12x20 - Jean Pool

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Narrator: up next, a college co-ed is left for dead in a

Lovers' lane.

The blood's consistent with her being struck up to times.

Narrator: there were plenty of suspects but very few

Answers.

The samples could have originated from % of the

Population.

Narrator: was it a random m*rder or jealousy?

If he couldn't have her, nobody else could.

Narrator: for decades, the case went unsolved -- until now.

He is a cold-blooded k*ller.

They wanted to solve this.

Narrator: at the end of a long day in may of , a

Farmer in tennessee made a startling discovery.

He noticed some clothing lying in the field.

There was actually a body lying there.

Narrator: the victim was a young girl, wearing only a bra.

Her body was covered with two pairs of jeans and a dark

Jacket.

One pair of jeans was hers.

The other was a pair of men's jeans.

Also, there was a black jacket across her body with the

Sleeve tied around her neck and a pair of panties that she was

Clutching in her right hand.

Narrator: she was identified as -year-old laura salmon, a

Local college student.

Her life was stolen.

Her life was stolen.

And in such a horrible way.

Narrator: the autopsy revealed laura salmon d*ed of

Blunt force trauma to the head.

The m*rder w*apon appeared to be the rocks found near her body.

The blood on those rocks and other material was consistent

With her being struck up to times in the head with those

Rocks.

Narrator: the medical examiner found evidence that

Laura had consensual sex sometime before the m*rder,

Most likely unrelated to the crime.

We knew that ms. Salmon had been involved in an intimate

Relationship with someone within the or hours prior to her

Death.

There were no injuries that would be consistent with

Forcible r*pe.

Narrator: on the men's jeans found with laura's body,

Scientists found semen from a different individual, presumably

The k*ller.

Earlier that day, laura worked at her cashier's job at the

Kroger grocery store.

Records show she left the store around : p.m.

She was supposed to be at an appointment at middle tennessee

State university, but she never arrived.

She was supposed to go to mtsu campus to check on her

Grades and meet with some of the office personnel over there.

After that, she was supposed to go to her grandmother's house

To go swimming.

Narrator: investigators found laura's car near the store,

Miles away from the m*rder site.

Investigators found no fingerprints in the car, but

They did find a foreign hair.

They also found dirt in the wheel wells.

The fbi lab determined that they were consistent and that

There was high probability that that vehicle had been on that

Road by the crime scene.

Narrator: dan goodwin was laura's friend and had been out

With her a few nights before the m*rder.

I just asked her if she'd like to see a movie, and we

Wound up going to the movies on sunday, may th of .

We went and saw a matinee show of "the natural" with

Robert redford.

Narrator: at the funeral, dan goodwin promised laura's

Mother that he'd help find the k*ller.

And she just grabbed me and hugged me and said, "please help

Me find who k*lled my baby."

Narrator: what they really needed was to find the owner of

The men's jeans.

Narrator: laura salmon's body was found in an area which often

Served as a lovers' lane for high school and college

Students.

People went back there to party, have bonfires, make

Out -- that sort of thing back there.

Narrator: witnesses placed laura at a local nightclub on

The night before her m*rder, where she was dancing with an

Unidentified young man.

But investigators couldn't locate him.

The first suspect police interviewed was laura's

High school boyfriend, kyle gilley.

He had a reputation as the jealous type but claimed he had

An alibi.

Kyle gilley's alibi had been that his stepfather was a

Witness to the fact that he was home the day of the m*rder.

Narrator: next, a woman in nashville, tennessee, miles

Away, called police with a possible lead.

She claimed she'd been date-r*ped by a man named

John taylor and during the ordeal, taylor mentioned laura's

m*rder.

The alleged victim said that her attacker had threatened her

By saying he would do the same thing to her as he had to

Laura -- or words to that effect.

Narrator: when questioned by police, taylor denied the sexual

as*ault and denied mentioning laura salmon's name.

However, a background check revealed taylor attended the

Same university laura did.

He was a member of the same health club.

He attended the same fraternity gatherings, functions as laura.

Narrator: and taylor was near the university on the day of

Laura's m*rder.

Taylor had somewhat of a history with being violent

Towards his girlfriends or female companions.

That, too, added to his possibility as a suspect.

Narrator: fbi analysts compared taylor's hair to a

Foreign hair they found inside laura's car.

We received a report back from the fbi that the hair

Recovered from her vehicle was consistent with john taylor.

Narrator: at the time, mitochondrial dna testing of

Human hair was still years away, so it was impossible to know for

Certain if this was taylor's hair.

We could never get that one key piece of evidence that could

Place him with laura salmon on the day of the m*rder.

Narrator: and the men's jeans found at the m*rder scene had a

Waist size of inches and a -inch inseam.

Too big for taylor.

While it was possible taylor could have worn them as far as

The waist size goes at the time, he was much too short of a

Person to have worn those on a daily basis.

Narrator: ultimately, investigators concluded a single

Hair was not enough to charge him with m*rder.

Though all of that evidence pointed to him, there was still

No smoking g*n and nothing to actually tie them together.

Narrator: and there were othersuspects, too.

In all, police investigated over other suspects, with no

Success.

Sure, it was very frustrating, because you hate to

See a horrendous crime like this go unpunished, unsolved.

I made a promise to her at her grave that I would see that

Justice was done.

I didn't really know how I would carry out that promise, but

That's the last thing I could do for her.

Narrator: but lourene mackey's promise went

Unfulfilled.

And long years passed.

In the meantime, dan goodwin began a career that would

Eventually lead to law enforcement.

After graduation, I became a newspaper reporter -- first at

The shelbyville paper, and then I moved quickly to the

Daily news journalin murfreesboro, where I became

The police reporter in short order.

I wrote a series on unsolved murders in that included

Laura's case.

But all along, I knew that I was more interested in police work.

Narrator: several years later, dan left journalism and

Became a police officer.

The first cold case he was assigned was laura salmon's

m*rder.

I didn't become a law enforcement officer to work on

This case, but it was always on my mind.

So I was quite happy that I got to assist bill sharp on this

Case.

Narrator: one of the first things dan goodwin and

Bill sharp did was to send all of the evidence to the forensic

Lab for testing.

Obviously, through the advancement in science, through

Dna testing, that maybe we could find the donor of the biological

Material and match that with our k*ller.

Narrator: while dna testing was under way, sharp and goodwin

Pursued a new lead, which supposedly came from a local

High school student, now almost years after laura's m*rder.

In , a student at oakland high school was

Overheard talking about the laura salmon case, saying that

His father had k*lled a girl and thrown her body in the quarry.

Narrator: the student's father, david patterson, had a

Police record for aggravated as*ault, but by the time the

Rumor circulated, patterson was dead.

When he himself was sh*t to death, we decided, of course,

That we had to investigate that lead.

Narrator: they asked patterson's children to

Voluntarily submit dna samples for testing.

Testing on david patterson's dna or that of his family,

Which produced a presumptive profile, showed no possibility

Of him being any of the male dna profiles that was present at the

Scene of her m*rder.

Narrator: investigators also contacted john taylor, who had

Been an earlier suspect in laura's m*rder.

His dna also did not match.

And dan goodwin himself provided a dna sample.

He'd gone out with laura just a few days before the m*rder.

Goodwin maintained it was a casual date and said the two

Weren't intimate.

Since I took her out to the movies just four days before and

Knew her, they decided it would be advisable to test my dna.

And it was tested, and I was not present at the crime scene.

Narrator: but at least investigators had the k*ller's

Dna and were closer to finding him -- a lot closer than they

Knew.

Narrator: bill sharp and dan goodwin pored over the

Original case file of laura salmon's m*rder and found

One name that caught their eye -- kyle gilley.

Gilley was laura's high school boyfriend, a year younger

Than her.

Narrator: gilley was originally a suspect but was

Eliminated since he had an alibi when corroborated by a family

Member.

But they found a curious note in the case file.

There had been a witness who contradicted gilley's alibi.

She identified kyle gilley driving laura salmon's car

Approximately a half mile from the road that led to the quarry,

Which led to where laura's body was recovered.

She was able to identify kyle through a photo lineup as well

As laura's car through a photo lineup.

This lady saw him, looked at him closely.

She drove by him and said he was just staring straight ahead,

Just a blank expression on his face.

Narrator: and they also discovered that gilley had a

Propensity for physical v*olence with girlfriends,

Particularly laura salmon.

He would get mad at her, grab her by the head, and start

Banging her head into cars, school lockers -- whatever was

At hand.

He would punch her.

On one occasion, he broke out both of her front teeth.

We knew through the investigation that he and laura

Had a rocky relationship, a stormy relationship, as you

Will.

Narrator: another incriminating piece of

Circumstantial evidence was the pair of men's jeans found at

The crime scene.

Kyle was approximately '" tall, and the jeans would have

Fit him.

The tbi lab did examine the rustler blue jeans in .

And they were able to determine there was some blood on there.

However, as to the type of stains that were present and to

The possible cause, they did not make any determination at that

Time.

Narrator: under a magnifying glass, crime-scene

Reconstructionist jerry findley found tiny drops of blood

Embedded in the fabric, about / of an inch in diameter.

It was medium-velocity impact spatter -- the kind usually

Produced when someone is hit with a blunt object.

Medium velocity is an instrument being wielded by a

Human.

For example, a baseball bat or a rock or something like that.

It's not gonna generate that much force.

Narrator: the bloodstains were clustered above the knee,

Indicating the assailant was kneeling as he att*cked.

He didn't get any impact stains belowthe knee, but he

Had plenty above the knee, between the knee and the waist.

So basically what we found was that whoever was wearing those

Jeans was in close proximity to the point of impact at the time

Of impact.

Narrator: and dna testing confirmed -- the blood on the

Jeans was laura's.

Police tracked gilley down in florida, where he was twice

Divorced and working for the manatee county public works

Department.

He also had a police record, with arrests for aggravated

Sexual battery, attempted burglary, and resisting arrest.

When questioned by police in florida, gilley once again

Denied any involvement in laura's m*rder.

During that interview, kyle admitted that the jeans were

Probably his.

When we asked him about blood spatter and the fact that we had

An expert that could testify that the k*ller wore these

Jeans, kyle gilley requested an attorney, and the interview

Interrogation stopped.

Narrator: with a court order, investigators obtained gilley's

Saliva sample and sent it to the lab.

Did gilley's dna match the semen sample on the jeans?

We got the results of that testing back on may , --

The th anniversary of laura salmon's m*rder.

That testing showed that kyle gilley was the donor of the

Dna that was on the men's rustler jeans that were draped

Across her body.

That was what we were looking for.

We could put kyle gilley in those jeans.

We could put kyle gilley at the scene of the m*rder.

That was the final piece of the puzzle.

Narrator: but what was the motive?

Narrator: years after laura salmon's m*rder, her

High school boyfriend, kyle gilley, was arrested and

Charged with her m*rder.

Laura's mother says she told the original investigators that

Gilley k*lled her daughter.

She says his jealousy was out of control.

I'm telling you today that I'm a mother who keeps her

Promises.

I told them why I thought it was him, or why I knewit was him.

And I was very frustrated that they didn't take that seriously.

Kyle gilley is a classic sociopath.

He is the center of the universe as far as he's concerned.

He is what his parents made him.

And he is a k*ller.

Narrator: for the record, no one is willing to speculate why

The original investigators didn't look deeper into gilley's

Alibi.

It was clear to the cold-case unit that gilley should have

Been the prime suspect all along.

He's callous, coldhearted, and had no more thought of

k*lling laura than stepping on a bug.

From the time he k*lled laura, he had thought nothing else of

It.

He is a cold-blooded k*ller.

Narrator: gilley and laura dated in high school.

But gilley was a year younger, and when laura went off to

College, she made a new set of friends.

He didn't want her to have any friends, and when she got to

College, he would go over there and stalk her.

Narrator: family and friends implored laura to end the

Relationship.

But she was terrified.

I tried to get her to go and get a restraining order, and she

Was afraid to go 'cause she was afraid of what he would do to

Her.

Narrator: and when she dated other men, gilley felt

Threatened.

Kyle was very jealous and very possessive.

We feel like that was the motive for the m*rder -- that if he

Couldn't have her, nobody else could.

Narrator: the night before her m*rder, laura told friends

She had a date with a friend, and the two went to a local

Nightclub.

Investigators believe gilley knew laura was dating others and

May have followed her to the nightclub.

That unknown dna was the motive.

That kyle was jealous and possessive and found out that

She possibly was seeing somebody else.

Narrator: prosecutors believe that gilley and laura had

Planned to go swimming on the afternoon of her m*rder.

Kyle coaxed her out to the deserted lovers' lane, where

They talked -- then argued.

According to the forensic evidence, gilley struck her in

The head repeatedly with a rock, and blood spattered on his

Jeans.

Prosecutors think gilley saw laura's blood on his jeans,

Which is why he left them there.

But those jeans contained other biological evidence with his

Dna.

On that day, gilley wouldn't have known anything about that.

Of course -- since dna testing was still years away.

A witness saw gilley driving laura's car away from the crime

Scene.

Why the original investigators gave this information less

Weight than gilley's alibi is yet another mystery.

In september of , kyle gilley went on trial for

m*rder.

His defense claimed the presence of another man's dna was proof

That someone else was at the crime scene and thatindividual

k*lled laura.

Kyle gilley was a jealous piece of [bleep] and he knew --

No. Never mind.

The jury never fell into the trap of thinking the unknown dna

Was a plausible other suspect.

Narrator: the jury found kyle gilley guilty of m*rder,

And he was sentenced to life in prison.

Dan goodwin finally kept the promise he'd made to laura's

Mother at the funeral.

I don't think ms. Mackey will be around when kyle gilley is

Eligible for his first parole hearing in september of .

I'll be years old, but if I'm alive, and if my partner,

Bill sharp, is alive, we'll be there to testify against

Releasing him.

My opinion is that it was a just verdict and he got what he

Deserved.

They knew what they were doing.

They were trained.

And they would leave no stone unturned.

That they wanted to solve this.

Narrator: years is a long time to wait for justice.

The evidence in the case never changed.

It just took that long for forensic technology to catch up

With the k*ller.

Cold cases are difficult.

The positive side is that forensic science is constantly

Advancing.

So that what we couldn't do years ago, now we can do.

I cannot recall, during my time in the district attorney's

Office, a case that's ever been worked this hard -- that so many

Hours had been put into it.

In , we were at a stalemate.

We didn't have the dna, the forensic evidence, to convict.

In , we were able to, through the forensic evidence,

Put kyle gilley at the scene.

We showed that kyle gilley was the k*ller.

Without the forensic evidence, there is no conviction.