Joe Kenda

Joe Kenda

Born: August 28, 1946
in Herminie, Pennsylvania, USA
Joseph Patrick Kenda (born August 28, 1946) is a retired homicide detective Lieutenant from the Colorado Springs Police Department as well as a TV personality, actor and author. Throughout his police career (1973-1996), he was involved in 387 homicide cases over a 23-year career, solving 356, a closure rate of 92%.

Kenda was unhappy with retirement and went through a withdrawal stage. He then worked as a special needs school bus operator for a decade starting in 1998.

In 2011, he became the host and is featured on the Investigation Discovery true crime series Homicide Hunter, where he recounts stories of cases he has solved. He worked without a script for the entire series which ran for 9 seasons. In each episode, Kenda's present-day recollections are interspersed with reenactments, as well as additional commentary from police officers, journalists, victims' families and others who were involved in the cases. Both his resignation from the CSPD and period as a bus driver are shown in The End, the final episode of Homicide Hunter. He has also hosted the spinoff specials from the show.

In January 2021, he became the host of the true crime series American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda on discovery+, with each episode featuring Kenda discussing the cases of different homicide detectives in the United States.

In August 2022, he hosted an ID special titled Homicide Hunter: Never Give Up, featuring a cold case he wasn't able to solve about the murder of a Fort Carson female soldier.

He is an actor and writer, known for Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie (2017).

He is the author of two books titled, I Will Find You (2017) and Killer Triggers (2021).

Movies for Joe Kenda...

Homicide Hunter: The Man With No Face
Title: Homicide Hunter: The Man With No Face
Character: Host / Lt., Colorado Springs PD
Released: March 8, 2023
Type: Movie
Joe Kenda's investigation into the brutal rape and murder of 24-year-old wife and mother Mary Lynn Vialpando goes cold until DNA technology leads cold-case detectives to the most unlikely of killers 30 years later.
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Homicide Hunter: Devil in the Mountains
Title: Homicide Hunter: Devil in the Mountains
Character: Host
Released: November 27, 2022
Type: Movie
A man found stabbed and burned launches Lt. Joe Kenda on a manhunt. When the trail goes cold, Kenda connects the dots among a string of otherwise unrelated heartless murders leading him into his first and only search for a serial killer.
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Homicide Hunter: Never Give Up
Title: Homicide Hunter: Never Give Up
Character: Self - Host
Released: August 17, 2022
Type: Movie
The unsolved rape, mutilation and murder of young G.I. Darlene Krashoc has haunted Joe Kenda in the years since he turned in his gun and badge. Until a crack team of cold case cops uses Kenda’s groundwork to set a trap for a monster hiding in plain sight.
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Title: American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda
Character: Self - Host
Released: January 4, 2021
Type: TV
In American Detective, Kenda trades in his own case files to bring viewers astounding investigations from across the country, with each episode featuring a different homicide detective whose tireless efforts helped put a killer behind bars and bring justice for the victim.
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Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie
Title: Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie
Character: Joe Kenda
Released: May 5, 2017
Type: Movie
LA homicide detective Gene Handsome's knack for solving mysteries is matched only by his inability to make sense of his own problems.
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Title: Homicide Hunter: Lt Joe Kenda
Character: Self - Host
Released: October 25, 2011
Type: TV
A non-fiction investigative series of murder cases told through the personal experience of retired detective, Lieutenant Joe Kenda. Through re-enactments, discussions with investigation teams, and interviews with victims' families and other involved persons, the show highlights Kenda's successes with his 400 homicide case history and 92 percent solution rate.