Arrest In Cold Case Gives Former Alleged Accomplice A 'Blast From The Past'
DENVER (CBS4) - A suspect has been arrested for his involvement in a 19-year-old cold case and his alleged accomplice talked exclusively to CBS4's Tom Mustin.
Weldon Long was one of two men involved in a string of robberies in the early 1990s. He was arrested and did his time but his alleged accomplice, Todd Wilcox, fled. Police arrested Wilcox in Canada last week. He's now in New York awaiting extradition to Colorado.
"Just a blast from the past and not in a good way," Long said. "He was a very private person, a very quiet person."
The two men were suspected of three armed robberies in Colorado Springs in 1992, including a Gunther Toody's restaurant on Academy Boulevard. Long served 12 years in prison for the crime. Wilcox fled to Canada where he was just arrested for theft. He's in the process of being extradited to Colorado on a kidnapping charge.
"It's almost like you're right back there during those dark days," Long said.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show from 1981 to 1993 Wilcox was arrested in Colorado 11 times for everything from burglary to parole violations to DUI. Long, who is now an author and motivational speaker, met Wilcox in prison.
"I lived a very destructive, counterproductive life for a lot of years of my life," Long said. "Todd and I met in the penitentiary in the late 1980s. We were associates. I wouldn't go so far as to say we were friends.
"When you're living that kind of criminal lifestyle you don't have a lot of close relationships with people."
Long says at one point during the robberies he and Wilcox moved the victims. In Colorado that constitutes kidnapping. There is no statute of limitations for that crime.
Meanwhile, Long says he has no bad feelings for Wilcox. The arrest of his former accomplice after 14 years on the run has given him closure.
"I'm very happy that I pled guilty to these crimes and served my time," Long said. "I can't imagine what it would be like living looking over my shoulder and being constantly afraid."
