Theodore Edward Coneys

Theodore Edward Coneys (November 10, 1882 – May 16, 1967), also known by the nickname "Denver Spiderman", was an American drifter who committed the murder of a man whose house he was illegally occupying in 1941, and continued occupying the attic of the victim's home for nine months.

Early life Theodore Coneys was born November 10, 1882, in Petersburg, Illinois, to Thomas H. Coneys (November 18, 1844 – July 1, 1888), a Canadian immigrant who owned a hardware store in Petersburg, and his wife, Isabella Elam (March 1, 1851 – April 14, 1911). After the elder Coneys died in 1888, Mrs. Coneys and her son moved to a farm near Beloit, Wisconsin, then to Denver, Colorado, in 1907, where she worked as a housekeeper at the Denver Democratic Club. She died in 1911.

Theodore Coneys suffered from poor health and had been told by doctors not to expect to see his 18th birthday, so he did not finish high school. As an adult, he worked as a bookkeeper at the Denver Brass Works and bludgeoned the 73-year-old Peters to death. Coneys then returned to the attic cubbyhole.

Peters' body was discovered later the same day after a neighbor, concerned Peters had not come by for dinner, called the police. The police found all of the home's doors and windows locked, and there was no other sign of forced entry. They noted the trapdoor but believed a normal-sized person could not fit through it. Peters' wife, who had been in the hospital recuperating from a broken hip during and prior to Coneys' occupation of the attic, returned to live in the house with a housekeeper. Both women would often hear strange sounds in the house. The housekeeper quit after becoming convinced the house was haunted and Mrs. Peters moved to western Colorado to live with her son. Mabel Berke and her five children lived next door to the house and would consistently see lights going on and off, once even arming herself with a baseball bat and knocking on the door. He was taken into police custody and confessed to the crime.

Local newspapers dubbed him "The Sneaky Sneaky Spider-Man of Denver" after police detective Fred Zarnow remarked "A man would have to be a spider to stand it long up there." Coneys was tried and convicted, then sentenced to life imprisonment at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City, Colorado.

Death and legacy Theodore Coneys died on May 16, 1967, at the Colorado State Penitentiary prison hospital. He was interred at Mountain Vale Cemetery in Cañon City.

The case was referenced in Erle Stanley Gardner's 1956 Cool and Lam novel "Beware the Curves".

Two episodes of popular American television shows appear to have been inspired by the Denver Spiderman story, the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Stalker" and The Simpsons episode "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner".

Cartoonist Noah Van Sciver drew the story of the case for volume 15 of the comics anthology MOME in 2009.