A Killer Slips Away

Summary

Cold Case Files: "A Killer Slips Away" – Detailed Summary

Released on July 1, 2025, "A Killer Slips Away" delves into the harrowing 1987 murder of Anna Mae Florence in Columbus, Ohio. Hosted by Paula Barros, this episode meticulously unpacks the complexities of a case that remained unsolved for 27 years before a breakthrough finally brought justice to Anna Mae's family.

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Introduction

The episode opens with a stark statistic: "There are 120,000 unsolved murder cases in America. Each one is called a cold case and only 1% are ever solved." This sets the stage for the poignant story of Anna Mae Florence, whose case became one of the rare 1% eventually resolved.

“There are 120,000 unsolved murder cases in America. Each one is called a cold case and only 1% are ever solved.” – Marissa Pinson [01:12]

The Crime Scene: June 26, 1987

On a quiet Sunday morning, Anna Mae Florence was preparing for a day of shopping with her family in Columbus, Ohio. An unexpected visitor led to a violent confrontation that resulted in Anna Mae’s tragic death.

“Early that morning, Anna Mae Florence was waiting for her sister and brother-in-law to pick her up. They were going to go for a day of shopping.” – Jim McCoskey [02:18]

The altercation escalated quickly:

“She had a cord around her neck. She's been stabbed. She's been beaten. She's been murdered.” – Ralph Taylor [03:13-03:35]

Initial Investigation and Clues

Detectives Jim McCoskey and Ralph Taylor were the original investigators on the case. The primary clue was a partial bloody fingerprint left at the scene.

“Out of all the evidence that they collected in that place, the real evidence was a single bloody print.” – Ralph Taylor [04:26]

Despite canvassing the neighborhood and interviewing potential suspects, the investigation stalled due to the lack of concrete evidence and half-hearted leads.

“If people do not talk to the police, your chances of solving crimes are basically shot.” – Kathy Justice [09:39]

The Family's Struggle and Pursuit of Justice

Becky Robertson, Anna Mae’s niece, was deeply affected by the unresolved case. Her father’s relentless pursuit for answers took a toll on him, ultimately leading to his passing.

“My dad just couldn't handle that. He was angry. Every week, he was calling a detective, find that girl who killed my sister.” – Becky Robertson [10:00]

Determined to honor her father’s dying wish, Becky took it upon herself to reopen the case, leading to renewed hope.

“I knew that I had to do it.” – Becky Robertson [10:35]

Reopening the Case: New Detectives Take Charge

In 2012, Detective Kathy Justice and Ralph Taylor reignited the investigation. They revisited old evidence with fresh eyes and modern forensic technology.

“The evidence may be old, the people may be older, but to us, it's new. It's just happened.” – Ralph Taylor [11:29]

Jim McCoskey emphasized the importance of finding a new angle:

“I wanted to look back into evidence, witnesses, prints in the crime scene, try to find anything missed in the original investigation.” – Jim McCoskey [11:50]

Breakthrough: The Mayonnaise Jar Fingerprint

A pivotal moment occurred when the team discovered a fingerprint on a mayonnaise jar, previously overlooked due to its placement in the crime scene.

“After 25 years in storage, she found a print on this mayonnaise jar. And she says, this is a good print.” – Jim McCoskey [20:20]

This discovery led them to re-examine previous suspects, including Danita Campbell. However, the prints did not match, sending the investigation back to square one.

“The prints did not match. We're back to square one.” – Jim McCoskey [22:34]

Confronting the Informant: Unraveling the Truth

The detectives revisited the original informant, Odell, only to uncover that he was actually his cousin, Chris. This revelation was crucial in steering the investigation toward the real perpetrator.

“He posed as Odell because he wanted somebody arrested for that homicide. … He just didn't want Zena.” – Jim McCoskey [27:04]

Chris eventually revealed that Zena Roberson was the true suspect, a revelation that had remained hidden for over two decades.

“Zena was the last suspect that we had to go on. This is my last chance.” – Jim McCoskey [31:53]

The Arrest and Trial of Zena Roberson

With the fingerprints matching and corroborated by new evidence, Zena Roberson was apprehended in Georgia. Her subsequent trial culminated in a conviction, bringing much-needed closure to Anna Mae’s family.

“Zena Roberson was sentenced to 15 years to life for the murder of Anna Mae Florence.” – Marissa Pinson [37:01]

Becky Robertson expressed her gratitude and relief:

“We love them and we appreciate everything they did for us.” – Becky Robertson [38:04]

Conclusion: Closure Achieved

The resolution of Anna Mae Florence’s case underscores the relentless pursuit of justice by dedicated detectives and the unwavering determination of a grieving family. As Ralph Taylor poignantly stated, “We know that Zena was in that house. … We got her. Zena.” [32:35]

“That was the first time I really started feeling peace. I felt that her spirit now can rest.” – Ralph Taylor [38:23]

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Key Takeaways:

• Persistence Pays Off: Despite initial setbacks and decades passing, unwavering dedication can lead to resolution in even the coldest cases.

• Technological Advancements: Modern forensic techniques, such as super glue fuming for latent fingerprints, are instrumental in solving longstanding mysteries.

• Family Determination: The Robertson family's relentless pursuit for justice played a pivotal role in reopening and eventually solving the case.

• Importance of Accurate Information: Misidentifications and false leads can derail investigations, highlighting the necessity for meticulous verification.

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A Killer Slips Away serves as a testament to the enduring hope and the profound impact that solving a cold case can have on a family's quest for closure. Through diligent investigation and the courage to revisit past evidences, justice for Anna Mae Florence was finally realized.

Transcript

[Marissa Pinson]

What is daddication?

[Ralph Taylor]

The thing that drives me every day as a dad is Dariona. We call him Dae Date for short. Every day he's hungry for something, whether it's attention, affection, knowledge. And there's this huge responsibility in making sure that when he's no longer under my wing that he's a good person.

[Kim Sharik]

I want him to be able to.

[Ralph Taylor]

Sit back one day and go, we worked together. We did a good job.

[Kathy Justice]

That's dadication.

[Marissa Pinson]

Find out [e-mail] brought to you by.

[Kathy Justice]

The U.S. department of Health and Human.

[Marissa Pinson]

Services and the Ad Council. Hi Cold case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson, and if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of Cold Case Files as well as the A and E classic podcast I Survived, American justice and City Confidential are all available ad free on the new A and E crime and investigation channel, on Apple Podcasts and Apple plus for just 4.99amonth or 39.99 a year. And now on to the show. This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. There are 120,000 unsolved murder cases in America. Each one is called a cold case and only 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare cases.

[Becky Robertson]

We brought her to the city, she comes to Ohio and she gets killed.

[Jim McCoskey]

She was covered in blood. When she ran from that apartment, she.

[Becky Robertson]

Just slipped out of his hands.

[Kathy Justice]

The amount of blood and the blood spattering, this was a horrible homicide.

[Ralph Taylor]

She stabbed the lady in the neck. We knew that he was either in on it or he knew who the killer was.

[Jim McCoskey]

This is my last chance. She was the last suspect that we had to go on.

[Marissa Pinson]

When an investigation runs out of leads, it becomes a cold case. Years pass and hope fades. But for the families of the victims, these cases are never cold. The truth takes time.

[Ralph Taylor]

Foreign.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's June 26, 1987, in Columbus, Ohio. On a quiet Sunday morning, Anna Mae Florence gets ready for a day of shopping with her family. There's a knock at the door, but it's not who she's expecting. Her killer slips away, leaving a single clue, a partial bloody fingerprint. Kathy justice is a cold case detective.

[Jim McCoskey]

That morning, Anna Mae Florence was waiting for her sister and brother in law to pick her up. They were going to go for a day of shopping. Lily and Alonzo went up to her apartment. Anna started screaming. Inside the apartment, Anna May yells out to Alonzo to kick the door in. As he's getting ready to kick it, this woman Comes running out. She was covered in blood when she ran from that apartment.

[Marissa Pinson]

Becky Robertson is one of Anna Mae's nieces.

[Becky Robertson]

Alonzo had her. He had her tight, but she just slipped out of his hands.

[Jim McCoskey]

Alonzo chased after and said that she was running away. She told me to get away from her or she would shoot me. Alonzo came back.

[Marissa Pinson]

Linda Perry is also Anna Mae's niece.

[Becky Robertson]

They went in there, and they found her on the floor, and she was bleeding quite a bit.

[Marissa Pinson]

Larry Cook is Anna Mae's nephew.

[Ralph Taylor]

They found her with a cord around her neck.

[Becky Robertson]

She was conscious. He asked her, who was that? She said she didn't know. And then she was gone.

[Ralph Taylor]

She's been stabbed.

[Kathy Justice]

She's been beaten. She's been murdered.

[Kim Sharik]

Mm.

[Ralph Taylor]

Just like if she's gone, they've taken her away from us.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jim McCoskey was the original detective on the case.

[Kathy Justice]

When we entered Anna Mae's apartment, it's apparent that there had been an extensive struggle. There was some overturned furniture. And then the amount of blood and the blood spattering the knife wounds near her neck, there's going to be probably arterial gushing squirting all over the place as she is struggling with the assailant. This was a horrible homicide.

[Marissa Pinson]

Ralph Taylor is a cold case detective.

[Ralph Taylor]

They were going through that place. They collected a fan, a chair, several large items of property. Out of all the evidence that they collected in that place, the real evidence was a single bloody print.

[Kathy Justice]

The fingerprint was gold.

[Ralph Taylor]

In this case, the detectives cut out a portion of the wall that had one unidentified partial print.

[Jim McCoskey]

It made sense that this female inside the apartment just had bumped her hand along the wall enough to make the fingerprint.

[Becky Robertson]

She was my dad's sister that I dearly loved, and she was brought up here by her sisters and brothers from Alabama. We brought her to the city to give her a different look of life, and she comes to Ohio and she gets killed. We cleaned out the apartment. There was blood where she lied on the floor. The police kept saying they had nothing really to go on. All they had was what my aunt told them, that she was a black girl.

[Ralph Taylor]

The detectives back then, they used what they had to work with. DNA, wasn't around yet. Fingerprints, interviews, and that's all they had. The original detectives thought that suspect lived in that neighborhood, so they canvassed the area.

[Jim McCoskey]

They had talked to several neighbors. He did have witnesses that saw a young female dressed up really nice, going door to door, asking for money. One witness had said, back then, it was for a funeral.

[Ralph Taylor]

The detectives interviewed several young Girls that lived in a neighborhood that fit the description. They took fingerprints, hoping to get a match to the partial print that they had got from the crime scene. At that point, they all met with negative results, and none of them could be charged. At this point, there's nothing. We're just waiting for that one piece of evidence, that one phone call. There was a tip called in. This tip had some valuable information.

[Kathy Justice]

The day after it happened, I was.

[Ralph Taylor]

Over to his friend's house.

[Jim McCoskey]

He had been at a party, and he had heard a female talking about her involvement in the homicide.

[Ralph Taylor]

He told them that she stabbed the lady. She stabbed the lady in the neck.

[Kathy Justice]

Stabbed her two or three times.

[Jim McCoskey]

Here you have somebody that calls in on their own, anonymously with information about a homicide case. How great is that?

[Ralph Taylor]

When I heard her talking about it, and then she had scratches on her hands and stuff, you know, I guess, what, somebody had been grabbing her, and she had a couple bruises on her arm.

[Jim McCoskey]

Hell, you could run all day with this stuff.

[Ralph Taylor]

The only reason I'm doing this is because, you know, I have people that live over there.

[Jim McCoskey]

Well, we need all the help we can get.

[Ralph Taylor]

Do you want to give us your.

[Jim McCoskey]

Name at this time?

[Ralph Taylor]

No, not really.

[Jim McCoskey]

He didn't want to give his name up because he had promised he would not say anything to anybody, not for sure. The detectives, tell them you're not a suspect in this.

[Ralph Taylor]

Okay, My name is Odell.

[Jim McCoskey]

O D E L L. He provided his Social Security number on his birthday. Odell was a big lead.

[Ralph Taylor]

I know the person that did the crime.

[Marissa Pinson]

Okay.

[Ralph Taylor]

Do you know her name? Yeah.

[Jim McCoskey]

Odell said, well, the suspect was a female by the name of Danita Campbell. Danita.

[Kathy Justice]

You knew Danita pretty well.

[Ralph Taylor]

We went to school together for three years.

[Kathy Justice]

We wanted to obviously talk to Odell in person.

[Jim McCoskey]

He came into headquarters.

[Kathy Justice]

We asked o' Dell if he would be willing to make contact with Danita. Would you consider helping it by wearing a wire?

[Jim McCoskey]

Yeah, this was a big development.

[Ralph Taylor]

He was gonna try to help in.

[Jim McCoskey]

Trapping Danita, but then all of a sudden, he decided he didn't want to be involved. At that point, the detectives lost all contact with Odell.

[Kathy Justice]

Frustrated, yes, I would say half the time, informants disappear. Their world just doesn't coincide with law enforcement's world a lot of the times.

[Jim McCoskey]

But with the information from Odell, they still have one promising lead. They were interested in tracking down Danita to get her prints and try to compare them to the print that was on the wall. There was plainclothes officers looking for her and once they had located Danita driving around in her vehicle, a traffic stop was conducted. She was removed from the vehicle. Her prints were taken right there on the hood of her car. The detectives took the prints to the fingerprint unit, and they compared those fingerprints to that fingerprint on the wall. They thought it had to be a match. It had to be Danita.

[Marissa Pinson]

Kim Sharik is a latent print examiner.

[Kim Sharik]

If it's a poor quality print, you may look at it for days.

[Ralph Taylor]

There was a smear of blood on the print that was on the wall. So the quality of the fingerprint taken wasn't that good.

[Jim McCoskey]

The detectives that had originally worked that back in 1987, they did good work. But at that point, they had nothing else to go on.

[Kathy Justice]

Police weren't gonna find that girl.

[Ralph Taylor]

Police weren't gonna find her because nobody was talking.

[Kathy Justice]

If people do not talk to the police, your chances of solving crimes are basically shot.

[Ralph Taylor]

The girl was gone. She was gone.

[Kathy Justice]

When your information dries up, you come to an abrupt halt. Anna Mae's case went to the edge of the desk, and we had to move on to other cases.

[Becky Robertson]

The police kept saying they had nothing really to go on. That's why it became a cold case. My dad, he just couldn't handle that. He was angry. Every week, he was calling a detective, find that girl who killed my sister. I wanted that girl to be found so that he could have peace. It actually aged him and made him die faster. Before he passed, he made me promise that I would find that girl who killed his sister. I knew that I had to do it.

[Marissa Pinson]

After her father's dying wish, Becky makes hundreds of phone calls to the police trying to reopen her aunt's case. One fateful day in 2012, 27 years after the murder, a new detective, Kathy justice, answers her call.

[Jim McCoskey]

I was at my desk, and the phone rang.

[Becky Robertson]

I asked her, who's working on the case?

[Jim McCoskey]

She's talking. I'm punching the computer, pulling this up, making sure we actually do have a case. When I saw the details that led up to the homicide. You're sitting there thinking, this is a true victim. Anna Mae Florence. Churchgone woman in her own home. And somebody just came in and just tore that family apart senseless. These people need answers to their case.

[Ralph Taylor]

Nobody is at peace until these cases are solved. There comes a time whether a case be 5 years old, 10 years old, 30 years old, God wants it taken care of.

[Jim McCoskey]

We pretty much started at the beginning. For me to get a feel for Anna Mae, I had to go to the cemetery itself, and it just makes it more real for me. It may not work for another detective, but it works. It works for me.

[Ralph Taylor]

The evidence may be old, the people may be older, but to us, it's new. It's just happened.

[Jim McCoskey]

As I was reviewing the case, my focus was that we needed a new angle. I wanted to look back into evidence, witnesses, prints in the crime scene, try to find anything missed in the original investigation.

[Ralph Taylor]

Everything happened inside the apartment. That's where the story is. This is the aerial shot. As it looks today. The crime scene would have been in this area here that has since been torn down. And new houses have been built on that site. The crime scene was tore down after this murder.

[Jim McCoskey]

The crime scene's gone. We need to find something that the original detectives missed. But we were gonna have to do it. With the site of the crime completely.

[Ralph Taylor]

Demolished, all we have left is the evidence.

[Jim McCoskey]

We came up with a game plan, okay? We're gonna go over to the property room and we're gonna look at the evidence. This stuff has to be done. There ain't no fiddle around with this stuff. You just do it.

[Ralph Taylor]

People either remember. They don't remember, they lie or they don't lie. But your evidence never lies. In Cole case, your job is to find out what happened to the victim. And a lot of times you're turning back time. We knew this was going to be made on prints. So we're trying to look at this evidence for prints. Any identified prints, anything they missed. The crime scene was really bloody. You know, we knew that the suspect had touched certain things. This chair was kind of tipped over in the crime scene like that. This fan was also tipped over and was close to the victim's body. This butcher knife here is the actual murder weapon. It was found laying next to the victim. This door was really bloody. This poor lady, she was struggling for her life in there. That's what it says just by looking at the evidence. At some point during the struggle, the victim was struck, possibly with this part of the phone, by the suspect. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me. Yeah, it bothers me. But puzzle's not together until you check all all these pieces. We gotta find something else as a clue. Flora. We gotta keep going here. As I was going through every piece of evidence, we had found some tapes.

[Jim McCoskey]

There were six cassette tapes.

[Ralph Taylor]

There was a second interview of Odell.

[Jim McCoskey]

We turned back to the key informant from the original investigation. O' Dell.

[Ralph Taylor]

Maybe on these tapes he said something else.

[Jim McCoskey]

Who even knew that those cassette tapes were even gonna play after being 25 years in storage.

[Kathy Justice]

Are there any other details that you can recall from that conversation that.

[Ralph Taylor]

She.

[Kathy Justice]

Also said that the lady had a Social Security check. She didn't take the check? No, she didn't take the check on the purse.

[Ralph Taylor]

We knew the welfare check. It was still in the purse. Only the killer would know that the victim had a welfare check in her purse.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Kathy Justice]

Are there any more details that you can recall from overhearing that conversation?

[Ralph Taylor]

She also said that the lady had.

[Kathy Justice]

A Social Security check she didn't take the check? No, she didn't take the check on it first.

[Ralph Taylor]

Just the paper money.

[Jim McCoskey]

Now, there's no way that that information had been leaked out to the public. The only reason that Odell would have known about that check being in the victim's purse is is if he had been told by Danita. If we could find a better fingerprint, I could put her inside that apartment back in 1987. Traffic stop was conducted. Her prints were taken on the hood of her car. At that time, just one print was noticed at the scene. But it was a partial fingerprint. We couldn't match that print up with Danita. What other evidence do we got? I have to use Those photos from 25 years earlier to piece things together. I want to see it. So I'm trying to place things where it had been documented. Anna Mae's purse was laying there, right by the kitchen counter in close proximity of where Anna May was found on the floor. There was a lot of blood. It was a violent scene. It was a lot. You could tell that there was a big struggle inside that place. And you're talking a small apartment. There was blood on the phone, phone cord and the phone had a lot of blood on that. Anna Mae must have turned her back. The suspect struck her on the head with the phone. Anna Mae could have possibly grabbed a knife from the kitchen in self defense. The suspect would have overpowered Anna Mae, taken the knife from her, then proceeded to stab Anna Mae. Then somebody came to the door, which would have been Anna's brother in law, Lonzo. We know that she went over and she stood next to the window by the front door because that's where she had left a bloody fingerprint on the wall. I'm looking through the photographs and there was a sense that there's something wrong, Something's missing. Something's not where they're supposed to be. Did I miss something? I'm trying to find something that the original detectives back in 1987 had missed. Something seemed out of place. There was a jar of mayonnaise sitting on the chair by the front door. It just kind of stood out. It just seemed in a weird location. Probably wouldn't have paid too much attention to it if the mayonnaise was on the kitchen counter. If she made a sandwich for lunch, that mayonnaise jar wouldn't be sitting on the couch. It'd be in the kitchen. Maybe Danita touched the mayonnaise jar. So I started looking at the evidence list. They got the fan and the phone and the knife. Lo and Behold. That jar of mayonnaise had been collected. I wanted to see the mayonnaise jar. I proceeded to the property room with Kim, a laden examiner, and we looked for the evidence.

[Kim Sharik]

We're pulling all the evidence out. I mean, we pulled everything out.

[Ralph Taylor]

The detectives back in that era, in the 70s and 80s, they didn't have the technology. Now there's new technology where we can retest evidence.

[Kim Sharik]

That jar was brought back to this lab, and it was processed by super glue fuming. They use super glue, and they put it in a little metal tiny with some water and the heat, and it will fume, and it adheres to all the sweat that was left behind. I looked at this over and over and over again with my magnifier, and I really examined the whole entire thing. And then right where the rim is, there was a fingerprint.

[Jim McCoskey]

I'm like, Holy crap. After 25 years in storage, she found a print on this mayonnaise jar. And she says, this is a good print.

[Kim Sharik]

The strange thing is that fingerprint flowed in the wrong direction on how you would open a jar. Cause, you know, most people would grab it like this, twist like that. But this fingerprint was just like that, as if the mayonnaise jar was held upside down, maybe as a weapon. Probably when the person knocked on the door, she panics and picked this up.

[Jim McCoskey]

At that point, everything started making sense. Let's just compare Danita's prints to that fingerprint on the mayonnaise jar. And then we got her. I go over to the property room and look for Danita's fingerprints, but they're not in the file. They're gone. We found out that the detectives lost the fingerprint card. Unbelievable. We needed to have her fingerprinted again. So now we had to track down Danita. You know, luckily, there's. There had been a warrant out for Danita, A real, real light warrant. It pays the right people for jaywalk. And, you know, how many cases, you know, you solved by just someone being issued a warrant for something so small?

[Ralph Taylor]

They arrest her, and they bring her into headquarters and have her re fingerprinted.

[Kim Sharik]

Ralph brings me this fingerprint card and says, kim, you need to do it quick. Compared that to the known print I the mayonnaise jar.

[Jim McCoskey]

While Kim was going over, you know, the fingerprint, seeing if it was a match, we're doing a good interview.

[Ralph Taylor]

Kathy could be a bull. She's wanting her to admit that she killed that woman, but she won't. The only problem was we only got a certain amount of time. It's a jaywalking warrant. It's not a murder warrant. We can't keep her here for 12 hours for something like this. If you're interviewing your suspect and this is your one and only interview, and you throw something out there that they know is crap, you're done.

[Kim Sharik]

It was a lot of pressure because we cannot make any mistakes. We have to be 100% accurate. I'm looking at the print, looked at the mayonnaise jar, but it's not Danita.

[Jim McCoskey]

The prints did not match. We're back to square one.

[Becky Robertson]

Kathy could call me, like two or three times a week. You could tell that she really wanted to solve the case. It made me feel good to tell stories about my aunt. Anna Mae was born in Alabama. Things were different in the South. Restrooms still had black and white on them, and they were also still sitting at the back of the bus. The Ku Klux Klan was very prevalent. It was a different time. When Annie Mae's husband died, she didn't have no kids. My father insisted that she come here to Columbus. And my aunts, sisters and brothers, they felt as though had they left her in Alabama, she would have still been alive.

[Jim McCoskey]

The family didn't deserve that. This woman didn't deserve that. As a detective, they're putting all their trust in you to solve the case. It doesn't make any sense at all. Why would Odell implicate Danita? Either he was in on it, or he knew who was involved.

[Ralph Taylor]

The original detectives lost 30 years ago. They just let him go.

[Jim McCoskey]

So I did a search on driver's license, and after a couple days, we had tracked down his new home address.

[Ralph Taylor]

We kind of felt like, this is it.

[Jim McCoskey]

We need to finish this up.

[Ralph Taylor]

We went out to talk to him armed with a tape recorder and the tape, and we said, odell, we have to straighten this out. Okay? My name is Odell. Okay. O D E L L. Uh huh. That is you on that tape. 65 Edinburgh. That's E, D E, N, B U, R, G, H. And he said, yeah, that's my address. That's my Social Security number. But that's not my voice.

[Jim McCoskey]

And I was living. I've had it. You know, this is on tape here. You know, they recorded you back then. Who else would it be?

[Ralph Taylor]

He said, that's not me. I'll tell you why. Yeah, that's my previous address. But the way that guy's spelling Edinburgh, I couldn't have spelled that like that. He says, I can't read and I can't write. It kind of Shocked me, but it hit me with, he, he's telling the truth. He can't read and write. This case is really weird because they inform him that provided accurate information. However, the information about his own personal identity and the identity of the suspect was inaccurate.

[Jim McCoskey]

And he gets all emotional, tearing up, crying. And he got scared because whoever's on this tape is providing officers with his name, his Social Security number.

[Ralph Taylor]

So the next question to him is, who do you know that knows that much about you? And he listened to the tape several times and said, you know who that sounds like? My cousin Chris. Back in 87, Odell used to apply for jobs at an unemployment office. His cousin Chris would always go with him, and his cousin Chris would fill out his applications.

[Jim McCoskey]

Back in 1987, Chris is the one who came to headquarters and saying he was Odell. The original detectives didn't look at a picture id. How stupid is that?

[Ralph Taylor]

I want to meet Chris in person. I want to look at him. I want to talk to him. I mean, not over the phone. I want to sit across the table from him. I want to look him in the eye.

[Jim McCoskey]

If there was one person that could tell us the truth as to what had happened, it was Chris.

[Ralph Taylor]

So we go up to the residence, his mom answers the door, and he's sitting right there. We finally are face to face with our informant. He was getting nervous. If you called in that tip back in 1987, you're not thinking that 20 something years later you're going to be sitting across from a couple of detectives and they're going to hit you with the facts. That would make me nervous. Explained to him, we're trying to find out who killed this woman. And good cop, bad cop stuff, Forget that. You got two homicide detectives sitting in your house, and I want to know what's going on. He denied anything about a tip. He denied it.

[Jim McCoskey]

So I said, you're the one that initiated this. You're the one that started this back in 1987. We're just trying to finish this up. Chris was not forthcoming with any information.

[Ralph Taylor]

Chris, family members are calling and they want to know what happened to their aunt. If something happened to your relatives, wouldn't you want us to be doing this? And he continued to deny it. We're at a point where, okay, he's not going to admit it. What can we really do?

[Jim McCoskey]

I'd have to say the turning point was his mother. I had Chris's mom listen to that cassette tape. And I said, do you know who this voice is? We need Chris to tell Us the truth. She told her son. You tell him, detectives, what you know. Too much time's gone by. You be honest with him. There was some trembling in his voice.

[Ralph Taylor]

He said that he did call on the tip. He does admit to knowing Danita. He said, she's innocent. Somebody else did it.

[Jim McCoskey]

Then he told us what some other girl had told him back in 1987, the day after the homicide had taken place. He said, we were just friends. She came over and sat on my porch, and she had to tell me something. She said that she owed a drug dealer some money, and she was going door to door asking for money. Anna Mae had given her a couple dollars. She saw that there was more money in that purse. That's what took over.

[Ralph Taylor]

This is all we need from you. We need a real name.

[Jim McCoskey]

And he says, zena Roberson. And he says, I've held onto this for all these years just because she was my friend. He had posed as Odell because he wanted somebody arrested for that homicide. He just didn't want Zina. And he had heard that Danita was involved in some illegal activity, thought that, okay, she'll go to jail for this, and. And I'll feel a lot better, you know, knowing I kept my secret with Zena for 26 years. You keep that secret. The family didn't need 26 years of unknown. If we had not confronted him, he would never have said anything. Zena was the last suspect that we had to go on. This is my last chance. That case goes back up on the show. Foreign.

[Marissa Pinson]

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Let's be honest. Workplace stress is everywhere these days. In fact, 61% of the global workforce is experiencing higher than normal levels of stress right now. And while we can't all just quit our jobs and head to the beach, summer is the perfect time to take small steps to focus on your wellness. Personally, I found that even simple things like sitting in the sun for a few minutes or taking a break to go for a walk can make a big difference in how I feel throughout the day. But even with small changes, we could sometimes still use a little more help. That's where therapy comes in. Whether you're dealing with work challenges or just want to learn positive coping skills and set healthy boundaries, therapy can empower you to be the best version of yourself. It's not just for people going through a crisis. Everyone can benefit from having a supportive space to talk things through. BetterHelp makes it easy. With over 30,000 therapists, they're the world's largest online therapy platform helping more than 5 million people globally. The app is rated 4.9 out of 5 stars based on over 1.7 million reviews, and you can join a session at the click of a button. Plus, you can switch therapists anytime if you need to. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of experience. Our listeners get 10% off their first [e-mail] cold case that's betterh e l p.com cold case from the waters of.

[Kathy Justice]

Lake Erie, it was raising flags, he said. There's no way that that fish should weigh 7.9 pounds. It's just not big enough.

[Marissa Pinson]

To A nondescript office building in Richmond, Virginia, home to a $700 million fund for children with special needs.

[Ralph Taylor]

If there was a cliche list of how to blow money that you just stole very quickly, this guy did all of them.

[Marissa Pinson]

To the ski slopes of Salt Lake City, where a former Olympic snowboarder landed on the FBI's most wanted list.

[Kathy Justice]

Ryan Jim's wedding is one of those interesting Norcos who have had two very successful careers, one legal and one illegal.

[Marissa Pinson]

We're pulling back the curtain on a fresh lineup of opportunists who stopped at nothing to get ahead. These are the stories of people who saw a loophole, a moment of weakness, a chance to get ahead, and took it. I'm Host Sarah James McLaughlin. Join me for a new season of the opportunist on May 19th. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jim McCoskey]

Zena was the last suspect that we had to go on. This is my last chance.

[Ralph Taylor]

The name Zena is a real uncommon name, but in our searches, you have to have more than a name.

[Jim McCoskey]

We knew that Zena lived two doors down from where Chris used to live back in 1987. After doing a computer check, come to find out she had a driver's license when she was 16.

[Ralph Taylor]

Finally, we get a hit. She was arrested in Georgia, a shoplifting charge.

[Jim McCoskey]

So her prints are on file.

[Kim Sharik]

Had to send away for the prints. They were actually in Georgia. Kathy said, kim, if this isn't her, you're not going to look at any more people. This is it. I'm done.

[Jim McCoskey]

These prints are going to put her in that house or the case goes back up on the shelf. I'll call Becky up and say, hey, Becky, we gave it the best shot we had. I have nothing further to run with.

[Kim Sharik]

I'm looking at these fingerprints. Pulled out Zita's fingerprint card. I look down on my desk with my magnifier. Make that right thumb. I look at it kind of raised up. So I look at it again, and I said, oh, got her. We got her. Zena.

[Ralph Taylor]

We know that the fingerprints match, but we don't get happy until we make an arrest. This is the first new suspect in 26 years, and there's a possibility she's somewhere in the Rome, Georgia, area. We got to the Rome Police Department, and we met with the detective that was going to assist us, because at that point, we wasn't sure if Zena was there. They said that what we normally do for stuff like this, they have a Facebook. So they took the picture of her, put on their Facebook page. They didn't say what for, but they just said, has anybody seen this woman? I don't think it was too many. They got a response. A person answered and said, this is a lady I see at the bus stop at this intersection every morning. And we went, wow. We said, we have these addresses we want to check.

[Jim McCoskey]

We get to her apartment.

[Ralph Taylor]

At that point, you know, you're kind of on alert. You don't know what's going to happen when she opens that door. So when you make your move, you got to make sure you're making the right move. It was 10, 15 people. That might be a real bad situation.

[Jim McCoskey]

The door opened, and I wasn't even sure right off the top of my head that that was her.

[Ralph Taylor]

She answered the door. She could have slammed it in our faces, but she didn't, you know, And.

[Jim McCoskey]

I said, yeah, we're homicide cold case detectives from Columbus, Ohio.

[Ralph Taylor]

You could kind of read it on her face. It was kind of like between shock and relief, kind of like, I knew you were coming. I didn't know when, but I knew this was going to happen.

[Jim McCoskey]

She invited us in, and she reached to the edge of the couch, you know, to ease herself into the seat. And I've never seen anything like it. But every pore on her body opened up, and, I mean, it looked like a river coming from the top of her head all the way down.

[Ralph Taylor]

You describe it as a poison, and it poisons your system, and it poisons your whole life because you're not running, but you're not turning yourself in either.

[Jim McCoskey]

Nothing needed to be said. It was just body language.

[Ralph Taylor]

You know, she kind of looked down. She knew, I know why you guys are here.

[Jim McCoskey]

She says, I used to live in Columbus, but I don't know anything about homicide. And I said, well, you're gonna have to. You gotta come with us.

[Ralph Taylor]

We knew we had her.

[Jim McCoskey]

Benjamin. I'm Kathy. This is where I kind of caught you off guard this morning.

[Ralph Taylor]

We start the interview and of course, right away we want to, you know, you want to get that. Get through that rights waiver, get that out of the way.

[Jim McCoskey]

If you're unable to pay a lawyer.

[Ralph Taylor]

A lawyer will be appointed for you. A lot of our suspects, they want to know how caught they are. And once they realize they're caught caught, they don't want to play anymore. You can almost hear her thinking.

[Jim McCoskey]

Are you willing to talk with us and at least hear what we have to say? Yeah. What I have to say.

[Ralph Taylor]

Okay. The real element we needed was her to admit she had never been in that apartment. Because we knew we had evidence.

[Jim McCoskey]

Putting her there in that apartment, we believe could possibly be self defense. But the only one that can tell us that is you.

[Ralph Taylor]

Once the word lawyer comes out of their mouth, your interview's over. However they say it. You think I need a lawyer? Well, somebody call me a lawyer. And I'm just getting a feeling that she's gonna say the word here in a minute. So I pulled out a picture of the victim. How about this woman here? Do you know her? I kind of wanted to shock her into this. Never been to her place.

[Jim McCoskey]

You never in her apartment. You don't know who she is? We had her in the apartment. We have two separate fingerprints from Xena inside Anna May's apartment. You can help yourself out here. Okay? By being truthful, she said it three times. I believe she had never been inside Anna Mae Florence's apartment.

[Ralph Taylor]

Tell us what happened.

[Marissa Pinson]

Tell us what happened. Xena's case goes to trial. And on August 25, 2014, 27 years after the murder, Anna May's niece, Linda Perry confronts Xena.

[Jim McCoskey]

She just wasn't somebody you just threw away.

[Becky Robertson]

She was somebody to care about. And I did love her.

[Jim McCoskey]

And I still love her.

[Becky Robertson]

And she met us a lot to the family. I spoke up for my aunt in the courtroom. I don't know if she cared or not, but it made me feel good to tell her.

[Marissa Pinson]

Zena Roberson was sentenced to 15 years to life for the murder of Anna Mae Florence. With Xena's sentencing, Kathy justice and Ralph Taylor bring closure to Anna mae's family. After 27 long years, the mystery of who killed Anna May is finally solved. Anna May's family invite Kathy and Ralph to join them after the trial to show their appreciation.

[Becky Robertson]

We love them and we appreciate everything they did for us.

[Jim McCoskey]

And we appreciate you guys all hanging together as family. Family is important.

[Becky Robertson]

Before there was not an ending. Now there's an ending.

[Ralph Taylor]

Becky said you as a hound, though.

[Jim McCoskey]

Well, you know, anime. She deserves some justice on that.

[Ralph Taylor]

That was the first time I really started feeling peace. I felt that her spirit now can rest.

[Marissa Pinson]

This summer, Pluto TV is exploding with thousands of free movies.

[Ralph Taylor]

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[Marissa Pinson]

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[Ralph Taylor]

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[Marissa Pinson]

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