Lou Smit

Who was Lou Smit?

Andrew Louis "Lou" Smit was an American police detective in Colorado Springs, Colorado who worked on a number of notable cases before his retirement in 1996, and then was recalled to work on the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. Smit was portrayed by Kris Kristofferson in the television miniseries Perfect Murder, Perfect Town.

Having tried various businesses and failing, Smit prayed for a solution and saw as an answer from God a call he received from a cousin who served on the Colorado Springs Department suggesting that he apply to serve. Smit fell just short of the department's minimum height of five feet and nine inches, but was able to join the force in 1966 after he had his cousin hit him over the skull with a nightstick, allowing him to meet the height minimum when he was remeasured the following day with the bump on his head. Working his way up to the rank of detective, Smit was involved in a number of notable cases including the conviction of spree killer Freddie Glenn for a series of murders, including the 1975 killing of Karen Grammer, younger sister of actor Kelsey Grammer. In 1995, he arrested Robert Charles Browne for the 1991 murder of Heather Dawn Church. Church's father had been one of the original suspects in his daughter's murder, but Browne ultimately confessed to a total of 48 murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Smit retired in 1996 from the El Paso County, Colorado Sheriff's department where he had served as captain of detectives.