48 Hours

On Sept. 4, 1981, Jeff and Tim Slaten were awakened by Lakeland, Fla., police and told that their mother, Linda Slaten, had been murdered. Jeff was 15 and Tim was 12. 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. The case went cold. Prior to and after Linda Slaten's murder, Tim Slaten's football coach, Joe Mills, would regularly drive Slaten to and from football practice. Coach Joe became a role model for Slaten, who proudly hung up his football team photo in his room where Coach Joe stood right behind him. But nearly 40 years later, advances in DNA technology and a carefully stored rape kit revealed Linda Slaten's likely killer: Coach Joe. 48 HOURS and contributor Jim Axelrod report on how detectives and a DNA genealogist finally were able to catch Joe Mills.