THE NEVER ENDING STORY
Denise Wolff had already lived a hectic life before she met Larry. She dropped out of high school, left home, and married her high school sweetheart at 16. By 17, she was a mother of a little girl named Angie and divorced. A second marriage would come, but that marriage too, ended in divorce. And then she married Larry, and they had a child, Jennie. The marriage to Larry didn’t last either, and Denise filed for divorce. But Larry talked her into settling for a legal separation. Denise bought a house in Lindenwood Park in south St. Louis.
And then Larry bought a house right around the corner.
On July 17, 1997, Denise drove home from her overnight shift at work, got out of her car, walked down the driveway, and through her front yard. Seconds later, gunfire rang out through the sleepy neighborhood. A neighbor, an off-duty police officer, was awakened and looked at his clock. It was 437am. He rushed outside and found Denise lying face down on the sidewalk, shot multiple times. Her house was riddled with bullets fired from a high-powered rifle. Within minutes, lights in the 6800 block of Bancroft Avenue would flicker on. Windows would be looked out of. 911 would be called.
An ambulance arrived within minutes, and EMS workers tried to save Denise. Police quickly arrived and were told Larry Wolff lived just 100 yards away. They knocked on his door, and he answered in a pair of boxer shorts. Unlike other neighbors, he told police he hadn’t heard a thing. Police say he then went and stood in front of the ambulance and watched. When the ambulance took Denise to the hospital, Larry did not go with her. Denise Wolff was pronounced dead within the hour.
“I wasn’t up. They’ve asked me and they’ve badgered me, made me a nervous wreck over this. I think we’ll all feel better if ...” Larry’s eyes teared up. “Once we find out who did it and why.”
St. Louis Police Captain David Heath quickly sized up the scene.
“This is a very vicious crime. This is a very purposeful, vicious crime,” Heath said. “We’re not looking at this to be a random act under any circumstances. They very well intended on what they were doing.” Retired St. Louis homicide detective Chris Pappas looks back on the Wolff homicide in bewilderment. “We really had no idea what happened there, until ... .”
Until Laurie Lynn Chirco turned the case upside down.........
Follow for updates on the upcoming book 25 Frozen, 1 Thawed by Bob Cyphers coming September 2025
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