LAKELAND, FLORIDA: Linda Slaten, a Florida woman was raped and murdered in her own apartment in Lakeland. The 31-year-old woman was strangled with a wire coat hanger twisted around her neck in 1981.
The family members of Slaten lost all hope when decades passed without any clue about the killer. But now finally the mother-of-two got justice as the name of the murderer is revealed.
Who is Joseph Clinton Mills?
Slaten’s children are in shock to know that it was their football coach Joseph Clinton Mills, whom the boys adored. They loved him so much that they even hung his photo in their room for years.
As per Femail, a popular crime documentary series, the brutal murder took place on September 4, 1981. It was the victim's younger sister, Judy Butler who saw the lifeless body of Linda. She noticed that the screen was missing from the window of her room.
"At first I thought maybe she was asleep and then I just started screaming,” Butler said.
Detectives who arrived at the scene described the murder as “'brutal, evil and ugly.”
How did Linda's two sons say on the brutal murder?
They found no signs of struggle in the room but her window was not locked and the screen was missing. Linda’s boys Jeffrey, then 15 years old, and Timothy, aged 12 at the time were sleeping during the attack and were asked to come out of the house.
Unfortunately, Timothy got a glimpse of the crime scene. He recalls, “I saw the whole crime scene. I saw my mom's bloody body with a coat hanger around her neck. And I still see it.”
Jeffrey added, ”I [would have] died that night trying to save my mom but I didn't hear anything and it's so hard to live with that.”
The family had just moved to their Lakeland apartment barely two weeks before her death, report DailyMail.
As per records, the authorities kept a close eye on Linda's ex-husband Frank Slaten since he was involved in an abusive relationship, her boyfriend back then, and her 15-year-old Jeffrey's son too.
“It's been rough on me my whole life not knowing who it is. Always being scared to death I was friends with him… always looking over our shoulder,” Jeffrey said.
After digging deeper and further analyzing the unidentified suspect's DNA, Parabon NanoLabs analysts told authorities that the most likely suspect was Coach Joe - then aged 58.
Joseph should be strongly considered due to the fact genetic connections were found to both sides of his family tree, and he was living in close proximity to the scene of the crime in 1981,' the report said.
Mills was arrested in December 2019, and after a thorough investigation, he finally confessed. The coach was charged with first-degree murder and sexual battery and was given life in prison without the possibility of parole.
