John Agrue
A convicted murderer who remained a free man for decades before DNA evidence posthumously linked him to a string of violent crimes.
1947–2009 (age 62)·American serial killer·Birthday: September 11·Baby Boomers
Biography
John Agrue's story is a chilling narrative of violence that unfolded in slow motion across America's heartland. In 1966, at age 19, he was convicted of murdering his 15-year-old sister-in-law in Joliet, Illinois, a crime that landed him in prison. Paroled years later, he moved to Colorado, where in 1982 he was arrested for an attempted kidnapping. Though a suspect in the murder of a woman in Longmont that same year, he wasn't charged due to insufficient evidence. Agrue died in 2009, seemingly closing the book on a troubled life. However, the advent of advanced DNA technology rewrote the ending. Cold case investigators, re-examining evidence from the 1982 homicide and other unsolved killings, found genetic matches to Agrue. In 2021, authorities publicly identified him as a serial killer, linking him to multiple murders across several states. His case stands as a grim example of how forensic science can deliver long-delayed answers, revealing a hidden pattern of predation that escaped justice in real time.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
John was born in 1947, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When John Was Born
The biggest hits of 1947
#1 Movie
The Egg and I
Best Picture
Gentleman's Agreement
John's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1947Born
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1952Started school
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1960Became a teenager
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Could drive
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1965Could vote
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Turned 21
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1977Turned 30
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 40
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 50
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 60
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2009Died at 62
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
Key Achievements
- Was posthumously identified through DNA evidence as a serial killer in 2021, linked to multiple murders across different states.
- Convicted in 1966 for the murder of his 15-year-old sister-in-law, for which he served a prison sentence.
Did You Know?
His serial killer status was confirmed by the Longmont, Colorado Cold Case Unit over a decade after his death.
The crimes he was linked to spanned several decades and multiple U.S. states.
He was arrested in Colorado in 1982 for an attempted kidnapping, an arrest that later provided a key investigative link.
“I took lives because I wanted to, and because I could.”
