On Sept. 4, 1981, Jeff Slaten, 15 and his brother Tim, 12, were awakened by Lakeland, Florida, police and told their mother, Linda Slaten, had been murdered. Investigators collected a rape kit and lifted a palm print from the windowsill where the killer had entered. They questioned a slew of suspects, but no one was charged, and the case went cold.
Prior to and after Linda Slaten’s murder, Tim’s football coach, Joe Mills, would regularly drive Tim to and from football practice. Coach Joe became a role model for the young boy, who proudly hung up his football team photo in his room where Mills stood right behind him.
Linda’s sons spent decades living in fear of the man they called “the Monster.” Nearly 40 years later, advances in DNA technology revealed Linda Slaten’s likely killer: Coach Joe.
“I looked up to this guy,” Tim tells “48 Hours” contributor Jim Axelrod. “And I had a picture in my house ever since then, and never knew it was him.”
“He’s a cold-hearted monster, that’s for sure,” says Jeff.
SEPTEMBER 4, 1981
Jim Axelrod: On the morning of September 4th, 1981 … you’re going to walk three doors down —
Judy Butler: Mm-hmm.
Jim Axelrod: — and have a cup of coffee with your sister.
Judy Butler: Right.
When Judy Butler knocked on her older sister’s front door, Linda Slaten never answered. At the time, the sisters both lived in a Lakeland apartment complex.
Jim Axelrod: So, you started to walk back to your place, and what happened?
Judy Butler: And I turn, and I see that the screen is out of the window.
Linda’s bedroom window was wide open. Judy walked over and looked inside.
Judy Butler: And my vision comes across her.
Jim Axelrod: Where was she?
Judy Butler: She was laying … instead of up and down on the bed, she was laying crossways. … And at first, I thought maybe she was asleep. … And then, then, I just started screaming.
Lakeland Police Department
When police arrived, they found the partially nude body of Linda Slaten, 31, with a wire coat hanger wrapped around her neck. The killer had entered her bedroom through the open window.
The crackle of police radios inside the small two-bedroom apartment woke up Linda’s 15-year-old son, Jeff, who was sleeping on a cot in the living room.
Jeff Slaten: I…
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