01x04 - k*ller Cowboy

[bunniefuu]

- ♪

- Female narrator:
Here in this family cemetery,

The dead have lain
in peace for over 200 years.

Until today.

The man buried here
was brutally ex*cuted,

But now it's time to bring
his body back into the light.

- Rachel:
They found dad dead.

I didn't comprehend
because it just wasn't real.

- Narrator: Police spend years
catching a k*ller.

- He said, "I took
this guy out in the woods

And blew his head off."
- [g*nsh*t]

- Narrator: But the victim
took the key to an arrest

To the grave.

- We needed to exhume the body.

- Dr. Thomas: Once we got
the casket into the morgue...

Then we needed to get creative.

- Narrator: An unthinkable act
is all that stands

Between justice
and a k*ller going free.

- Dan: If somebody gets away
with a m*rder in 1982,

They feel like a teflon god.

"I can beat these stupid cops,
I can do I what I want

To anybody I want
the rest of my life."

- Dead men do talk.

- ♪

- Narrator:
It's April 28, 1982.

Two men in
murfreesboro, tennessee,

Are heading out to
their favorite fishing hole.

- They had gone to fish in a
very secluded part of the lake.

That's when they found
the body.

- ♪

- [phone ringing]

- Narrator: For a homicide
department whose phone has been

Ringing off the hook lately,

The news isn't
much of a surprise.

- Dan: It was getting busy
around here

As far as m*rder
action was going.

- Narrator: The whole team from
the sheriff's office

Immediately speeds
out to the scene.

- There was four detectives.

We investigated all sorts
of crimes,

Everything from larceny
to homicides.

- Virgil: We were really
a small department at that time,

So we pretty much had
to drop everything

When we had a m*rder
and work on it.

It was in a very secluded,
woody area.

- It was like a big vault
of trees overhead.

- [camera shutter clicking]

- Virgil: When I first came up
on the body,

You could tell it was a male.

But the head, uh,
shoulders...Was missing.

It's unique to find a body
in--in this condition.

You don't come across a missing
head and arms every month.

- From the waist up,
his body had been

Partially eaten
by wildlife.

- Virgil: The only
thing left were

The vertebra and some ribs.

- Narrator: The team knows
right off the bat

That a body that looks this bad

Has been out here
for at least a couple of days.

The first order of business
is to figure out

Who this headless
victim might be.

- We looked the body over,
checked it for any evidence

That we could use at a time
to identify the body.

- The victim did not have
any id, a wallet, nothing.

- Narrator: For now, they've
got themselves a john doe.

Their next step is to fan out
across the crime scene

Looking for clues,
and they find several.

- David: We found some patches
of hair...

And there were pieces of skull
lying around.

- Narrator: To detectives'
trained eyes,

It's immediately obvious that
the victim was shot in the head.

- Dan: It was clear
from the evidence

That this was probably
a ballistic event.

There was a chance
that it was suicide,

But you'd find a g*n there.

- Narrator: And since
there's no g*n on the scene,

The team knows there's only
one logical conclusion.

- This was...A m*rder.

- ♪

- Narrator: Then, detectives
notice something strange.

- Dan: He had western jeans,
white socks on.

I mean, even after laying
in the field,

The socks were virtually
pure white.

- Obviously he hadn't walked
out there in his sock feet.

He had some shoes on.

- Narrator: They look everywhere
for the victim's shoes.

- Dan: There was nothing.

So, where are the shoes?
Why aren't they here?

- Narrator: It's a detail
that just doesn't add up.

At least, not yet.

Knowing there could be clues
not visible to the naked eye,

Detectives call in a specialized
forensic anthropology team.

- Dan: They took everything
from soil samples

To bugs, maggots,
and things like that.

The types of critters that
would eat on bodies.

- Sometimes you gotta
do unseemly things

To find good stuff.

You never know when
it's gonna pop up.

- Narrator: That team gets down
in the dirt and finds some bugs.

A species of beetle,
to be exact.

One that only appears
on cadavers

Nine days into decomposition.

- From the bug activity,
they could nail down precisely

When this crime happened.

They could quickly determine
that that he died on or about

March 29--about a month
before he was discovered.

- Narrator: That seems
like a great lead.

Police figure someone must have
missed the victim since then.

But, frustratingly,
there's nothing

In the missing persons
reports that jumps out

As a match.

The team is still stuck
in the starting gate.

- It's really hard when
the only witness you had

Would be squirrels.

We just had to start from zero.

- Narrator: The team presses on.

Maybe the body itself
can give them some clues

To jumpstart
their investigation.

- The pieces of skull
were the front right portion

Of the victim's head.

You could kinda put 'em
together like a jigsaw puzzle,

And we saw that there was
a b*llet hole.

He was shot from just above
his left ear,

In the back of the head,

And it exited out above
his right eye.

One shot.

- Narrator:
That tells detectives

That this wasn't
just a m*rder,

It was an execution.

They've confirmed how
their victim was k*lled,

But they still have
no clue who this man is.

- We look for any
identifying marks,

Uh, tattoos, and seeing
what we can find.

- There were
some scars around the knee.

- Narrator: Then, investigators
pat down the man's clothing

And get their most
solid lead yet.

- Virgil: Felt a hard object
in the blue jeans.

It was a zippo lighter.

And once I pulled it out, uh,
the name gene was on there.

G-e-n-e.

- In another pocket, there
was a folded up piece of paper.

It was a list of names
and phone numbers.

It was a huge finding.

- Narrator: Finally,
detectives have a possible name

For their mystery man.

- We learned in the process
that this was actually

A pee wee baseball team's
kid and parent list.

- Narrator:
Detectives spring into action,

Calling every name
on the list.

- And lo and behold the only one
they couldn't get ahold of

Was jason stump's daddy.

Gene stump.

- Narrator: Could gene stump
be the half-body

Found in the woods?

The parents on the baseball team
quickly connect detectives

With gene stump's family:

His ex-wife mary
and their two children.

Police speak with her
at her home,

And mary tells them
that she hasn't heard from gene

For the last month.

- Dan: But she did confirm
that he did have those

Small scars on his legs

And that she had given him
that lighter

Just a few months before
at christmas 1981.

- That's when we identified
the victim as gene stump.

- They found dad dead.

And I guess, in a way...
It didn't sink in.

I didn't comprehend because...
It just wasn't real.

Gene was just a goofy man,
took care of his family.

He had friends,
he worked hard.

- Every time that I was around
him, he made it special.

Was--it was always fun time.

- Why would anybody k*ll my dad?

- Narrator: That's exactly
what detectives want to know.

They start digging deeper
into gene stump's life:

His habits, his friends,
and of course, his enemies.

- I approached it more
like a reporter,

Which I used to be.

I was the cop reporter in town.

You've gotta find out
what was going on in their lives

To find out who k*lled them.

Who gained the most,
who hated them the most,

That sort of thing.
It's always the human element.

- Narrator: The first thing
they look at

Is gene and mary's relationship.

It seems things were more
than a little complicated

With the estranged pair.

The couple had originally
broken up

When gene started spending
a little too much time

At the area's urban cowboy bars.

- Dan: This was right after
the release of "urban cowboy"

And cowboy bars sprang up
all over.

They all had cheesy cowboy hats
and they were boot scootin',

That sort of scene
having a big time.

- Dan: He decided he liked
doing that more

Than hanging around the house,
so mary divorced him.

- Dan: We learned that mary
still let him

Come and see the kids,

And they still, you know,
liked each other, you know,

And were romantic at times.

- Narrator: In fact, mary tells
police that recently,

She and gene were
starting to date again.

- Dan:
He wanted to get back together.

That's what he was telling mary.

He wanted to be a good father.

- Narrator: Mary says
she didn't report him missing

Because she was used to him
falling out of touch.

- He had the habit of where
he would be gone, like,

Two or three days.

We would ask her,
"when's dad coming home?"

And she said, "well,
he's just out with his friends,

Give him another day
and he'll be home."

- Narrator: But when detectives
follow up with gene's

"urban cowboy" buddies,

They find out that gene
might have secretly had

One last hurrah
a few weeks earlier.

- Gene picked up a lady, and
they spent the night at a hotel.

- Narrator: Could mary have
found out that gene was up

To his old tricks,
and shot him in a jealous rage?

- One of the first things
you look at: The wife.

- ♪

- [g*nsh*t]

- Narrator: Coming up...

- She told them, "I just ran
away from a man who told me

He k*lled a guy up by the lake
in 1982."

- Narrator: Someone could
get away with m*rder--

- [g*nsh*t]

- Narrator: --Unless detectives

Dig for the truth...
Six feet under.

- J. Paul: We needed to exhume
the body and get dna evidence

In this case.

- We needed to prove
beyond the shadow of a doubt

That we had the right person.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: Detectives are
on the hunt for whoever k*lled

Gene stump, the man found shot
to death in the tennessee woods.

As always,
police immediately look

At the ex-wife he cheated on
as their prime suspect.

- Dan: Gene was a guy in his
mid to late 20s.

They can get bored very easily,
and decide they don't like

Domestic life,
so they start going...

What my mom used to call
"catting around."

- Narrator: Could mary have
found out that gene

Had been playing the field,
even though they were supposedly

About to reconcile,
and been angry enough to k*ll?

- We interviewed her,
spoke to her.

- Narrator: But police quickly
start wondering if they're

Barking up the wrong tree.

Mary says she didn't know
anything about any other women

He had been seeing.

Police believe her.

And on top of that,
she has an alibi.

- She said she was on a trip
with a girlfriend

To new york state just to get
out of tennessee for a while.

- My personal feelings,
I did not feel like that mary

Was involved in it.

- Narrator:
So if it wasn't mary,

Who did want gene stump dead?

Mary does have some thoughts
about the one strange detail

From the crime scene:
Gene's missing shoes.

- Mary stated that, uh,
he never went anywhere

Without cowboy boots.

- Jason: He loved the boots.

Don't know what it was about
the boots, but he loved them.

- Virgil: Your feeling is,
you know,

Why would somebody take his
boots unless they're trying

To keep him from being further
identified,

And plus they might wanna wear
'em themself.

- Narrator: Detectives feel sure
that the boots could help

Solve the mystery,
and they ask mary if she knows

Anyone else
they can talk to for leads.

- Dan: I call it swinging
through the jungle,

Like "george of the jungle,"
you know, vine to vine,

Finding one snippet of
information from this person

To the next.

- Narrator: Mary says
their best bet is to talk

To another urban cowboy
named randy mcfarlin.

Randy is gene's best friend.

- My dad and randy
was always together.

They were inseparable.

So it's just like,
when you see my dad,

You would see randy.

- Narrator: Investigators head
over to randy's house

To give him the news.

Randy is shocked and sad to
learn about his buddy's death,

But he immediately
gives police a huge lead.

- Dan: Randy said gene
had come to his house

Late that night on the actual
day gene disappeared.

Randy said he came with some
folks in a really old gray van.

And there was, uh, females there
and he basically told randy

That he'd met somebody.

- Gene told him that

He was gon' take off
with this girl.

- Dan: He was going to get a job
from her daddy in ohio,

And he was happy.

- Narrator: Randy and his wife
donna tell investigators

That gene drove off
with his friends,

And they never heard
from him again.

- We canvassed the neighborhood
and start asking people

If they saw the van and, if so,
did they get a tag number.

- Narrator: No one in randy's
neighborhood can remember

Any conclusive details about
a gray van.

While investigators search
for witnesses,

Gene stump's family returns
to west virginia...

To bury him
in the family's cemetery.

- Rachel: The day
of my dad's funeral

In west virginia,
it was hard.

Because when you're 11,


You're waiting for your dad
to come home.

- Jason: I was six.
And I was so young,

I didn't--it didn't all click
in my head what was going on.

- Rachel: We were broken.

There's--there's no other way
to describe it, we were broken.

[sniffles]

- Narrator: As the coffin
is placed into the grave,

The grieving family has no idea
that, one day,

That same coffin will be
retrieved from the ground

To try to catch a k*ller.

Back in tennessee,
detectives have had no luck

Finding the gray van
randy described,

Or the people randy said
gene left town with.

- Virgil: The case went cold.

And it's frustrating,
'cause it's one of these things

That's left, you know, undone.

As an investigator,
we obviously wanted to identify

The suspect and--and make
an arrest.

- Dan: If somebody gets away
with a m*rder in 1982,

They feel like a teflon god.

"I got away from it,
I can beat these stupid cops,

"I can do I what I want
to anybody I want

The rest of my life."

It empowers them so much,
and it's evil empowerment.

- Narrator: As the months,
and then years go by,

Gene's family never forgets.

- Rachel: My mom never
got over my dad,

And you could tell that,

Yes, she was with somebody,
but I never heard the love.

- Jason: It was really hard.

We have the same birthday so,
you know, it's kind of hard

To bury it a little bit when
your birthday comes

And you're like,
"oh, it's your father's."

- Narrator:
And the sheriff's department

Never stops chasing leads.

- No m*rder case is ever closed
without a resolution.

We wanted to find out
who k*lled gene stump.

- Over the next two decades,
tips came in

Concerning gene stump.

- [phone ringing]

- We'd follow up on some
information as we got it.

- Narrator: But nothing ever
leads to gene stump's k*ller...

Until 24 years later.

- [phone ringing]

- Narrator: It's a phone call
that will reignite

The investigation
into gene stump's m*rder,

And finally point them
in the direction of the k*ller.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: It's 2006--


Of gene stump was found
in the tennessee woods.

- [phone ringing]

- Narrator: When the phone rings
at the local sheriff's office,

No one expects it to be a tip
that will turn

This ice-cold case on its head.

- In 2006, uh, sheriff's office
in rutherford county

Got a call from a lady.

- Narrator: The caller,
a woman named ellen,

Says she has a story that police
might find interesting.

She tells them that several
years earlier,

She had met a charming man.

- And they started going out.

Within two weeks of them
getting together,

They had a truth session,

He wanted to get some stuff
off his chest,

Tell her some bad things
he had done, and one of them

Was the m*rder of gene stump.

He told her, "I took this guy
out in the woods

And blew his head off."

- [g*nsh*t]

- That's a huge, huge find.

- Narrator: The caller, ellen,

Tells police that despite
his frightening confession,

She ultimately married this man.

And she then she drops
the biggest bombshell.

She tells them the name
of her ex-husband...

Is randy mcfarlin.

Gene's best friend,
who originally told police

He last saw the victim
leaving town with friends

In a gray van.

- She said the whole story
about the van full of hippies,

The big knife,
it was a set of lies.

- Narrator:
Now police see the case

In a whole different light.

The main witness is actually
their the prime suspect.

- We jumped on it like a fat
kid on a hot dog.

So we went up there
and we talked

To her for more than four hours,

And found out case details
about gene's m*rder

That jived perfectly
with this crime scene.

- Narrator: Ellen reveals that
randy told her he shot gene

In the head with a shotgun.

That's common knowledge to
anyone who read the newspapers,

But then she mentions
a peculiar detail.

- She said nearly every week
he wanted to watch that film,

"miller's crossing."

- J. Paul: Ellen described that
he would especially

Get emotional when they showed
the scene

That is a tree-lined pathway,

And he would say that,
"that looks exactly like

The area where I shot
and k*lled gene stump."

- ♪

- [camera shutter clicking]

- Dan: Once we looked
at the movie and compared those

To the crime scene photographs,
they were eerily similar.

It, uh, was quite shocking
to look at it, to be honest.

- [eerie static sounds]

- Narrator: It may be shocking,
but it's not solid proof.

Then, ellen mentions
gene's trademark cowboy boots.

The ones that were
mysteriously missing

From the scene,

And that gets
detectives' attention.

- Dan: Randy said, after
the m*rder,

He had second thoughts
about--did he leave anything

There in the woods.

He says he went back in
and he thought, "well, hell,

Maybe I oughta get gene's
cowboy boots."

- J. Paul: He told her he
believed that the cowboy boots

Could be used to identify
the body of gene stump.

And he didn't want
the body to be identified.

- Dan: Nothing was in the press

About his cowboy boots
being gone.

And the only way
she would get to know that

Is if he told her from his mouth
what happened that night.

- Narrator: Ellen's tale
convinces police

That randy mcfarlin
is their suspect,

But what they need is
hard evidence or a confession,

And ellen's more than game
to help make that happen.

- Randy: Hello?

- Ellen: We need to talk,
it's me.

- Randy: Okay.

What exactly does that mean?

- Ellen: About the murdering
of gene, that's what.

- Narrator: Coming up...

Police have a suspect,

But their entire case rests
on the outcome

Of a long-shot exhumation.

- Dr. Thomas: My expectation
was that there probably

Wouldn't be much left
to be examined after 27 years.

- We wanted to have justice
for the family.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: After the case
has laid dormant

For 24 long years,

Detectives working
gene stump's m*rder

Finally have a suspect:
His best friend, randy mcfarlin.

And what's even better,
they've got the help

Of randy mcfarlin's
ex-wife, ellen.

- We've made a lot of cases
on scorned ladies.

- Narrator: Ellen tells police
she wants to do her part

To put her ex-husband in prison.

- Dan: You get someone who's
willing to help you get

Information about a suspect
and get them on the phone

Admitting to the crime.

It's called a hello call.

- Narrator: To police,
this seems like a no-brainer.

- [call tone beeps]
- randy: Hello?

- Ellen: We need to talk.
It's me.

- Randy: Who's this?
- Ellen: It's ellen.

- Randy: Hey, how ya doing?
- Ellen: We need to talk.

- Randy: Okay.

What exactly does that mean?

- Ellen:
You and I both know

What you've told me in the past

About gene...
And the m*rder.

- Randy: I don't know what
you're talking about on that.

- Dan: And you can tell
right off the bat,

He gets the heebie-jeebies.

If they feel something,
"that's not how this lady

Talks to me when
I talk to her."

They can sense it,
and then they--

They'll just shut down.

- Ellen: You never told me
you shot him

And left him in the woods?

- Randy: Absolutely not.
I never told you that.

- Ellen: I can't believe
you are saying that.

- Randy: I never told you
no such a thing.

That was never true.

- I think he knew
he was being taped.

- Narrator:
The hello call is a bust.

But now, sergeant goodwin's got
the bit between his teeth,

And is determined to see
if he can find solid evidence

That randy mcfarlin m*rder*d
his best friend, gene stump.

- Dan: Cold cases are solved
with tenacity,

Lots of gasoline,
lots of tire rubber,

And lots of shoe leather.

You gotta get out there
and press the flesh

And talk to witnesses in person

In order to extract
a life sentence.

- [knocking]

- Narrator: Pretty quickly,
gene stump's neighbors begin

Telling police they always felt
something wasn't right

About randy's original story.

- J. Paul: His neighbors
and friends said,

"I don't believe that
gene stump left

"the way that they say
that he did.

"he cared too much for his son.

He wouldn't have left
without saying goodbye."

- Narrator: That's all
investigators need to hear.

They decide it's time
to approach donna burroughs,

Randy's first ex-wife,
who in 1982,

Corroborated his story

About gene leaving town
with friends in a van.

She had been the key
witness in the investigation.

- J. Paul: A few years after
the m*rder,

She had divorced randy mcfarlin.

Once relationships change,
people tell the truth.

When donna mcfarlin talked
to the police in 1982,

She said that gene stump
came that particular day

Over to her house
to see randy

And then, at some point, left.

She now told the police
that randy mcfarlin

Had told her what to say.

Now she said, "look,
let me tell you the truth

About what happened."

- Dan: Donna said randy would
tell her stories about

How he took gene out
in the woods

And blew his head off.

- [g*nsh*t]

- She said the reason that
she didn't come forward

Was that she was afraid that
randy would k*ll her.

- Narrator: Since donna
was the only one

Who had backed up randy's
original story about gene

Leaving town in a van,

Her reversal is crucial
to the case.

- J. Paul: Now you have
the statements from two ex-wives

Saying he k*lled gene stump.

And we learned that
he had a motive.

- Narrator: Donna tells police
that randy had convinced gene

To help him rob a local
convenience store

To get some quick cash.

- But gene didn't like
the lifestyle he was living,

He wanted to be there
for his son.

Gene had been telling him

He wanted to own up
to the robbery.

Randy was afraid
gene was gonna tell.

- Randy mcfarlin saw gene stump
as a threat to him.

- He knew if gene turned
against him, he'd be cooked.

That was his motive.

We had what we needed.

- Narrator: It's enough to round
randy up and arrest him.

But detectives know that
without forensic proof

Connecting randy
to gene's m*rder,

What they really need
is a confession.

- Went in there and talked
to him at length.

He was, like,
real c*ck about it.

- J. Paul: He didn't lack
for confidence.

He wanted to be control
of the situation.

- Narrator: Randy mcfarlin
vehemently denies knowing

Anything about
gene stump's death.

- J. Paul: They told
randy mcfarlin that

They were gonna charge him
with first-degree m*rder.

And basically, his response
was, "prove it."

- Dan: He said, "you're not
gonna get me convicted."

I said, "here's where
you're wrong,

"and when you're convicted,

"you're gonna be
convicted for life.

And you're never gonna
get out again."

And he said,
"I'll take my chances."

And I said, "last guy that
said that is doing life.

You wanna do it too? Go ahead."

- Narrator: Randy mcfarlin
is arrested

And taken to jail in tennessee.

- When I found out
it was randy,

I had a little doubt.

Because that was
his best friend.

Why--why would
randy mcfarlin do that

To his best friend?

Because...

Gene was just not...

The type of person...
That you would wanna hurt.

- Narrator: Randy
is charged with m*rder,

But the district attorney
knows this case has a serious,

Perhaps fatal flaw:
There's no forensic evidence

Tying randy
to gene stump's m*rder.

All they have is the word
of his disgruntled ex-wives.

- J. Paul: Every time you have
an issue about

Missing physical evidence,
that causes the jury to wonder

Whether you are really
prosecuting the right person.

- Narrator: But investigators
know there is one place

Where physical evidence
may be lying undiscovered,

And that's six feet
underground.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: Prosecutors believe
they've got the man

Who k*lled gene stump.

His best friend and fellow
urban cowboy randy mcfarlin.

- Dan: Randy had a good lawyer,
and I regard defense lawyers

As the lowest form of human life
when I'm against them.

And this guy figured,
"hey, you know what?

They identified half a man
by a couple of scars."

Randy's lawyer filed that motion
saying,

"well, this has never been
definitively proven

That that's gene stump.
Where's the proof?"

So--I called 'em stupid
lawyer tricks usually,

But that was
a smart lawyer trick.

We need to establish
that's really gene stump

Up there in that cold grave.

- Narrator: There's not enough
dna in the hair mass

And pieces of skull
found on the scene.

And with no dna,
randy mcfarlin will go free.

Investigators know they've
got to do the unthinkable.

- We needed to exhume
the body of gene stump

And get dna evidence.

- Narrator: An exhumation could
also give the district attorney

The information his case
desperately lacks:

Forensic proof
that randy k*lled gene.

- They wanted to exhume
my dad's body.

And I was all for it.

- Narrator: On the day
of the exhumation

At the stump family cemetery,
investigators begin digging,

And run into
an unexpected hurdle.

- The cousin of gene's
that was there that was guardian

Of the family graveyard
had a shotgun.

Because he didn't care
what the judge said,

We weren't coming in there
with our track hoe

To dig up his cousin.

It was kind of a--a rodeo.

He's crying thinking about
what happened to his cousin.

- Narrator: Investigators
talk to gene's cousin,

And he reluctantly allows
the exhumation to continue.

- [track hoe engine whirring]

- Dan: They got the casket,

Found out there was very little
corrosion on it.

Got him into
the little bitty hearse.

- Narrator: For detectives,

Their case against
randy mcfarlin depends

On what the medical examiner
finds.

- You always have worries
about the time

They're in the ground,
and if there's enough dna there

To affirmatively identify him.

- Narrator: If things go south
with the exhumation,

Randy mcfarlin
will get away with m*rder.

- In 2007, I was an
assistant medical examiner

And I volunteered
to oversee the case.

Once we got the casket
into the morgue,

They had it so cold in there--
which I love a cold morgue--

But my fingernails
were turning blue.

They took the casket key,

And they were really
struggling with it,

It didn't seem to be budging.

- [wood creaking]

- Narrator: Together,
the team is able to pry

The casket lid open
and are finally able to view

Gene stump's remains.

Their first task: Extract dna
from the body to confirm

This is gene stump.

- My expectation was that there
probably wouldn't be much left

To be examined after 27 years.

- Narrator: If there's no dna,

Randy mcfarlin will
never see a day in prison

For the heartless m*rder
of gene stump.

- Dr. Thomas:
We looked inside and...

The people who had done
the preparations,

The funeral home,
had soaked gauze--

Packed it all around the body
as a means of preserving it.

- There's almost
zero water damage,

And, uh, he looked virtually
like he did

In the photos at the morgue.

- Dr. Thomas: My reaction
was...Sort of surprise

And amazement.

We just proceeded with, uh,
evidence collection

And dna sample collection.

- Narrator: Dr. Thomas goes over
gene stump's remains

And makes a huge discovery.

- When we got the x-rays,
we saw a few

Suspected lead fragments
in and around the body.

- Narrator: If these fragments
are part of the b*llet

That k*lled gene,

There's a chance
they can link them

To one of randy mcfarlin's g*ns.

The lead fragments are sent
to a lab for analysis.

- The particles that we saw
on x-ray...

Were not lead particles, and so

They were irrelevant
to the case.

- Narrator: It's a setback.

It means the district attorney
will have to rely

On witness statements alone
for a conviction.

That is, if they can even
prove through dna

That this is gene stump.

- Dr. Thomas: We took a large
section of bone,

Because we've got one shot.

You gotta get it right.

We needed to prove almost
beyond a shadow of a doubt

That we had the right person.

- Dan: You gotta wait and,
you know, you're praying

That you're gonna
get the right results.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: Investigators wait
for a critical dna match

That will decide whether
randy mcfarlin faces justice

For the m*rder of gene stump,
or goes free.

- Dr. Thomas: Once they compared
the two samples of dna,

There was 99.99% chance...

That it's gene stump.

- It was a match.
It feels good.

That's where the payoff is.

- Narrator: The court rules
that the m*rder charge

Against randy mcfarlin stands.

- Male news anchor:
Mcray mcfarlane is on trial

For the 1982 k*lling
of errastus stump,

Whose body was found
in the woods

Near percy priest lake
in rutherford county.

- Narrator: But can
the prosecutor convince a jury

Of randy mcfarlin's guilt

Just based on the testimony
of his ex-wives?

Gene stump's family,

Along with the dedicated
team of detectives,

Have been waiting
for justice for 28 years.

- We wanted to get it right
and get it done and have justice

For the family.

- J. Paul:
We did not have a confession.

But I say that we did
have a confession:

Randy mcfarlin
confessed to one ex-wife,

He confessed
to a second ex-wife.

So basically I took
the position of:

The state didn't get
a confession,

But two other people did.

- Narrator: Prosecutors lay out
what they believe happened

On the final day
of gene stump's life.

- J. Paul: Randy mcfarlin
made a plan that he would

Take gene stump out into
the woods...

And then,
at the appropriate time,

At an abandoned location...

He would sh**t him
in the back of the head.

- [g*nsh*t]

- J. Paul: A very cowardly act.

- ♪

- Narrator: Prosecutors call
ellen mcfarlin

And donna burroughs,
mcfarlin's ex-wives,

To corroborate that account
of gene stump's m*rder.

- There was a lot of pressure
on randy mcfarlin's ex-wives.

He had told them previously
that, "if you testify

"or tell the police what
you know, you'll be dead,

You'll be like gene stump."

It took a lot of bravery.

- He told me
that he had k*lled him.

Another time, he told me
that he took his boots.

- Narrator: Then, prosecutors
pull out their trump card.

They tell jurors how
randy mcfarlin showed his wife

The scene from
"miller's crossing"

And told her it was exactly
how things looked

The day he shot gene stump.

- We, first of all,

Showed the crime
scene photographs.

- [camera shutter clicking]

- J. Paul: And showed the scene
with the tree-lined pathways,

And then we showed
the 30-second clip,

And it was basically like you
were looking at the same thing.

- Narrator: After three days,
the jury reaches a decision.

- And they came back with
a verdict of guilty

Rather quickly.

- Narrator: Randy mcfarlin
is sentenced to life in prison.

- Dan: You would not believe
how satisfying it is,

And...

Steve stump cried.
His brother.

And I did too,
and now I'm doing it again.

It means a lot to them,
it really does.

- He's finally gonna get
what he deserves

After all these years.

He took the best part
of our life away from us.

- Jason: I was happy
about the verdict.

My mother got very
teary-eyed at it.

She was like,
"thank god it's finally over.

"he can rest in peace.

We can set
with settled minds now."

- J. Paul: He decided that
by k*lling gene stump,

That he could keep him quiet.

Dead men do not talk.

But by doing the exhumation
and recovering the dna,

Dead men did talk.

- Jason: I wish everybody
remember him

As a loving dad
that wears cowboy boots.

[chuckles]

'cause he did, he loved us
with, you know, no end.

- ♪