraught when they learned of Morton’s death. A cinematographer friend tried to film the condo where Morton met his death, but was chased off by Douglas and Ron Buser, the sons of one of the principal developers of Windcliff Estates.
Judith believes that the killer is known, or highly suspected, by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, but that office informed her that all physical evidence of the crime was accidentally destroyed in l983 during their transition to computers. The Rosenfeld family wants the killer(s) brought to justice.
If you have information about this murder, please call Lt. Andy Josey, (970) 498-5161.