A violent robbery at a downtown Des Moines hotel during the Iowa State Fair claimed the lives of two young employees and left two others seriously wounded, creating one of Iowa’s most enduring unsolved murder cases.
In the early morning hours of August 22, 1974, a gunman entered the Downtown Holiday Inn on Sixth Avenue and demanded money from hotel staff. The hotel was busy with State Fair visitors, but the lobby had begun to quiet as most guests settled in for the night.
According to reports, the armed robber approached the front desk, where assistant night auditor and bell captain Luis A. Trujillo Jr., 22, and night auditor Charles Ted Nolte were working. The suspect reportedly forced Trujillo into a choke hold and opened fire when Nolte attempted to intervene. Trujillo was fatally shot, while Nolte suffered serious injuries.
Moments later, 21-year-old hotel security guard Danny Lee Peters rushed toward the lobby after hearing the disturbance. He was shot twice by the gunman. Despite being critically wounded, Peters managed to call for help before collapsing. He later died at the scene.
As the suspect fled the hotel, he encountered a newly arrived traveler entering the building and shot him as well. The victim survived after being hospitalized. Investigators believe the gunman fired on multiple victims in an effort to eliminate witnesses to the robbery.
Police arrived to find a blood-covered lobby and two victims dead. Although the robber escaped with only a small portion of the stolen cash, the crime shocked Des Moines and drew intense attention from law enforcement agencies across Iowa.
Investigators released a composite sketch and pursued numerous leads, but the case quickly grew complicated. Authorities eventually focused on two men connected to a work-release facility in Newton. One man accused the other of carrying out the robbery while serving as the getaway driver. The accused suspect was charged and stood trial in 1975.
The prosecution’s case relied heavily on testimony from the alleged accomplice, who had been granted immunity. After more than a day of deliberations, the jury found the defendant not guilty. With one suspect acquitted and the other protected from prosecution by immunity, the case stalled.
More than five decades later, no one has been convicted for the murders of Danny Peters and Luis Trujillo Jr. or for the shootings that seriously wounded the two surviving victims. The killings remain one of Iowa’s notable unsolved homicide cases.
Peters, a law enforcement student at Simpson College, was remembered by family and friends for his dedication to public service. Trujillo, who had previously worked at Holiday Inn locations in Nebraska, was remembered as a hardworking young man with a promising future. Their families and community members helped raise reward money in hopes of bringing the killer to justice, but the case remains unresolved.
Source: “Gunfire at the Holiday Inn: Murders of Danny Peters and Luis Trujillo, Jr. 1974” by Nancy Bowers, Iowa Unsolved Murders: Historic Cases.
