Earlier today, a media outlet interviewed a gentleman described as a bouncer at a bar that the accused Aurora Theater killer supposedly frequented. That particular interview didn't mention the name of the bar, but an earlier report on one of the TV stations did: the Zephyr Lounge.
As a result, the Zephyr -- on Colfax between Peoria and Oswego -- has been busy all day, with a steady stream of reporters posing the same questions, some with exotic accents even. While fielding their queries, Mary, a notably friendly bartender, continues serving cold draught beers to the handful of regulars bellied up to the bar.
Melvin Evans is the man who claimed to have been working at the Zephyr a few Sundays ago, when Holmes came in to listen to karaoke. But according to the bartender, Evans hasn't worked at the bar in years."He was laidback, kept to himself, never really talked to anybody," Evans, wearing mirrored sunglasses, had said of Holmes. "The conversations we did have were very short. I mean, he was somebody that you wouldn't even look at twice walking down the street. Very, very mellow."
"Melvin is full of it," says Myron Melnick, who took the Zephyr over from his father, Barry, nearly a decade ago. "Melvin worked here four years ago." That's when he worked the door, anyway. According to Melnick, Evans came back two years ago and worked the parking lot from midnight to 3 a.m. for eight weeks. So no way could he have seen Holmes, who moved to Aurora last year, at the Zephyr.
For that matter, "None of my bartenders have ever seen the guy," Melnick says. "We pretty much know who comes in here. I'm not here 24 hours, but I'm here a good amount, and I've never seen him, and I've called all the help, and none of them have seen him in here."
But he's seen plenty of reporters following this story. One gentleman from ABC got sideways with him, telling Melnick, "Well, I've got three people who say they've seen him there," he relates. "I've got this guy who works here who came in about this time and he said, 'Oh yeah, that guy was selling dope and CDs outside in our parking lot.'
"I'm sorry," Melnick concludes, "I don't think the PhD candidate was selling dope and CDs in my parking lot."
See Also: - Aurora theater shooting: Neighbors of James Holmes forced to leave apartment building - Aurora theater shooting prompts volleys from pro-gun, anti-gun forces - Aurora theater shooting: 12 dead, 59 injured, chief won't address Joker rumors - Aurora theater shooting: "We are all just crying"
