SU to remember murdered ex-student

Ryan Haldeman, 28, formerly of Northern Virginia, was fatally stabbed multiple times after leaving a bar Nov. 2 in Denver — the victim of an apparent robbery, according to The Denver Post.

WINCHESTER — Friends will gather Saturday to remember a former Shenandoah University student who was murdered in November while living in Colorado.

Ryan Haldeman, 28, formerly of Northern Virginia, was fatally stabbed multiple times after leaving a bar Nov. 2 in Denver — the victim of an apparent robbery, according to The Denver Post.

All are welcome to attend the informal remembrance ceremony, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Goodson Chapel at SU.

Haldeman attended SU for two years before leaving in 2005. He began as an acting major and switched to arts management.

On the night of his death, he had just finished playing a game of trivia with friends at the bar. Surveillance video showed Haldeman being followed and then chased before he was stabbed about 2 a.m., according to The Denver Post.

There has not been an arrest in the case.

“He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever known in my life,” said Stephanie Pahutski, 28, an SU alumna who lives in North Carolina. “He never let anyone get down.”

Pahutski described Haldeman as being laid back with no enemies. He enjoyed playing the guitar, listening to Radiohead and Modest Mouse, and watching Wes Anderson films.

“Anything avant-garde, Ryan had an eye and ear for,” Pahutski said. “He was probably one of the most interesting people I knew in my entire life.”

Haldeman had apparently moved to Denver five years ago to be with a girlfriend and was working at a hotel.

— Contact Rebecca Layne at rlayne@winchesterstar.com