DENVER — Surveillance video from a Denver parking garage played a key role in identifying the suspect now charged in the death of a woman who died about two weeks after she was assaulted in 2021.
Randy Housch, 60, is charged with seven counts, including felony murder and sexual assault, related to the death of Gertrude "Birdie" Seawalker. Housch is next due in court in September and is currently set for trial in October.
On July 17, 2021, Seawalker approached someone who was eating breakfast at a café on East Colfax Avenue near North Monroe Street. That person called 911 out of concern for Seawalker because she had blood on her and her face appeared swollen, says an arrest affidavit from Denver Police.
Due to her injuries, she was unable to communicate what had happened to her. She was taken to a hospital and found to have significant injuries that included bleeding on her brain. She died as result of her injuries on July 30, 2021.
Investigators later located video of Seawalker's assault and noted that her injuries appeared to be "consistent" with what was seen in the video, the arrest affidavit says.
Video from a nearby business showed Seawalker entering a parking garage just after midnight July 17, 2021. A man, recognized by police as Housch, followed her into the first floor of the garage, court documents say.
Housch was seen exiting around 8:23 a.m. Seawalker left about three minutes later and walked up to the café immediately after leaving the garage.
According to the affidavit, Housch and Seawalker were in close proximity to each other during most of the eight hours they were in the garage. The documents say Housch left for about 10 minutes, but during that time, no one was seen near or approaching Seawalker.
Police interviewed Housch on Aug. 12, 2021. At the time, Housch positively identified himself and Seawalker in the video footage that showed them entering the garage, the affidavit says.
When he was told that Seawalker had died, he denied he was responsible and brought up Seawalker's medical history and claimed she had a history of falling.
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