Monique LaSuer a woman of 26 yrs with big ambitions and a deep love for animals; murdered at her employment in the early morning. There are no leads and no buzz about her case. 

Grammar and spelling are not my strong suit and there will be mistakes. I understand if people feel the need to correct it. You are also more than welcome to use my write-ups as you want. Credit is always very nice but my main goal is to try to help the cases. 

Abbreviations List LE = Law Enforcement, Downstairs = second-hand info, other blogs, and things like that. Upstairs info = sources and info from major media, government, law enforcement, and similar. 

Monique Ann LaSuer 

Monique Ann LaSuer has no known aliases but her name is often misspelled. (There is actually two other cases Monique Le sueur and Melissa La/Le Sueur  that gets mixed up with this one) The most common I have seen is adding an e to Ann and google corrects the name to Le Suer. Born April, 21st, 1974 to mother Gail LaSuer in La Mesa, San Diego County, California, USA. LaSuer, Died August 30th, 2000 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, at the age of 26 years old. Monique was laid to rest in Fairview Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado and she has a virtual Find-A-Grave site. Monique is survived by an Aunt and Uncle of Black Forest, John Eskew (Uncle), her mother, sister Stephanie LaSuer, and cousins. 

G.L. , Monique's mother advocates for her child to this day. You can find a picture of G.L. online holding a purple teddy bear made from one of her daughter's shirts. G.L. released balloons in honor of her daughter for two years but in 2003 collected stuffed animals and donated them to Memorial Hospital in Colorado for the children there and each bear had a note dedicated to her daughter. It was a way to honor Monique's love for animals and protect the environment just the way she would have wanted it. G.L. reads mysteries with only good endings to avoid thinking of her daughter's unsolved case and is also a part of the group  Mothers of Murdered Youth (MOMY) 

Monique's sister who is younger only by one year is torn that she cannot share her life anymore with Monique. They after traveled together visiting Disneyland and Magic mountain or Las Vegas. “I want to tell her what’s going on in my life, and I can’t,” she said. “Some days I sit in my room and cry. I cry that I want my sister.” - Thursday, August 28, 2003 – Colorado Springs Gazette - Page A1, Column 2 - By DeeDee Correll

Monique was described as very sweet, nice, and lovely. It is obvious the Monique wasn't afraid of working hard to pursue her dreams to achieve a degree in veterinary sciences. Before moving to Colorado to be with her family Monique worked in an oceanographic laboratory. In Colorado, she had a job in a veterinary clinic but had to switch to the Palmer House Hotel to go to college classes in the daytime. 

Monique was 5'4, 140lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes. Caucasian, female, and no identifying marks. If you want to see some of her photos please view her Find-A-Grave-Site and look through the photo section. 

Story

Monique moved to Colorado from San Diego In April 2000 to be close to her family. The family group had moved there several years prior to escape violence in Los Angeles. LaSuer's cousin had been the first to move right after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Monique rented a duplex near Fort Carson on Fairway South near B Street. (Stratton Meadows) with her boyfriend who had moved in three weeks before and lived there with her two cats and two dogs. Bubba the black and white large cat who was a gift for Monique on her 17th birthday lived with her family after the murder. 

Monique had only been working at the hotel for a few weeks or three months ( I found conflicting info so I put both time frames) and had switched from working in a Colorado vet clinic to the hotel so that she could work nights and take college classes in the day. Though she had not worked there long she was already making a lot of friends with her co-workers. 

Monique was working August 29th, (Tuesday) 2000, and early in the morning on August 30th (Wednesday). The shift was supposed to have been from 11 pm to 7 am.  This was right before Labor Day weekend. The job is reported as a night hotel auditor, clerk, or bookkeeper at the Best Western Palmer House in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Sometimes called just the Palmer House 3010 North Chestnut Street and is considered downtown by locals).   there at the job. 

Monique spoke on the phone to a co-worker about 1:15 am according to the motel owner Dick Sonntag. “The last time anyone talked to her was on the phone,” he said. “She indicated that she was locking the doors." - daily gazette The Cold Case Files Sep, 9th 2009 

Then at 5:00 am the General Manager Byron Vanderford called to check in as usual but got no answer. B.V. assumed she had been in the restroom at the time.

30 mins to one hour later, a maintenance worker reporting to work found Monique in the kitchen with the doors locked. Often times it's reported that her body was just found near the main office building and it leaves these other details about the kitchen and locks out. It was the policy that the employees were to lock the doors after the car closed which was 10:00 pm. 

The main part of the Palmer house was cordoned in the morning and the scene was worked well into Wednesday evening with all questions being diverted to Police Lt. Skip Arms who refused to answer anything. Homicide detective Sergeant Rod Walker working the case also did not answer anything or respond to pages all night. Sergeant Michael Spoitzmiller, police spokesman had said the scene was too chaotic to tell exactly what had happened. 

At first, the LE did not release any details to the case at all. They would answer no questions. El Paso County David Bowerman performed the autopsy on August 30th or the next day and said that Monique died by strangulation with contributing blunt force trauma. (Often reported as just beaten) 

Then Police Lt. Skip Arms said that investigators found an undisclosed amount of cash had been stolen from the hotel and they suspect a robbery and idea that in 2003 LaSuer's mother agreed with and points out that a car driving south on Interstate 25 could see the Best Western from the highway and take the Fillmore exit with a gas station right there. They could have robbed the hotel and gotten on the interstate again.  Police Detective David Edmondson didn't discount the theory. "This is a real whodunit, he said "It's been one dead end after another." 

Several potential suspects had been interviewed but no major breakthrough or leads come forward. LE talked with the employees, hotel guests, and Monique's boyfriend. No suspects or arrests were made. LE requested anyone who tried to check in around 1:30 am and 5 am to contact them. Le interviewed about 80 people.

There was unease in the local hotel are before the murder and after with similar industry workers fearful because the police made no official statements about the safety of the area according to a 2000's article from Colorado Springs Gazette. The unease before the murder was due to the fact that Jesse James Hollywood Fugitive of California stayed in a nearby hotel one week earlier. * (Note about this incident at the end of the post)  A local motel with 24- hour surveillance and bulletproof windows (Motel 6th) was fearful after the death. "We usually lock the doors at 10 p.m.," said General Manager Jody Henrie. "We may lock up earlier today." - Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph 2000  There is a quote also from a Henrie who says they live on-site but it is unclear where "on-site" means. Henrie, who lives on-site, said she had not been contacted by police investigators Wednesday."I've been in the business a long time, and police will usually come by when stuff like this happens," Henrie said. "Nobody has come by to let us know what's going on."Killing strings fear Colorado springs gazette 2000 Grief counselors and a staff meeting was held at the Palmer House while the hotel operated as usual by Thursday. According to the hotel manager D.S., he said the hotel didn't have a panic button or camera anywhere but the front desk. After the murder, he hired a security guard so the employees would feel more comfortable. D.S. also said the hotel locks the facility after the bar and restaurant closes, they have a telephone to call 911. "But this is a once-in-alife-time thing. you can't stop some idiots from breaking in and robbing you." - family mourns loss slain woman's relatives moved to escape violence Colorado Springs Gazette 2000. D.S. went on to say that the hotel didn't keep large amounts of cash as most customers paid with credit cards. 

The LE has no leads and Lt. S.A. police spokesman, said they did not develop a profile of the killer and gave a quote saying "People always need to be aware of their surroundings, he said but not more than any other murder when we don't have someone in custody." 

September 21st, 2000, only three weeks after the murder LE declared they had a few leads and wanted more information about LaSuer's boyfriend. Le said that while there was cash missing from the hotel they no longer think the murder was a robbery. "It's really a whodunit," - Sergeant Rod Walker, homicide unit head. "there's a lot of dynamics here." - Hotel killing wasn't robbery Colorado Springs Gazette. They are now looking for information about anyone trying to get into the locked hotel that night or who may have been in the area beside the hotel guests. LE compared notes with detectives in Lakewood to see if there were links between other motel robberies two days after Lasuer's death but no links were found. Investigators want info from people that knew Lasuer. 

In 2002 A Billboard was created by police, sheriff's deputies, and families of the victims for four unsolved victims of the area. Monique is one of them the billboard was placed on the corner of Platte Ave. and Chelton Road. Sponsored by nonprofit Mothers of Murdered Youth. 

There was some talk about reviving her case with a democratic bill that would abolish the state death penalty route the funds into cold-case investigations. This was in 2009 and there is no new information on the case. 

In 2014  the LE looked into a man named Dwayne Kelly Rogers, who had confessed to killing a woman as a possible person of interest but at the time of his sentencing found no connection between the cases. 

"I just wish the representatives knew that these murderers are out there living in their neighborhoods," said G. L., Monique's mother. "Killing one person on death row is nothing if all these other killers are out there." - gazette.com "New bill would abolish state's death penalty, move funds to cold-cases. 2009

Conclusion

Monique's case is a homicide, open, and considered a cold case. (CSPD considers a case cold if it is not solved within a year) The Agency working on the case are the Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County. Agency Case # 00-29340 and Judicial District is the 4th. If you have any information at all I highly urge you to contact this police department and make a tip. 719-444-7613 and if you want to be anonymous and possibly earn a cash reward you can call Crime Stoppers at 634-STOP (7867) 

In 2006 Derek Gram CSPD works cold cases and do does Sgt. Sal Fiorillo. At least nine detectives at this time worked in the cold cases unit. Graham has a bookcase in his office with a large binder for Monique LaSuer.

In 2000 ten deaths were homicides by the time of Monique's death making her the 11th of the year. LaSuer's family hopes that Monique's death would cause employers to think more about the safety of their employees. 

Betty Lewis her neighbor at the duplex LaSuer, rented near Fort Carson said that "She seemed nice, always going to work. It's a terrible thing. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that to her."- Daily Sentinel Sep 01, 2000 

Why Is Nobody Talking About Her? I Monique Ann LaSuer, 2000's Colorado I Ominously Positive Podcast

*Jessie James Hollywood incident. I wanted to include this quick post about this incident as I feel it helps impact the story but I didn't want it to overshadow Monique's case. August 25th, 2000 Richard Dispenza a local assistant football coach and head coach of the girl's soccer team harbored his grandson Jesse James Hollywood, 20 years old. There was a huge manhunt underway for Hollywood at the time after the murder of a teen in West Hills, California. Hollywood was in town on Aug. 16th where he stayed the night with his grandfather, then he checked into the Ramada Inn on Interstate 25 and Fillmore street in Colorado Springs.  

Upstairs Sources 

https://apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=363

https://www.weremember.com/monique-la-suer/4z5f/memories

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15782814/monique-ann-la_suer

https://gazette.com/news/new-bill-would-abolish-state-s-death-penalty-move-funds-to-cold-cases/article_1e84475e-9f57-5ca7-a6db-da2a5ea90d43.html

https://www.govserv.org/US/Colorado-Springs/248170447825/CSPD-Cold-Case-Unit

https://gazette.com/multimedia/photos/lasuer/image_bc13f4cb-0257-5d56-85e6-80ab0735373f.html

https://gazette.com/news/15-infamous-cold-cases-in-colorado/image_745b7a1c-8a46-50c5-9829-a006bf8d2969.html

https://gazette.com/news/25-cold-cases-in-colorado-springs/image_cfae4331-625e-580e-baf3-6753993d2758.html

https://ejusa.org/resource/the-closure-myth/

(This is Pikes Peak Library District Archives and each article can be find by doing a search with their engines especially the newsfinder search or you can follow the links here to each source.) 

http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/Homicides/20000830.pdf 

http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/2009/37/542286.pdf

http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/14428.pdf

http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/2006/12/384705.pdf

https://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0825b.htm

Downstairs Sources 

https://database.projectcoldcase.org/?age=&city=&county=&gender=female&lea=&more=&name=&offense=&page=2&race=&reported_max=&reported_min=&state=Colorado&status=&weapon=&year=&zip=

http://www.unresolvedhomicides.org/victim/lasuer-monique/

https://www.westword.com/news/ten-unsolved-colorado-murders-on-national-day-of-remembrance-read-victims-personal-stories-5837755

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-denver-post/20140407/281547993865845

https://www.facebook.com/momy.org/