Decades-long search for Florida mom's killer ends with arrest of son's childhood football coach

This story originally aired on Dec. 3, 2022. It was updated on Sept. 30, 2023.

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.