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this morning 48 Hours has more details about the murder of a Florida woman in her own home a case that went unsolved
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for decades Linda Slayton was killed in 1981 and her two young Sons spent years living in fear of an unknown man they
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called the monster nearly 40 years after the crime DNA LED police to their mother's killer it turns out he was
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someone so close to the family that one son had his photo hanging in his home Jim Axelrod has the 48 Hours
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investigation 1981 was the day these men say their childhood ended Jeff Slayton and his
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younger brother Tim had been awakened by police and told their mother had been murdered I'd have died that not trying
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to save my mom but I didn't hear nothing it's so hard to live with that Lakeland
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Florida police hustled the boys outside but Tim still in his pajamas caught a glimpse of his mother's body she had
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been raped and strangled I saw the whole crime scene right then and there it's a 12 year old kid
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investigators collected a rape kit and a palm print lifted from the windowsill where the killer had entered her
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apartment cops questioned a slew of suspects but no one was charged the boys moved in
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with their grandparents soon they were back in school they started living life again I guess you know going back to
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football Linda Slayton was a divorced mom and Coach Joe Mills had stepped in to help
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he's my friend giving me routes to games rise to practice and I looked up to this
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guy before long the case went cold and stayed that way for nearly four decades I'll probably take my last breath and I
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know who murdered my mom but advances in DNA technology led to renewed hope and that carefully stored
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rape kit revealed an unlikely suspect Coach Joe now those car rights to practice looked
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a lot different Pete asked us how the case was going he wouldn't ask questions about he just what is any new news or
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any new leads and I was like no nothing you know he's talking to a 12 year old boy and trying to keep tabs on a murder
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investigation through the son of the murdered woman no yes when he knows exactly who did it he's a
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coal holder monster that's for sure Jim Axelrod joins us now to talk about this Jim good morning so what do police
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believe happened here well the police thought that Coach Joe who you just saw had dropped the kid off and then circled
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back several hours later when Mom and the boys were out of the apartment broke in through a bedroom window hid in the
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closet mom comes home with the boys says good night comes in her room and out the
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attacker comes and did he know did they was there something going on between the
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two and what is the motive here there was not the the real story that you're going to see tomorrow night is a story
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of police having this guy talking to him the day after the murder did they suspect him at Angel that's the thing
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Gail he was they talked to him on the phone they didn't take any fingerprints they didn't do a face-to-face interview
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so he wasn't considered a suspect even though he was within sight of the apartment as he admitted to the cops 24
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hours before but this as as much of this is a story of a hideous and heinous crime it's also a story about how
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cutting-edge technology can reach back into time nearly four decades and solve a case that had become among the coldest
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that the Lakeland Florida Police Department had ever dealt with but I feel for those boys to lead when you
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said he had a picture of him in his room the killer in his room okay all those memories now change this this idea think
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about this for a second this kid who's 12 has a picture on his wall of his team which which by the way assumes even more
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meaning in the wake of this crime he's looking for somewhere to just sort of spend some time so it's his football and
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who's over his shoulder and the picture of the team picture the guy who killed his mother wouldn't find out for decades
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good on the Lakeland police department for keeping that rape kit all those years that's right you'd be getting in
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good condition hopefully that family will find some justice uh Jim mcelrod thank you very much fascinating story
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you can see Jim's report the Betrayal of Linda Slayton on 48 hours tomorrow night
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at 10 9 Central right here on CBS and on Paramount us