The Unsolved Murder of Ann Woodward at Woody’s Bar, Moab, Utah

On March 2, 1973, Ann Woodward, age 46, a “barmaid” at Woody’s Bar in Moab, Utah, was found murdered, dressed only from the waist up, on the floor “between the pool tables,” according to the Provo Herald. She had been “strangled with her own slacks.” The police chief at the time, Melvin Dalton, was reported by the Herald to have stated Ann was “raped, robbed, and killed.” He believed the perpetrator to be a patron of the bar who had stayed in the tavern “after closing time.”

This murder has had a severe and lasting impact on Ann’s family. Her daughter Suzan, who died in 2019, was quoted in a 2006 article as stating the morning of her mother’s murder was “the beginning of an ongoing spiral into depression and isolation that still affects her and her siblings today” (Church). Lisa Church wrote in 2006, that Suzan admits her mother’s murder “traumatized us all in different ways . . . I felt really isolated and alone. My dad was grief-stricken. My brothers and sister struggled with drug abuse and alcohol for a long time. It was a horrible thing."

According to the 1973 police chief at the time of the slaying, Ann was found around 6:45 am March 2, 1973 by her husband and bar co-owner Leslie H. “Woody” Woodward. (Ann owned the bar with her husband). Leslie reported that Ann hadn’t returned home from work, and she’d been working alone at the bar on Thursday night, March 1, 1973. According to Leslie, Ann was only wearing “a brassiere and blouse” at the time her body was discovered.

In a 2006 Salt Lake Tribune article, it is reported that the murder was “initially investigated by then-Grand County Sheriff W.H. ‘Heck’ Bowman, who later called Moab police (Church).

In addition to the slaying of Ann, Woody’s had been robbed, according to the police chief. The Herald reported the police chief stated that the bar’s cash register was “rifled,” and “an undetermined amount of money” had been stolen. It was reported in 2006, by Ben Winslow of the Deseret Morning News, that one news source said, “about $50 was taken.”

At the time of the Herald’s reporting in 1973, there were no suspects.

According to a Moab, Times-Independent obituary, Leslie Woodward (born March 16, 1921) died at age 84 on Dec. 25, 2006 in Newton, Kansas. The obituary reports that in 1953 he and Ann Hammer married in Gallup, New Mexico.

His second marriage was to Jane Jaramillo, more than ten years after Ann’s murder. Leslie and Jane married in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 17, 1985. The obituary described Leslie’s entrepreneurship and military service. “He ran several businesses including laundromats, gas stations, and Woody’s Bar in Moab, Utah.” In World War II he earned 13 battle stars serving in the US Navy. The obituary further states that Leslie enjoyed road trips, fishing, hunting, and spending time with family and friends.

Ann and Leslie had four children (Church). They had two daughters, Leslie Ann Woodward, who I believe is still alive, and Suzan Edna, who married a man with the last name of Dalton (no relationship to the former police chief, according to Church). Ann and Leslie also had two sons, Max, and Bugsy, who are reported to have predeceased Suzan. Suzan, whose obituary appears in the June 6, 2019 issue of the Moab Sun News, died on June 1, 2019 at the age of 62. Her children, the obituary reports, still live in Moab or in Utah.

In 2006, the Deseret Morning News reported that the Moab police reopened Ann’s murder case with the hopes that DNA would help solve the cold case.

Chief Mike Navarre was reported to be the police chief in 2006, but he did not return phone calls from the Deseret Morning News. Ben Winslow, writing for Deseret, then reported that Navarre “told the Moab Times-Independent newspaper that he hoped to use DNA testing to finally track down a murder suspect.” (This effort was not successful).

In 2006, the former Moab police chief, Melvin Dalton, who was quoted in the original 1973 Herald article, told Winslow that “a lot of evidence from the slaying may have been lost.” Dalton also pointed out that the crime scene back in 1973 may not have been properly processed: “People were going in and out like they were going to church," he said. "There wasn't a sign up, no tape up, nothing that said, 'police line, do not cross.’"

According to former police chief Dalton, during the investigation of Ann’s murder, the Grand County Sheriff eventually took over the case and thus Moab PD didn’t process much evidence. Winslow reports that Dalton states, “the case was not handled well” and further admitted at the time of Ann’s murder, “he and his officers weren't trained to handle a murder.” In 2006, Dalton further stated: "I wasn't really trained in homicide, I always felt if we had a really good, trained detective, we'd have been in a lot better shape."

During Winslow’s interview with Dalton, Dalton further indicated Ann Woodward’s case was very important to him personally, and that in 1980 when he left the department, her case was still on his desk. During the investigation, Dalton had given several individuals polygraph tests, and had some suspects, “but both of them got attorneys and didn't provide any information.” As of 2006, Dalton indicated he had spoken with Ann’s children “a few years ago.”

According to the Utah Department of Public Safety’s public database of cold cases, as of Nov. 15, 2021, the case remains classified as an unsolved homicide. Ann is reported there to have been 5’7” tall, 130 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes, at the time of her death. Her date of birth was February 4, 1927. The database lists the Moab City Police as the agency in charge of the case.

Sources

Church, Lisa. “Moab Reopens case of Brutal Murder after 33 Years.” The Salt Lake Tribune. 6 Oct. 2006. https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?itype=NGPSID&id=4449577

“Leslie "Woody" Woodward passed away Dec. 25.” The Times-Independent. 28 Dec. 2005. https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/leslie-woody-woodward-passed-away-dec-25/

“Suzan Edna Woodward Dalton Obituary.”. Moab Sun News. June 6, 2019 https://www.moabsunnews.com/news/article_cfbc010c-887a-11e9-8048-4bafa860ab28.html

Utah Department of Public Safety. Webpage of Cold Cases. https://bci.utah.gov/coldcases/ann-hammer-woodward/

Winslow, Ben. “Police Reopen Case into 1973 Slaying of Moab Bartender.” Deseret Morning News. 6 Oct. 2006. https://www.deseret.com/2006/10/6/19977926/police-reopen-case-into-1973-slaying-of-moab-bartender

“Woman in Moab Murdered.” Provo Herald. 2 March 1973. Newspapers.com.