Sullivan, Polly Elizabeth

Polly Elizabeth Sullivan, 44, graduated Hinckley High School, attended Colorado State University and received a B.A. in English from the University of Colorado. Polly loved learning. While she worked in insurance and banking, she obtained a paralegal certificate. She went back to school at Arizona State University and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1994. Polly became a member of the Arizona bar. Dissatisfied with job opportunities and homesick, she returned to Aurora. Polly’s ethnic background was American Indian as well as Irish-American so it was no surprise when she took a job with the non-profit Denver Indian Center. She developed the old Air Force Academy barracks at Lowry AFB into a transitional housing for the homeless project known as Crooked Tree. Polly became manager of Crooked Tree and lived in an apartment at the project. If someone needed a ride to a job interview, Polly handed out bus tokens. If they were short on groceries, Polly gave them a box of food. But she also enforced the rules with which tenants must comply. She was also active with the American Indian Law Clinic at CU-Boulder working to provide legal services to the poor. On Christmas Day, 1998, Polly was found dead in her apartment, stabbed 14 times. A tenant who was being evicted was identified as a suspect and arrested. Willie Stafford was later released because of a bungled investigation. Polly’s parents, Lieurance, 65, and Shirley, 64, have since been relentless in their quest for justice, posting a reward, handing out fliers and pushing the authorities to rekindle the investigation. Arizona State University Law School dedicated a memorial tree and plaque to Polly’s memory.