One of the most brazen and vicious unsolved murders in the United States took place nearly 20 years ago in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On November 5th, 1999 sometime after 5:30 PM between the fifth and eighth floors in the stairwell at Memorial Hospital, when 23-year-old Dietitian Jennifer Skinner Watkins was attacked and ultimately killed due to blunt force trauma to the back of the head.

How was a hospital employee killed in the stairwell in a busy hospital on a Friday evening, without anyone seeing or hearing anything? It is a question that can only be answered by the person responsible who has evaded arrest since committing this horrific crime.

Just a few weeks away from her 24th birthday, Jennifer left behind her husband, a son age 3, a daughter 10 months, parents, and siblings.

Timeline and Questions:

Three (3) months prior to the murder in August 1999, Jennifer began working at the hospital as a temporary employee. She was hired as permanent employee in October.

Jennifer’s husband Michael was also employed at the hospital on graveyard shift in the maintenance-housekeeping department.

On Friday November 5, 1999 Jennifer disappeared during her shift. As part of her job She would deliver trays of food to all different parts of the hospital. Was she on a break or out delivering meals when she disappeared?

Why didn’t any of her co-workers report her missing when she didn’t return after a short time?

What were the hospitals procedures when an employee went missing during a shift?

Prior to her murder Jennifer told her parents she thought she was being stalked.

How did the attacker know where to conceal the body in the 8th floor limited access stairwell? This indicates they had knowledge of the hospital and that the area where the body was placed was not used frequently over the weekends.

How did the attacker know they could find supplies to wrap her body in plastic to accelerate decomposition on site?

What does the video surveillance from that day show?

The 8th floor stairwell was for access to the helicopter pad and secured. This is used when patients where brought in by helicopter. However, sometimes the door was left partially open with a rock so smokers could go up to the rooftop and outside to smoke.

Did Jennifer after delivering meals on one of the lower floors go up to the 8th floor and outside to smoke? If so, was someone watching Jennifer smoke and waiting for her begin going back downstairs and then attacked her from behind, delivering a fatal blow without her ever seeing them?

On Friday night when Jennifer’s car was discovered in the parking lot after she disappeared and it was clear it hadn’t been started, why did hospital security not immediately call the police?

When the helicopter pad was used by an incoming helicopter after Jennifer disappeared on Friday before her body was discovered on Monday how didn’t anyone notice a body wrapped in plastic?

Out of the 2,000 plus employees and contractors working at the hospital during this time how many of them actually had keys to access the helicopter pad and 8th floor stairwell?

Did the hospital provide police with an accurate list of contractors working in area where Jennifer’s body was found?

In a 2007 interview with KKTV 11 Detective Derek Graham stated: “Anybody that knew any construction workers at the hospital, (1999) contact us. There were a lot of people we were unable to identify at the time.”

For 20 years Jennifer’s mother Irene has worked diligently to keep this case alive in the public eye. She wants answers and now with your help, getting justice for Jennifer and her family is more possible than ever before with the release of the Parabon Snapshot created from DNA found at the crime scene. For the first time ever a composite profile of the attacker is now available (below).

If you have any tips please contact Colorado Springs Police Department’s Homicide Cold Case Unit at 719–444–7613, or by email cspdcoldcase@springsgov.com and anonymous tips can be provided by calling Pikes Peak Crime Stoppers at 719–634–7867.

*Phenotyping cannot predict exact weight (weight can impact facial fullness) or hair length or hair style or changes to hair color or if an individual has facial hair (beard, mustache, or goatee) or if someone uses lenses to alter their eye color.