Linda Slaten

Summary

True Crime All The Time – Episode 485: Linda Slaten
April 2, 2026
Hosts: Mike Ferguson & Mike Gibson

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the 1981 murder of Linda Slaten, a devoted single mother found sexually assaulted and strangled in her Lakeland, Florida apartment while her sons slept nearby. The hosts, Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson (“Gibby”), detail the decades-long search for her killer, how the case went cold, and the incredible breakthrough made nearly 40 years later through genetic genealogy. The episode explores themes of family trauma, the transformative role of DNA in solving cold cases, and the shocking revelation of a trusted figure as the perpetrator.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing the Case & Context

• The hosts quickly dive into the case, skipping their typical Sunday intro rituals.
• Linda Slaten, born in 1950, married young and endured an abusive relationship before becoming a single mother, raising two sons, Jeff and Tim.
• Linda struggled financially but was remembered as a selfless, loving parent.

"The only thing on her mind all the time was just me and my brother and taking care of us." — Tim (07:59)

2. Linda’s Personality and Vulnerability

• Linda was described as sociable and “way too trusting,” sometimes picking up hitchhikers, reflecting a more innocent (but dangerous) time.
• She was in a healthier relationship right before her death.

3. Events Leading Up to the Murder

• September 3, 1981: The day before her murder, Linda argued with her son Jeff, who left home upset but reconciled with her by midnight.
• Linda enjoyed an evening card party with Tim and neighbors; a striking moment surfaced when someone's palm reading warned her she’d “live a short life.” (16:16)

4. The Crime

• On the morning of September 4, 1981, Linda was found strangled with a wire coat hanger; her sister Judy discovered the body via the bedroom window after Linda failed to answer the door.
• DNA and a palm print were collected, but 1981 technology limited their use.

"Judy recalled to 48 Hours: 'She was laying crossways on the bed... at first I thought maybe she was asleep, and then I just started screaming.'" (21:37)

5. The Aftermath and Impact on the Family

• Immediate suspicion fell on Linda’s ex-husband, her current boyfriend, her sons, and Jeff’s football coach, but no evidence was forthcoming.
• Jeff and Tim, traumatized and stigmatized by police suspicion, endured intense interviews and polygraph tests.
• The brothers’ grief and survivor’s guilt were lifelong struggles.

"Jeff told 48 Hours: 'I would have died that night trying to save my mom... How could you not hear something like that?'" (37:09)

6. Investigation Stalls and Cold Case Realities

• Police ran out of leads, and the case went cold for decades.
• The hosts discuss the emotional toll on both families and law enforcement.

"How hard are some of these cold cases to work on?... Some of these cold case detectives end up retiring with a large number of them still unsolved. And that has to be frustrating." — Mike Ferguson (47:51)

7. DNA Advances & Genetic Genealogy Breakthrough

• In the late ‘90s, detective Brad Grice persisted, sending evidence for updated DNA analysis.
• Despite regular database searches and a promising (but false) lead involving another criminal, no match was found for years.

2019 – The Turning Point

• Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore uploaded the DNA to GEDmatch, narrowed it to one family, and—stunningly—in a weekend, identified the killer as Joseph Mills, Tim’s former football coach.
• Mills’ palm print matched the crime scene.

"CeCe Moore got involved... After decades of no answers, Moore identified the suspect in just one weekend." — Mike Ferguson (51:05)

8. The Arrest and Shocking Confession

• Mills, now 58, had lived quietly with a family and business, maintaining ties to the community.
• Police retrieved his DNA from discarded medical tape; it matched the crime scene.
• When confronted, Mills claimed Linda had invited him for “a good time” and described a consensual encounter—contradicted by all evidence.

"He claimed that Linda asked him to engage in wild sex... But that's the whole thing, right? People changing their stories." — Mike Ferguson (58:12)

• Investigators believed he snuck in through the window while the boys were out, hid in the closet, and attacked when Linda returned.

9. Revelation and Family Response

• The shock was profound: Tim had continued interacting with Mills—his coach/father figure—even after the murder.
• At Mills’ sentencing, the family confronted him, expressing deep hatred, pain, and a desire for true justice.

"I hate you. You can't die and burn in hell fast enough for me." — Jeff, to Mills (62:54)

"I trusted this man. He was the last person in my brain I thought was gonna do it." — Tim (61:14)

• Mills offered no remorse, still claiming he wasn’t “that person.”

---

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On trauma and survivor’s guilt:
  “I would have died that night trying to save my mom. I mean, we’re right there in the house. How could you not hear something like that?” — Jeff (37:09)

• First hint from genetic genealogy:
  “CeCe Moore got involved… Moore identified the suspect in just one weekend.” — Mike Ferguson (51:05)

• On the family’s confrontation in court: “I hate you. You can’t die and burn in hell fast enough for me.” — Jeff to Mills (62:54)
  “I hope when you’re in prison, things happen to you. Bad things. I saw the crime scene. I saw what you did. And then you act like my friend. I rode in the car with you.” — Tim (63:08)

• On betrayal:
  “Tim noted that Mills continued driving him home from football after the murder, saying, ‘I trusted this man. He was the last person in my brain I thought was gonna do it.’” (61:14)

• Mills’ lack of accountability:
  “I’m a good person. I’m not that person that they’re painting me out to be.” — Joseph Mills, in court (65:11)

---

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Case introduction & family background: 02:28 – 09:49
• Events before the murder: 13:38 – 20:10
• Discovery & initial investigation: 20:10 – 27:20
• Cold case challenges: 31:40 – 47:29
• Genetic genealogy breakthrough: 50:39 – 55:01
• Arrest, confrontation, and sentencing: 56:17 – 64:41

---

Conclusion & Final Reflections

The episode underscores both the terror and resilience of surviving family members as they waited decades for answers. The hosts praise advances in forensic science, particularly genetic genealogy, as transformative for justice in cold cases, while lamenting the pain caused by a perpetrator hidden in plain sight. The emotional testimony of Linda’s sons and the chilling lack of remorse from Mills leave a lasting impact.

“The fact that he spent, what. Whatever it was, 40 years living his life and having kids and grandkids and all that while, you know, their life went sideways.” — Mike Ferguson (67:17)

---

The episode is a stark reminder that behind every cold case lies a trail of shattered lives—and that sometimes, the murderer is the last person anyone would suspect.

Transcript

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, folks, here's the thing about true crime. It's a constant reminder that life is unpredictable. We can't control everything that happens to us, but we can control how prepared we are and how protected the people we love will be if something does happen. With more than 400,000 satisfied customers, the Knockbox keeps your passwords, possessions, personal history, and estate plans all in one safe place. With a Knockbox, your loved ones won't have to search through drawers or struggle to access online accounts during an already difficult time. Each folder inside of your Knockbox includes a checklist that tells you what to add to the folder and tells your next of kin what to do with the information. You can't get more comprehensive than a Knockbox. Get the gold standard in organizational systems and make life easier for your next of kin. Go to thenockbox.com and use code TCATT today to save 16% on the knockbox of your choosing. That's then okbox.com, code TCATT at checkout to save 16%.

[Advertisement Voice]

Want a game changing way to watch college basketball? With a one day pass from Sling, get instant access to the men's and women's tournaments starting at just 499. You can catch all the action on TNT, TBS, ESPN and ESPN too. Want even more hoops? Then add an extra pack to your subscription for just $1. No overpaying, no over committing. Just tournaments so crazy, they be crazy to miss. Visit sling.com to learn more. Sling lets you do that.

[Mike Ferguson]

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 485 of the True Crime all the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me, as always, is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?

[Mike Gibson]

I'm good.

[Mike Ferguson]

Are you?

[Mike Gibson]

How are you?

[Mike Ferguson]

I'm doing great. Oh, I always love it. Yeah, I always love it.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. You ready to get into this episode

[Mike Gibson]

as a shadow expert? I am.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Shadow expert, which if you listen to our Patreon episode from last Saturday night, we talked about that.

[Mike Gibson]

That's right. So if you need one, you know who to call.

[Mike Ferguson]

These episodes always start out strange for me because we don't do a lot of the routine that we do with our Sunday episode.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, you don't have the incoming music or intro, whatever it is.

[Mike Ferguson]

We don't talk about all of our other.

[Mike Gibson]

We just get into.

[Mike Ferguson]

We just get right in. So we're talking about Linda Slayton. On September 4, 1981, Linda Slayton was murdered inside her apartment while her sons slept in another room. The case was cold for decades, but was recently solved with the use of genetic genealogy. One of Linda's sons would go on to say that the killer was the last person on his radar.

[Mike Gibson]

It's always interesting.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is, because we're not giving away who the killer is. We'll find out as we go through the episode. But, you know, there's two things here real quick. I've said it before, but genetic genealogy is so fascinating. It is to me. And what a groundbreaking technology it's been in solving some of these cold cases. Yeah, it really has been. And then, you know, for a woman to be murdered inside her apartment while her sons are asleep in another room. You know, I've said it before, this is a scary situation to me. You think about where you live, right? That is supposed to be your safe space.

[Mike Gibson]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, once you get inside the door and lock it, you shut out the outside world and you. You feel safe. You should feel safe.

[Mike Gibson]

Shouldn't have any concerns.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, unfortunately, we've done a lot of cases where that. That turns out not to be true. Linda Joyce Patterson Slate was born on November 8, 1950, in Arkansas. Her sister Judy recalled that she was a pretty unpopular young woman, and many men asked her out. Linda met and married a man named Frank Slayton. Sources didn't say how old she was when she married Frank. The Tampa Tribune reported that Linda was 15, though, when she became pregnant with her son Jeff.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, okay. So an early motherhood.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, early motherhood. She might have gotten married early also. Yeah, but it would have been the 60s. I mean, I. I think, you know, people were getting married, or at least back in time, people did get married younger.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Much more often, I think, than. Than people do today. Their second son, Tim, was born a few years later, but Frank was an alcoholic and he was abusive to Linda. Linda's sons told 48 Hours. It was hard to know exactly when Frank began beating Linda. The more he drank, the more violent he was.

[Mike Gibson]

I hate hearing that, but it's. It is a universal thing with people that drink too much. You know, it's. It happens.

[Mike Ferguson]

It can be.

[Mike Gibson]

It can be.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I. I don't know if it's universal because I think you and I have had this discussion, right? Some people who drink, they become the life of the party. Happy go, lucky. But for many people, alcohol affects them in a. In a dark way.

[Mike Gibson]

Very much so.

[Mike Ferguson]

And so it does. I think it's different, you know, person by person. Obviously, if you're a violent person, the chances are alcohol is probably just going to Magnify that.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

In a. An even worse way, Jeff recalled the disturbing violent incident he witnessed when he was only six or seven years old. He said, I remember one time I was in the bathroom, he had her by the throat with a gun to her head. And I was coming there trying to get him off of her. And I felt like I had saved her by that, you know, that night. So, I mean, six, seven year old kids, frankly, no kids should have to witness this happening to their mother.

[Mike Gibson]

No, not at all.

[Mike Ferguson]

But very terrifying when you're 6 years old or 7 years old. By 1974, Linda was 24 years old and ready for a new start. She had just divorced Frank after nine years of marriage. So, I mean, I think if you do the math, she probably did get married when she was around 15 years old.

[Mike Gibson]

Sounds like it.

[Mike Ferguson]

And it was difficult for Linda as a single mom. She struggled to find work. She couldn't afford a car. Although she didn't have a lot of money, she always made sure her boys were taken care of. And. And you and I have talked about single moms many, many times. Right. I think being a. A single parent at all is tough.

[Mike Gibson]

Very tough.

[Mike Ferguson]

I have a lot of respect for single moms, especially, you know, my mom was a single mom for a period of time. And when I hear this, I think of my mom. We didn't have a lot of money. She worked very hard. All the money that she had that was outside of bills or what you would call extra money.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

She spent on me.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

She didn't buy new clothes for herself. She didn't go out and get her nails done. She didn't do any of that. She made sure that I had a baseball glove, a bat, new clothes for school.

[Mike Gibson]

You were her world. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So, I mean, I just have a lot of respect. Tim told the Lakeland Ledger, the only thing on her mind all the time was just me and my brother and taking care of us.

[Mike Gibson]

That's just a good parent.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is a good parent. You know, we do a lot of cases, and we did one last week about two very, very bad parents.

[Mike Gibson]

We did.

[Mike Ferguson]

That was a rough episode to do when we talked about the Erica Green case. But by and large, most parents, you'd have to say, have this philosophy. It's like their kids are their world. They would do anything for them.

[Mike Gibson]

Very selfless.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. And you would give up something for yourself if your kids had to have something.

[Mike Gibson]

And that's the way it should be.

[Mike Ferguson]

It's the way it should be. And it's Way most parents are. Yeah, but not all.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, you made the decision to bring those kids into the world. They are your responsibility. You need to take care of them.

[Mike Ferguson]

I think that's well said.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And well thought out. I don't know if it's well thought out, but it's well said. I'll put it that way. Linda made her own clothes to save money and even taught Tim to sew so that he could pass home. That.

[Mike Gibson]

Hey, nothing wrong with that.

[Mike Ferguson]

They still have home ec.

[Mike Gibson]

I don't know. I took it, though, as a kid.

[Mike Ferguson]

I did, too.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You. You took it three times, I'm assuming.

[Mike Gibson]

I didn't want to go there.

[Mike Ferguson]

But that one year that you had to.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

They called it the. The Triple Pete. Not the Repeat. It was a triple P. They had

[Mike Gibson]

to write new procedures in that school because of that. Like, what? What do you mean? We got someone repeating that grade again.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I think at one point they were just like, we just gotta let this kid through. I mean, this is just getting ridiculous at this point.

[Mike Gibson]

We rewrote all the procedures manuals last year. I don't want to do it because someone's gonna have to go through a fourth time. Let them go.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, when you were driving in the seventh grade, they were just like, we got to get. We got to push this kid on.

[Mike Gibson]

The fact that I had this same beard, just a different color back then. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Oh. Jeff told the Lakeland Ledger anywhere she'd go, she just started talking to people. And, you know, people who knew Linda said that she was just the type of person who would talk to and befriend anyone. Sometimes she would also pick up hitchhikers. She'd say, I'm just giving them a ride. She was, according to Jeff, way too trusting of people.

[Mike Gibson]

That is a little bit over the top with the trust.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is. But in the 70s, right. That's something a lot of people did.

[Mike Gibson]

They did.

[Mike Ferguson]

Not so much today.

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't. I don't see a lot of people on the road picking up hitchhikers. I'm still. I'm sure it still does happen, but I think with the proliferation of, you know, true crime, that is probably done a lot because so many cases revolve around hitchhiking.

[Mike Gibson]

I kind of feel bad for, like, people that really need a ride, like, their car went off the road, and they need to get down to the gas station, and they just see, you know, cars passing by one after the other, because people are like, I'd really like to help Them, But I don't know if that is, you know, are they really out of gas or they just carrying that gas can because they want in here?

[Mike Ferguson]

Are they trying to set me up? Yeah, I think people aren't as trusting anymore. In early 1981, Linda and her boys moved from Decatur, Alabama to Lakeland, Florida. And after Linda's long term relationship ended, the Tampa Tribune reported that Linda's ex threatened her.

[Mike Gibson]

Not surprising.

[Mike Ferguson]

Not surprising that her ex threatened her.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Based on some of the things that he.

[Mike Ferguson]

Oh, I think this was a different person.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, this is a different ex.

[Mike Ferguson]

Oh, I, I'm not for sure. It just said X. Yeah. But I thought because it said her long term relationship ended and I think her marriage ended in like 74. This is early 80s.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, that's unfortunate that she's got somebody else that.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yes, that is threatening her. Abusive. That's the way I was, was taking it. So they moved in with Linda's parents in Lakeland, Florida. For several months. Linda was working as a cashier at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store.

[Mike Gibson]

Piggly Wiggly.

[Mike Ferguson]

But she wasn't working at the time of her death. Yeah, I've been in Piggly Wiggly's before.

[Mike Gibson]

I think you like the Piggly Wigglies.

[Mike Ferguson]

I like grocery stores, period. Because grocery stores have food and I'm a big fan of food.

[Mike Gibson]

That you are.

[Mike Ferguson]

Linda was also in a new relationship with a construction worker she met when he was laying pipe along a roadside well, you gonna laugh at laying pipe? I, I should have known it.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm so juvenile sometimes.

[Mike Ferguson]

Sometimes Linda walked by and they struck up a conversation. Yeah, it's funny how people meet people. It really is. You know, this guy's laying pipe. I knew that was going to crack you up. That's why I said it again. But you know, you just walk by somebody, you strike up a conversation and the next thing you know, you kind of hit it off. And that happens.

[Mike Gibson]

Right. And it's kind of nice, you know, when you can meet somebody and they get you and you get them and you can, you know, have that rapport going back and forth.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

Without effort.

[Mike Ferguson]

It happens in different places. Right. People meet people in bars, they meet people in churches.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

She met somebody just walking down the side of the road. Linda's son said that although she experienced several abusive relationships, her last boyfriend was a good person who was kind to her and them.

[Mike Gibson]

Which is nice to hear.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. And it must have been, you know, nice not only for her, but for the kids. Right. Because they had to Go through it as well.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure they did.

[Mike Ferguson]

I'm sure she took the brunt. Yeah. Of the abuse, but it's, it can never be easy on, on the kids, especially when they're that young. Linda and her son settled into their new life in Lakeland. Tim started playing football. His coach was a guy, a 20 year old named Joseph Mills. And coach Joe was a role model for Tim. He regularly drove Tim and a few other players to and from football practice and games.

[Mike Gibson]

I had a coach like that that would pick you up and drop you off if you needed it.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, and it's, I think, extremely helpful probably when you have a single mom.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Who's working her rear end off and may not be able to. You know, sometimes practices happen pretty quickly after school, right before a lot of people even get off work. In August 1981, Linda and the boys moved into a newly constructed community, a federally subsidized duplexes in Lakeland. They had only been there a few weeks when she was killed. September 3, 1981 was a normal Thursday for the family. Like many parents, Linda was experiencing tension with her teenage son Jeff. So they got into an argument that day. Jeff told 48 Hours. I remember coming home, there was nothing to eat in the house. You know how it is when you're, you know, 15, 16 year old kid, you're mouthy. I got mad and I went out the door and got on my bicycle and rode 11 or 12 miles to the north side of town to go to my grandma and grandpa's house to get something to eat.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, when you're hungry, you're hungry.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. But you know, also 15, 16 year old teenagers, both boys and girls, can

[Mike Gibson]

be very mouthy and they think they know everything.

[Mike Ferguson]

They do. Yeah, they do. Sometimes they know a lot. But no matter how much you know, you always think you know more than what you do.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, that is true, especially as a kid.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I think it applies even more so to teenagers, but I think it applies to people in general.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, I believe that. I think there's a lot of people that think they are smarter than they actually are.

[Mike Ferguson]

And there's killers. Right. We talk that about that a lot with killers. They think they're smarter than what they really are and that they're going to be able to get away with something that, I mean, people would look at and say, hey, why? Did you ever think, yeah, you were going to get away with that?

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, some people think they're Mensa, some people do.

[Mike Ferguson]

Tim's coach, Joe Mills, dropped him off from football practice at 8:30pm that night, around 9pm, Linda took Tim to a party next door. There were six or seven other people at the apartment playing cards. Tim recalled that at the party, a woman asked to read Linda's poem and told her, you're going to live a short life.

[Mike Gibson]

That's why I, you know, kind of go by those places, like, not stop. Like when they say, hey, can we. Would you like me to read your fortune? Would you like me to read your palm? I'm like, no. Because what if you tell me something I really don't want to hear? Not saying I would believe you, but what if I did believe you? You know, I just don't want to know. Like, hey, he looks like you won't make it past tomorrow.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, that would, that would not be good.

[Mike Gibson]

Like, how do you get that from that?

[Mike Ferguson]

And you cashed out your 401k and spend it on who knows what.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

And then tomorrow comes and goes and you're still alive.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm still here.

[Mike Ferguson]

But yeah, I mean, I guess you could hear good things or you could hear bad things. Obviously this is a very bad thing. But Linda laughed it off. Yeah, and I think a lot of people would, right? Hey, folks, if you're looking for a better way to bank, you got to check out Chime. They're changing the way people bank. It's smarter banking built for you and it's fee free. Forget about the old school banking ways that charge you overdraft and monthly fees. Chime has smarter banking products for everyday people, like MyPay, which gives you access to up to $500 of your paycheck anytime. And getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. There's no overdraft fees, no minimum balance fees and no monthly fees. You can also earn up to 3% APY on savings. That's seven times higher than a traditional bank. And it's rated five stars by us today for customer service. They have real human 24. 7. And my younger self would have benefited so much from Chime. I remember in my 20s getting hit with what seemed to be a mountain of banking fees. With Chime, you don't have that. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee free today. It just takes a few minutes to sign up. Head to chime.com tcat that's chime.com tcatt

[Chime Disclaimer Voice]

Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services, a secure Chime, Visa credit card and my paid line of credit provided by the Bancor Bank NA or Stride Bank NA. My pay eligibility requirements apply and credit limit ranges $20 to $500. Optional services and products may have fees or charges. See chime.com feesinfo advertised annual percentage yield with Chime+ status only. Otherwise, 1.00% APY applies. No min balance required. Chime card on time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary. See chime.com for details and applicable terms.

[Mike Ferguson]

Jeff's grandparents dropped him off between 9 and 9:30pm Linda and Tim came home from the party around 11. By midnight, Jeff and Linda had patched things up from their argument.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, you don't stay mad at your parents forever, right? You shouldn't at least.

[Mike Ferguson]

No.

[Mike Gibson]

If you can patch it up before you go to bed because you never want to go to bed angry.

[Mike Ferguson]

I've heard that.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Don't always subscribe to it, but I've

[Mike Gibson]

heard that that's not to.

[Mike Ferguson]

It's best not to. I also think, you know, you probably try to patch it up with your single mother pretty quickly. If you just think about all the things that she's done for you and is doing for you.

[Mike Gibson]

Sacrifices.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Maybe you try to patch it up. Jeff recalled the last time he spoke to his mother. She was finishing up the dishes. When she went to her bedroom, Jeff said, I love you, Mom. I'll see you tomorrow. Yeah. And obviously this is going to be their last conversation. We talk about that from time to time. Would you ever forget the last conversation that you had with your mother when you know she dies at the hands of someone else?

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

Or maybe she just dies naturally. It's just not something you're probably gonna forget.

[Mike Gibson]

No, you're not gonna forget. And you know, for him, it's probably a good thing that he did resolve the argument, the fight. Because if he didn't and knowing what happens, that maybe that would stick with him for the rest of his life. Like the last thing I did was yell at my mom.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

And I never told her I was sorry.

[Mike Ferguson]

Be even more guilt.

[Mike Gibson]

It would be right if.

[Mike Ferguson]

If maybe they didn't patch things up. On the morning of September 4, 1981, Linda was found strangled to death in her bedroom. Around 8:30am Linda's sister, Judy Butler, who lived in the same complex, walked a few doors down to have coffee with her. But Linda never answered the door. Judy started to walk back home, but she turned and saw that Linda's bedroom window screen had been removed. Judy walked over and looked inside and saw her sister's body.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, again, people discovering a dead body, you know, we've talked about it so many times. I just think it's one thing if you don't know the person, it's not going to be great. Don't get me wrong. But if it's your sister, your brother, your mom, your dad, you know, your child, somebody very close to you, that is just going to be horrific.

[Mike Gibson]

That's not something you want to visualize, something you want to see.

[Mike Ferguson]

No. Judy recalled the 48 hours she was laying. Instead of up and down on the bed, she was laying crosswinds. And at first I thought maybe she was asleep, and then I just started screaming. And neighbors heard Judy screaming. They called the police. Officers found Linda's partially nude body with a wire coat hanger wrapped around her neck. The killer entered through her bedroom window. The sound of police radios woke up Jeff, who was sleeping on a cot in the living room. Officers told him to get dressed and go outside. Jeffrey called the 48 Hours. And when I went out there, it looked like every cop in the state of Florida, news crews, and my aunt Judy was out there crying, and she told me my mom had been murdered. And I just couldn't believe it.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Can you imagine waking up to that? Just like, you know, there's people that sleep light. There's heavy sleepers. You're a heavy sleeper, very heavy. That probably sleep through all that noise.

[Mike Ferguson]

How you know that, let's not discuss.

[Mike Gibson]

But, yeah, leave that, you know, to the side there. But you wake up to that, and you step outside and you see your aunt crying and tells you that, I feel like your world would just end right there.

[Mike Ferguson]

It just come crashing down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I think, you know, at that point, okay, you're 15, 16, or, you know, these kids are teenagers. Whatever they are, is their mom, their whole world? Probably not. They've got friends. They might even have girlfriends. But again, single mom busting her, you know what, to take care of you. I'm sure the amount of love they had for her was off the charts.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure. And at that moment, all that would go, you know, start pouring in on you.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, it definitely would. As Tim was walking out, an officer was exiting his mother's bedroom. Tim saw his mother's body on the bed.

[Mike Gibson]

It'd be tough.

[Mike Ferguson]

It would be. And I know in a lot of cases, the police tried to shield people from, you know, seeing the body. Obviously, they didn't do it in this case, but that would be hard. Very hard. Not just to hear what happened, but to actually see it yourself.

[Mike Gibson]

And that's a picture that I don't think you're ever gonna forget.

[Mike Ferguson]

No. And I think one you probably would rather not have.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

If you could have avoided it. The autopsy confirmed Linda was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. DNA evidence was collected from her body, and a palm print was found on the windowsill at the crime scene. Okay. So, you know, when you just take that, you were. You're like, oh, that's great evidence.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But in 1981, maybe not as great,

[Mike Gibson]

because what can they really do with it?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I mean, you know, DNA is not really a thing yet at all. It's going to be a few years before DNA comes around. They can do blood typing depending on what the. The evidence was. If it was semen or. Or whatever. Yeah, the palm print. Okay. Did they have databases by 1981? I'm sure they did, but, you know, how extensive and connected were they?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Or, you know, were they more localized and so you're. You're not searching the whole world or even the U.S. i. I don't know off top of my head, you know, where it was in 1981, but obviously it was nowhere near what, like Aphis or whatever is today. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Mills was briefly questioned over the phone and told police that while dropping Tim off, Linda came out to the car and thanked him for giving her son a ride. He left and didn't return. He claimed he'd only met Linda once and didn't go inside the apartment. So this is, you know, one of the kids. Football coach. Right. Joe seems like a great guy. Takes him to practice, brings him home, drops him off.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, just one of those. Seems like one of those coaches that goes a little bit above and beyond.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. You know, the extra mile, whatever you want to call it. But obviously they're. They're going to question him because he was there. Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

He dropped off the boy. Yeah. That night.

[Mike Ferguson]

He was there at some point. Linda's ex husband, Frank, was an early person of interest, but investigators were satisfied that he was home in Alabama on the night of the murder.

[Mike Gibson]

So it sounds like he had a decent alibi.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Then is it easier to have a good alibi if you're in a different state? I would say normally it is, depending on what the alibi actually is.

[Mike Gibson]

Certainly can't hurt to be in another state when something like this happens.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, I think the one that's always tough for people and is when someone's alone. Right. They live by themselves. The murder happens later at night. They're home. But how do they prove it? It was just saying you're home alone. Not much of an alibi.

[Mike Gibson]

No, but it does put a pretty big burden on the police to also prove that you weren't at home.

[Mike Ferguson]

I would say that that is correct. Linda's current boyfriend also had a credible alibi. Police looked into the people who attended the party next door, but, you know, no one was charged. I mean, these are all people that you would expect.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

The police to look into. Right. The ex husband, the current boyfriend, this guy Joe. Because he did drop one of the kids off at the house. All these people at the party.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because they were hanging out there that night.

[Mike Gibson]

Was not looking great right now on a potential suspect.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I don't think anybody's standing out. Jeff also was interviewed by the Lakeland police. They took him out of school for questioning. Jeff admitted that he and Linda had conflict sometimes, including the night before the murder. And even though he passed a polygraph, he was still accused of murdering his own mother.

[Mike Gibson]

He did have a argument with her the night, the day of. He was inside the house when. Whatever, you know, when the murder happened.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

So, I mean, I can see him being a person of interest.

[Mike Ferguson]

I can, too. But to actually be accused of killing your mother, if you didn't, you're already grieving the loss of her. Her death.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

And now your. Your head's got to be spinning because people are saying, or you know, you did it, they're accusing of you.

[Mike Gibson]

I think it's a tough road to go down.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, no doubt. One officer even told him, you know, you got big arms and you're strong enough to put your hands around your mom's neck and kill her.

[Mike Gibson]

Just because he has big arms and strong hands doesn't mean that he did it. You can say he had the tools to do it.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. He had the ability, I guess, to. To strangle her. But again, top. And he has said that those comments still affect him.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, all these years later, he told 48 Hours. Who would do that to a kid? I was a 15 year old kid hurting, and to say that to me, I mean, that's always hurt. Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

I think it's kind of rough, you know, to jump to that just based on the fact that he was home, he argued with her, and he had the size to do something and nobody

[Mike Ferguson]

else is jumping out.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, I get it. Police accuse people all the time. They're trying to Revoke, revoke, evoke. And a response. Right. We know you did it. We know you did it. Tell us you did it or tell us how you did it.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

They don't know you did it. They're just, you know, they're trying to get you to. To crack or say something.

[Mike Gibson]

But it's like you said, it's rough, you know, because you. You know, you want him to be able to grieve for his loss of his mom. But how can you do that when you got people coming at you?

[Mike Ferguson]

I think it's harder.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

When you're fending off all these accusations that you're the one who killed your mom. Tim was also pulled out of school, and he was asked questions about his brother. Jeff's grandparents eventually told the police to stop questioning the boys and find out who really killed Linda. Two weeks later, Jeff took a second polygraph and was clear. So he passed the first one. They still accused him of murder. Yeah, he passed the second one, and they said, all right, you're clear again. We've talked so many times about, you know, how we feel about polygraphs, but, okay, whatever it takes. Back then, they. They thought a lot more of them.

[Mike Gibson]

But you, you know, you passed two. You think at that point back then, that should be a. Yeah, you're good to go.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, that, plus there's no evidence that you did anything. All right, maybe back off the kid a little bit. Unless you come up with something that. That actually does point to him being guilty. The problem is the investigation slowed after this, and I think it's pretty typical. We see it quite a lot in our unsolved cases where you might have some people who really look good as persons of interest or potential suspects very early on.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because you've got, you know, ex husbands or boyfriends or. Or whoever it is. You're going to look at all those people. But if they don't pan out. Okay. That's when things kind of go quiet. Yeah. If you're not getting tips or nobody's calling to say, hey, I know who the killer is, you know, where do you go from there?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Kind of gets kind of stale.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. After the murder, Jeff and Tim moved in with their grandparents. They stayed home for weeks because they were scared to go anywhere. They slept in a room with their grandmother and their grandfather, stayed up all night keeping guard with a gun.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, I get it, right? You don't know who did this to your mom, why they did it, and it's going to be hard to get a restful Night of sleep. And, you know, the grandfather was doing what he could to make them feel safe.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I would be scared too, I think, especially if I was that young. You know, the. The one question that, that is kind of popping into my head is, okay, obviously the killer didn't harm them.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Did he know that they were there and just had, you know, no compulsion to. To want to hurt them in any way? Or did he not know that they were there, discovered it after the fact, and that was maybe part of the, the reason why they would be so scared. Well, he's gonna come for us now.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Come back for us.

[Mike Ferguson]

Thinking maybe we saw something, maybe we know something. But, you know, their grandparents thought that it would be best for them to kind of go back to their normal routine. So they returned to school. A few weeks later, Tim returned to football. His teammates and his coach were supportive of him. Joe Mills continued giving him runs to games and practices. Joe would occasionally ask him if there were any new leads in the case. So again, he seems like he's being supportive.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

Continuing that. I do think, you know, like the grandparents said, I think it's important for people to, you know, get on with their lives at a certain point.

[Mike Gibson]

Absolutely.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, how long that takes. That might be different for, for everyone, but there's no doubt Linda's sons, they spend decades living in fear of this unknown killer that they called the monster.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Because he one was a monster for doing what he did to their mom. But, you know, for them, he just kind of lurked in the shadows because they didn't know who he was.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I think it would be very scary, folks. I absolutely love Thrive market. For just $5 a month, you get access to a curated selection of organic and non GMO brands. They have over 90 dietary filters, weekly sales, free gifts. It's one annual fee with priceless peace of mind. And my wife and I have found so many good things on Thrive Market that have just become staples. I love the good Crisp company crisps. The original, the sour cream, that's one of my go to snacks. My wife loves the Smash Foods fruit spreads. They come in a variety, but it's all better for you than what you would find at your local grocery store. Thrive Market restricts over a thousand ingredients, so you don't have to stress over labels and you don't have to go to Google to look up every additive. They also have an in app barcode scanner, which finds a healthier swap for almost anything that's in your pantry right now. And at $5 a month. The membership pays for itself. Most members make that back in their first two orders. Member pricing is up to 30% off. They have weekly sales, free gifts and and free delivery on qualifying orders. Ready to do your own spring reset? Join Thrive Market with our link thrivemarket.com tcatt for 20% off your first three orders, plus you'll receive a free $60 gift. It was said that the kids never got in trouble with the law, but both brothers dropped out of high school. Tim told the Lakeland Ledger, I didn't care about school. I didn't care about nothing. If my mom were alive, she'd never have put up with that.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, but, you know, as a kid that goes through something like that, I don't know how you move forward. It'd be tough to move forward, to back normal and finish school and, you know, it. I think there'd just be a lot of depression.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, I think it's just kind of highlights how these murders impact. Yeah, people. Now, this is family, right? It's always going to impact family, but, you know, these kids were, you know, fairly young or young teenagers, and it obviously impacted their lives in a negative way.

[Mike Gibson]

There's.

[Mike Ferguson]

There's just no doubt about it. Tim later became a welder mechanic. Jeff became a truck driver. They both got married, had children and stayed in the area. But they struggled with grief and guilt for not hearing anything or helping their mom.

[Mike Gibson]

And I get that. You know, I can understand that because you think about it, you're like, why didn't I hear her? Did she scream? And I just didn't wake up. And if I did, maybe I could have stopped this person.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, and.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, we talk about guilt a lot. Right. And whether you should feel guilty or not, that's kind of irrelevant, you know, because it, it's. You're going to have it. There's always going to be that kind of those what ifs. What if I had done this? What if I had, you know, heard something? What if I went in and stopped it? I just think that's natural, but it can't be good for somebody to have to live with that. Jeff told 48 Hours, I would have died that night trying to save my mom. I mean, we're right there in the house. How could you not hear something like that? So that right there just tells you the guilt that he's sure that he has and probably always will have. As young adults, they called the Lakeland Police Department regularly for Updates. Around the 20 year mark, Jeff and Tim met with Lakeland Detective Brad Grice, who started working the case back in 1997. And I think that would be another tough part of it. Right. Year after year, you're calling, hey, what's going on with my mom's case? And there's just not much going on.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. No. No new updates, guys.

[Mike Ferguson]

Meanwhile, this person's still out there.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And, okay, they haven't tried to come after you. Maybe they never will. But there's. There's still the not knowing.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, the not knowing. But there's also. You have some hope. Right. You know, because thank goodness, for whatever reason, back then, they. They collected the DNA, they collected the. The print. So maybe one day they will come. Come around.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. And. And, you know, this new detective, or not new, he'd been working the case for a while. He did know that there was DNA evidence in Linda's case file. We said it. Right. DNA testing was. I don't. It was certainly limited. I don't even know if they were. If it was around.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

My recollection is 85, 86. Was. Was really kind of when DNA came about. But certainly in the late 90s into the early 2000s, there were significant advancements and. Which continue to this day. Grice had already sent DNA from the rape kit to the crime lab at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He hoped that it would finally help solve this case. By March 1999, the FDLE had developed a full DNA profile of the killer. So all they needed was a hit in the database.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So, you know, not only had DNA advanced. Right. Or what they could do, but also you have these advancements in these databases, you know, codis, aphis, all these different things that we talk about, these big databases that allow for, you know, fairly quick searches. But the problem that we always run into is that, you know, while DNA is great, if you don't have a match in one of these databases or a palm print or a fingerprint or whatever it may be, what do you do with it?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

It's like you're sitting around waiting for that person to mess up and get their DNA entered into a database.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly. You're just hoping that one day it happens.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yep. Grice took DNA samples from Jeff and Tim to clear them once and for all. And, you know, that had to be, I'm sure, a big relief for them. I mean, they knew they didn't have anything to do with it. But what it did is it, without a doubt, cleared them, which changed the minds, I'm sure, of some other people.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. It also sets. It up later if and when they find the killer, that they can say, well, we, you know, the defense can't say. Maybe it was the boys.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yes.

[Mike Gibson]

No, it wasn't the boys, because we tested them and it was clearly not them.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, that's a, that's a great point. Grice also took dozens of samples from prior persons of interest and he submitted them to the fdle. Even Linda's ex husband, Frank Slayton, volunteered a sample. None were a match. And normally, normally, not always, but normally when people volunteer their samples, they already know they didn't do it, or else they wouldn't volunteer. But if you know you didn't do it, then you volunteer because you, you don't want to be on the radar. You want to be cleared as well.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

In September 2001, Detective Grice received a promising tip. Nearly a year after Linda's murder, a man named Jimmy ulmer pulled a 10 year old girl through her bedroom window and attacked her, almost killing her. He was convicted and sentenced to decades in prison. All right, that's a very nasty crime. It is also very scary if you're the 10 year old girl and, and her parents as well.

[Mike Gibson]

And it does, I mean, it has some similarities.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. And the detective, he did analyze those similarities in the, the cases and discovered that Jimmy Ulmer was staying with a friend in Linda's apartment complex around the time of the murder.

[Mike Gibson]

It's a little bit more interesting.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. So you have a guy who kind of has an MO at least in one attack of going through the window. Okay. It said that he was staying in the same apartment complex. Yeah, around the time. All right, we got to check this guy out. No doubt about it. Unfortunately, Omer died in prison five years earlier in 1996, but his DNA was on file. Good. And you know, that's one of the things about DNA. You know, at some point in time, a lot of the, the states, and I think everybody does it now. But if you get put in prison, they take your DNA.

[Mike Gibson]

That's right.

[Mike Ferguson]

And they put it in the database. So a lot of people have been connected to crimes just by that very thing. Grice thought he would be Linda's killer, but DNA testing proved otherwise.

[Mike Gibson]

Disappointing. You know, I'm sure, for the family at that time. But it never surprises me. You know, I've said this before, when we do these cases that you're looking for a killer, you don't find that killer, but you find 1, 2, 3 other really bad people in that area

[Mike Ferguson]

operate and when in this case, I mean, in the same apartment complex. At least he was staying there.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

At the same time. Yeah. It's amazing as we look through, you know, we use newspapers.com for a lot of our research. And so when you start to search things, all kinds of different things pop up and you start. You can't help but start reading them, and you're like, oh, my gosh, this person did that. And maybe we should do a case on them, too.

[Mike Gibson]

Been down that road.

[Mike Ferguson]

It happens a lot. Back in the 80s and 90s, the Lakeland Police had no organized focus on cold cases, and detectives couldn't spare time to focus closely on Linda's case. It wasn't until 2005 that Detective Grice was made the primary cold case detective. And I don't know that that's strange. You know, I think a lot of departments now, especially bigger departments, they have a cold case detective or group of them.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But in the older days, there's people that might touch a cold case every now and then, but they certainly weren't dedicated to it like. Like some people are now.

[Mike Gibson]

I kind of think it also takes a special type of detective that wants to work on a case that's basically been ran through the mill and nobody could find anything. And now you are tasked with, you know, looking at it again and again and again, looking for any variable, any possible

[Mike Ferguson]

something was missed or. Yeah. And. And I hate to say it, but, you know, obviously the chances of solving some of these older cases, they can't be good because some of them don't have DNA or anything. Now we're talking about one that does. So obviously we're getting ready to talk about advancements in DNA, but if you have no DNA at all, those. Those have to be really tough, I would think.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And the chances of them being solved have to be pretty. Pretty small. But somebody's got to do it. Right. Somebody's got to keep these alive and keep working them. As leader of the Cold Case Unit, Detective Grice worked with the FBI, who continuously ran the DNA sample through all federal databases, but there was still no match. And that's my thought, is I don't know how often they do it, but on some of these cold cases, just at intervals.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

They have to run the search.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Again. To see if. Now there's a match.

[Mike Gibson]

Do we have it now?

[Mike Ferguson]

This person got picked up, they got charged, they got convicted, and now their. Their DNA is in the database or it's in there for some other reason.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, whatever. Grice began to worry the suspect was Deceased. And I get that right. Quite a bit of time is, you know, is gone by. We don't know how old this person was when they committed the murder.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So the more time that goes by, the greater the chances that that person is no longer alive. In September 2006, Jeff and Tim offered an $8,000 reward for information on top of a $2,000 Crime Stoppers reward. Jeff worked overtime and Tim used proceeds from the sale of his house to contribute to the reward. And man, that's amazing.

[Mike Gibson]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, just think it shows you how badly they wanted the murder of their mother, Saul. They wanted justice for her.

[Mike Gibson]

They want someone to pay the price for what they did.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Detective Grice ultimately retired in 2015 and was deeply disappointed he had not found the killer. I think that goes back to what we were saying. Right. How hard are some of these cold cases to work on? I think some of these cold case detectives end up retiring with a large number of them still unsolved. And that has to be frustrating.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm sure it haunts them too. You know, some of them, you know,

[Mike Ferguson]

they say haunts them.

[Mike Gibson]

Haunt.

[Mike Ferguson]

Okay.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Almost sound like you said, hence handsome.

[Mike Gibson]

Handsome.

[Mike Ferguson]

That man is very handsome.

[Mike Gibson]

It's very handsome.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, I'm sure it does.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, I kind of, a lot of times I reference True Detective. Right. I love that series, especially the, the first in the third season. Probably my two favorites. But in the third season, you know, that case went very, very cold. And you kind of got to see throughout the years how it, how it haunted those guys who had worked on it this time of year. Always makes me rethink what's in my closet. I'm trying to keep fewer things, but better ones. Pieces that are well made and easy to wear all the time. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. The fabrics feel elevated, the fits are thoughtful, and the pricing actually makes sense. Quince makes high quality everyday essentials using premium materials like 100% European and linen and their insanely soft flow knit activewear fabric. Their men's linen pants and shirts are lightweight, breathable and comfortable. Basically the perfect layer for spring. And their Flowknit activewear is my absolute favorite. I love their shorts, their pants, their tops. It's moisture, wicking, anti odor and soft enough that you'll actually want to wear it all day. And I do actually wearing it right now as I record this ad. The best part is that their prices are 50 to 60% less than similar brands. How Quints works directly with ethical Factories and cuts out the middlemen. So you're paying for quality, not brand markup. Everything is designed to last and make getting dressed easy. Refresh your wardrobe with quince. Go to quince.com tcat for free shipping and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. Go to quince.com tcatt for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com tcat In November 2018, investigators looked into using genetic genealogy, which compares DNA evidence to public genealogy databases. In June 2019, genetic genealogist CeCe Moore got involved in Linda's case. She uploaded the DNA to GEDmatch and constructed the family tree. She found three genetic networks that pointed to one immediate family. There was only one son in the family, meaning he had to be the suspect.

[Mike Gibson]

Wow.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I mean, people listening will recognize the name Cece Moore. She has been absolutely instrumental in this genetic genealogy. I mean, there's a lot of other people that have as well, but her name comes up a lot. After decades of no answers, Moore identified the suspect in just one weekend. And how amazing is that?

[Mike Gibson]

It's awesome.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, it just shows you what this type of technology can do. It does something in one weekend that investigators hadn't been able to do in almost 40 years. She determined that the suspect was Tim's former football coach, Joseph Mills. Mills, he was 58 years old and living in Kathleen, Florida, about an hour from Lakeland. Now, authorities wanted to be certain right before they arrested Mills and notified Linda's family. Investigators noted in the case file that Mills was interviewed the day after the murder by phone, but never face to face, which indicated he never was really considered a suspect. Right, because obviously he was. They'd have brought him in. They'd have done a real interview, not just a phone interview. Yeah, because to me, those are two very different things.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure it is.

[Mike Ferguson]

When you can't see the person, right. You don't. You can't see their body language. You know, are they sweating? Do they look up and to the right every time they're right before they answer every question? Or to the left. I forget which one it is, but you know what I mean. In his interview, Mills acknowledged that he drove tim home on September 3rd, which we talked about. In 1984, he was convicted of grand theft for forging a will. He never went to jail, but his prints were taken in August 2019. Investigators compared his prints to the palm print from the crime scene, and it was a match. So again, you always hate to kind of Monday morning quarterback these investigations.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

But it's hard not to think, man, they really should have brought this guy in.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

There really was what we talk about, three main persons of interest.

[Mike Gibson]

There was, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

The ex, the current boyfriend, and this guy, Joseph Mills, who was there that night. He said, well, I. I never went in the house, and I'd only met her one time. Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

And he was looked at more of. This is a really good guy, you know, picking up and bringing home the. The son and other kids from football practice, you know?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

Why would he have anything to do with this?

[Mike Ferguson]

But they're closing in on him, Right. Investigators needed a fresh DNA sample to confirm Mills was the killer. They followed him for several weekends trying to catch him discarding a cop or a tissue, with no luck. They then decided to search his trash. They found a used piece of medical adhesive tape and sent it to the FDLE crime lab for testing. You know, this also fascinates me when they get somebody's DNA using, like, all these strange methods, whether it's following people. And they. They drank out of a. A cup, and they threw it in the trash can. And people swoop in, they grab it with gloves on. They put it in a bag. In this case, they're going through, you know, his trash.

[Mike Gibson]

I know that you and your wife both hate when I come over here because when we eat, I take anything I use back with me.

[Mike Ferguson]

Right. You won't use our silverware.

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

You have your own plastic stuff that you bring, and you wrap it all up nice and neat. It's very Hannibal Lecter.

[Mike Gibson]

Like, I don't know what's going on, you know? At the end of the night, when I'm done, I'll take this upstairs. I have my own little spot in the one closet where I keep a nice container of bleach, and I pour it all over this, and then I'll leave it here to run through the dishwasher.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

So what I do. Is it strange? Maybe some people might think so?

[Mike Ferguson]

A little bit. I just think that's gibby. My wife and I joke about it all the time. Let's just give me.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm just trying not to leave my DNA here.

[Mike Ferguson]

So they got this medical adhesive tape. They send it off to the lab. While they're waiting for the results, Investigators started looking into Mills's personal life, learning that he was married to the same woman and he lived in the same place for decades. He owned a cleaning service and worked as a truck driver. He had adult children and grandchildren. Eleven days later, the crime lab Confirmed it was Joseph Mills's DNA found at the 1981 crime scene.

[Mike Gibson]

What a good feeling that has to be.

[Mike Ferguson]

It does. I'm just thinking. All right. What are you thinking? If you're the. The kids. They're not kids now. They're adults. But, you know, I'm sure this is something that. For at least Tim. I think it was Tim. Right. That he was taking back and forth. Or Jeff. I. I forget which one. But that person had to look at him as almost like a father figure.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Or, you know, bigger brother or something.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Older brother, uncle, you know, guy just helping out. So to find out that it was his DNA.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

That just had to be like a gut punch.

[Mike Gibson]

It had a hurt.

[Mike Ferguson]

On Dec. 4, police went to Mills home for an interview. He claimed he didn't know anything about the crime and didn't have any relationships with athletes parents. He only made small talk when he dropped kids off. And he said he had never been inside the Slayton home. And what does that mean?

[Mike Gibson]

Saying what? Me?

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, but what does it mean when you say you've not been inside the home? Well, it's going to make it really tough when they find your DNA in.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure is. You kind of boxed yourself in a bad position.

[Mike Ferguson]

But he has to stick with that because he did say that in the very beginning when he was first interviewed as well. On December 12, 2019, Joseph Mills was arrested for murder, sexual battery, and burglary with assault and battery. At first, he said he didn't recall going into Linda's home. Detectives told Mills that they had overwhelming evidence placing him inside Linda's bedroom. So not only did. Did you go in the home, they have you in Linda's bedroom. Mills eventually admitted that when he dropped him off that night, Linda extended an open invitation to come to her residence for a good time.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, hey, come back later for a good time.

[Mike Ferguson]

This is according to ABC.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

In the early hours of September 4th, he returned to the home and entered through an unlocked bedroom window. He claimed that Linda asked him to engage in wild sex.

[Mike Gibson]

I find it strange when someone says, I've never been in that home. I don't remember ever being in that home. And then all of a sudden, now he remembers, oh, yeah, you know what? She hit on me. She said, come back. I climbed through this window. I don't know if that's the window you're talking about. And she wanted to have some wild sex. I remember all of it now.

[Mike Ferguson]

But that's the whole thing, right? People changing their stories. Yeah, it's it's fascinating to me because they get boxed in. They realize that police have evidence that refutes what they've said, so they have to pivot. They have to come up with something new. New. What do they come up with? Sometimes it's, I think oftentimes it's outlandish. And. And this one is as well. According to court documents, Mills stated upon entering Linda's bedroom, Linda Slayton already had a wire hanger around her neck as she lay on the bed. He stated that he twisted the wire hanger around her neck tighter and tighter while engaging in sexual intercourse with Linda until she lost consciousness.

[Mike Gibson]

So she said, come by later whenever you can. I'll be waiting for you. And I'm going to lay on this bed who knows how long, but I'm going to take this wire coat hanger and put it around my neck in hopes that you will come back. And then I can give you further instructions on how I want you to

[Mike Ferguson]

twist it, not knowing whether you're going to come back or not. Yeah, I know it. It seems so outlandish, but this is what he's calling the wild sex.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

Right.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

He said he then left through the window. However, the crime scene didn't indicate that it was consensual sex or any type of consensual sexual encounter. There was evidence of a foreign object being used in the rape. Linda had lacerations consistent with a struggle to get the wire hanger off her neck. So detectives believed that Mill snuck in through the bedroom window while Jeff was at his grandparents and Linda and Tim were at the party next door. They believed he was hiding in the closet waiting for her. Linda said good night to her kids, walked into her bedroom, and was attacked. On December 19, 2019, police made the shocking announcement that Linda's son's former football coach had been charged with murder. Tim said at a news conference, as quoted by abc, I saw the crime scene. It still burned in my brain today.

[Mike Gibson]

We talked about that, right? We. We. We knew once he saw that crime scene, when they walked. Walked him past it, there's no way he was going to forget that.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now there's. There's no scrubbing that image out of your head. Your partially clothed mother dead. Just seeing that as you walk by, you're never getting rid of it. Jeff also said at the time, it's been rough on me my whole life, not knowing who it was, always being scared to death. I was friends with him, always looking over our shoulder. Tim noted that Mills continued driving him home from football after the murder, saying, I trusted this man. He was the last person in my brain I thought was gonna do it.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I mean, shame on Mills for continuing to do this, knowing what he did to these kids. Mom. Right. I mean, it's kind of strange that he still kept that up. And then we also know from earlier conversations that we had that he would ask the boys, you know, or specifically, you know, Tim. Hey. Any suspects?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, he was fishing for information about the case, but my thought is, would it look strange if he all of a sudden stopped doing it? And maybe so. Maybe he thought that would put him on the radar more if he all of a sudden stopped doing the. The things he'd been doing with driving.

[Mike Gibson]

I just think he wanted to stay close to the case. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

That might have been the reason for it, too. Over two years later, on February 9, 2022, Joseph Mills changed his plea to guilty at a hearing and was sentenced to life without parole. The Slayton brothers and other family members told the press they won to trial because of the possibility of the death penalty. That's how much they hated this guy.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, you know, one. He did a horrible, terrible thing. The fact that he got away with it for such a long time and enjoyed his life while their mom never got to. Yeah, I get it. I would want you to burn in hell, buddy.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. No doubt about.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

The family was given the opportunity to address him at sentencing. Jeff told him, I hate you. You can't die and burn in hell fast enough for me.

[Mike Gibson]

There you go.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't blame him one bit. Tim also said, I hope when you're in prison, things happen to you. Bad things. I saw the crime scene. I saw what you did. And then you act like my friend. I rode in the car with you.

[Mike Gibson]

I hope you get the worst cellmate ever. And I hope that that cellmate abuses you every waking minute of your day.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, that's what he's saying, right? Really? We all know what bad things can happen in prison, and he's hoping they all do.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

The brothers asked Mills why he killed Linda. Jeff asked, why. Joe, why'd you take my mama? I don't know why. You can't tell me why. Why did you have to murder my mama? Mills remained expressionless, and he didn't respond. Not shocking.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Jeff said he thought he would die without knowing he who killed his mother, adding, we were scared to death because of you, man. Always looking over my shoulder, scared to death. Sleeping with a switchblade knife under my pillow. Sleeping with it. Linda's Sister Judy Butler also appeared in court and described finding Linda's body. She said, as I screamed, my eyes scanned the scene. Joe, how could you do that? Do you have any soul? Do you have any remorse? And to be honest with you, Gibbs, I don't think a lot of these people do. No, I really don't know. Tim said Mills was the last person on his radar, noting, I got a picture of our football team and him standing right behind me in the picture. Been in my house this whole time and never had a clue. He had a picture of this guy in his house the entire time.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, you know, probably kind of. I hate to say it, but, you know, part of his life probably idolizes guy in some form.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, and hates that he ever. Probably even did that. And, you know, haunted them because they didn't know who did this. But when you get the answer to who did it, I'm sure it's a different type of haunt.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is, because now you know who it is. You also knew that you knew them. You hung out with them after the fact.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

When he was given a chance to speak, Mills told the court, I'm a good person. I'm not that person that they're painting me out to be.

[Mike Gibson]

See, that's complete. And people say that you are a

[Mike Ferguson]

terrible person, but they say it all the time.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Wow.

[Mike Ferguson]

And. And maybe he was a good person at that point in his life, I don't know. But it doesn't change the fact that he killed this one. Right. In 1981. Doesn't change it at all.

[Mike Gibson]

You killed somebody, and you weren't man enough to confess up to it. To give these two boys some peace in their life. You played this charade. So you know what? You are not a good person. Never was after that fact. I don't know what you did before that, but up to that, right after that point, nothing good about you.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. He tried to say that, you know, he owned a successful business, he gave people chances. So. I don't know. Gibbs. As we wrap this one up, the Slayton brothers told 48 Hours that they have comfort knowing Joseph Mills will die in prison. But they're still angry that he never took responsibility for what he did and that he spent so many years free while they were the ones who suffered without their mom.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Again, I just. Still pissed because he says he's a good guy. He feels that he knows he did something bad, and he's trying to redeem himself by. Well, I've helped the community. I've done this and that. The one thing you needed to do to try to redeem anything was to go back to the boys and say, it was me. I did it. I need to pay the price for that. And I'm sorry I took advantage of you guys as well. But he never did that. He wanted to do this thing where,

[Mike Ferguson]

of course he's not going to do that. He's going to lose his freedom.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly. To me, it's just another piece of shit.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I get it. Tim said in his interview, he lived his whole life. He raised his family. You know, he had a good life. And I think that does rub family members the wrong way. I mean, obviously he killed their mom, so that's. That's gonna do it. But the fact that he spent, what. Whatever it was, 40 years living his life and having kids and grandkids and all that while, you know, their life went sideways.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, after the. The murder. I get it. I understand why they're upset.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

No doubt about it. But. Terrible guy.

[Mike Gibson]

Yep.

[Mike Ferguson]

Absolutely terrible what happened to Linda.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I feel for the boys.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, me too. But that's it for another episode of True Crime all the time. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with a name youe Price Tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.