A Navy vet was stabbed more than 70 times nearly four decades ago. Fresh evidence just led cops to his killer

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Investigators in Tennessee say that new evidence has led to an arrest in an unsolved murder case over four decades old, in which a young navy veteran was stabbed more than 70 times.

The Maryville Police department announced on Wednesday that Roger Dale Oody, 62, had been indicted for first degree murder in connection with the death of Billy Wayne Hearon in 1985.

After being indicted, Oody was transported to the Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility and made his first court appearance on Friday. Police said he was 22 years old at the time of the murder.

Hearon was stabbed more than 70 times at a Shady Acres trailer park in Maryville, Tennessee, on January 4 1985 and also sustained blunt force trauma to his head. His body was found the following morning.

Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond told reporters at a press conference that Oody’s arrest had come after a 2023 local news story about Hearon’s unsolved homicide, which “led to the development of evidence that otherwise we would not have.”

New investigative technologies were used, which uncovered fresh evidence over the past several months. Additionally, Desmond said, there is no statute of limitations for first-degree murder in Tennessee, so law enforcement could pursue the investigation.

He added that investigators were not able to elaborate on the specifics of their methods.

Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp confirmed that Oody was a person of interest during the original investigation as he and Hearon had been “acquaintances.” “His name was brought forth at that time. He was looked at," he said, adding that, at the time, there “wasn’t any evidence, beyond reasonable doubt.”

Oody has already been serving a life sentence behind bars after being convicted of the killing of another man, Roy Stevens, in 1988. Desmond said that the two cases may have been related.

“Without going into too much detail, I think you’ll learn that that homicide is related to our homicide, that there is a Nexus and a connection between the two of them,” he told reporters.

Hearon, who grew up in Blount County with 14 siblings, was in the United States Navy where he suffered an injury that made him disabled and unable to work.

"Imagine losing a loved one, someone you grew up with someone you call a brother and not knowing what happened, not just for days, not just for weeks, not just for months, but for years, for decades, these individuals were provided with no answers as to what had caused their loved one’s death," Desmond said.

"They were given no closure, they were given no justice. They were left to wonder for decades and decades."