Throwback Thursday: Was Henry Denhardt a serial killer? Two nearly 90-year-old cold cases

We continue a Throwback Thursday October tradition. During this month, we tell spooky,
unsettling, or even haunting, southern Kentucky tales. We’ve told the story of the 1937 Kentucky
honor code killing of Warren County Judge and Brig. General Henry Denhardt, murdered
by the brothers of the woman in whose killing he was somehow entangled.

Dark Highway: Love, Murder, and Revenge in 1930s Kentucky by Ann De’Angelo and
A Black Night for the Bluegrass Belle by Ian Punnett, both tell the story of the tragic
murder of Verna Garr Taylor, how scorned fiancé Henry Denhardt was definitely
involved. They tell readers about his character, sharing his life experiences in World War I
and politics. But there’s one new haunting tale with his name all over it, suggesting not only
was he a serial killer, but also that another woman he killed is a ghost in residence at the
famous Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville.

It was July 1936. Henry Denhardt had just bought a farm outside Louisville and would frequently
visit the city. The books say Patricia Wilson was a young, beautiful “party girl,” whose company
could be purchased. She had dark hair and was last seen in a blue dress. Her body was found
in the hotel elevator shaft, having fallen more than six floors. Henry Denhardt was at the hotel
that night, arguing on the eighth floor with a young woman. Denhardt was quoted as saying he
was likely the last man she saw. He was charged with her murder, around the same time as
Verna Garr Taylor’s.

Denhardt was a brute. Being a career attorney, soldier, and politician, by 1936 he was a
60-something hardened man with an alcohol problem. Known for public outbursts, openly
carrying a gun at all times, and always getting his way, Denhardt’s name was synonymous with
rage. He met Verna Garr Taylor that summer. She ended up dead in the middle of a November
1936 night, where only he was seen in a broken down car with her on the moonless, dark
highway of State Route 22 outside Louisville.

Seelbach Hotel staff over the decades have claimed to see a woman in a blue dress with dark
hair enter the elevators without their doors opening. They’ve seen this figure in the hall around
the elevator doors as well. They’ve gone to explore further, and found no one.

Patricia Wilson and Verna Garr Taylor’s deaths remain unsolved. Henry Denhardt was at the
scene of both crimes. He was killed over Verna. But what about Patricia? Was he a serial killer?
The truths lay buried in graves in Bowling Green, La Grange, and Louisville.