AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – It’s been 21 years since the murder of Don Lutz, a 56-year-old man who was shot multiple times in his home on Halloween.
This year, new details have emerged and detectives are uncovering new clues that could potentially solve the case.
“Recently, in 2024, in the last few months, we really started to reexamine this matter. One is because of the anniversary of the case, and the Cold Case Unit was set up to look at these cases a little bit more closely, but we’re actually starting to get new information and some pretty interesting things are coming out. said Lt. James Clement, homicide commander for the Amarillo Police Department.
Don Lutz was business owner of the Kwik Kar Lube and Tune on S. Coulter in Amarillo.
Lutz left work early because his grandchildren were going to meet him trick-or-treating.
Police said Lutz was home alone when the shooting occurred early in the evening.
On November 2, 2003, neighbors called the police to check on the house around 4 p.m. because the door had been broken into.
Officers found his front door unlocked and just inside the door was a full bowl of Halloween candy intended for trick-or-treaters.
Shortly afterwards, they found Lutz lying on the living room floor with multiple gunshot wounds.
“There was no burglary in the house and therefore no burglary took place. We do not consider it a robbery, burglary or anything like that. He didn’t surprise anyone who came home. He was already home, he was resting and there was evidence that he was watching TV. He was sitting there relaxing, waiting for his grandchildren to come home,” Lt. Clement said.
Police said his family thought he was not home and left.
If you have any details about this cold case, you are urged to contact the Amarillo Police Department.
More than 21 years later, Lutz’s killer is still at large.
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