A YOUNG MOTHER IS MURDERED AND HER SON UNKNOWINGLY HANGS THE KILLER'S PHOTO ON HIS WALL

"48 Hours" Investigates in "The Betrayal of Linda Slaten"

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, in "The Betrayal of Linda Slaten," to be broadcast Saturday, Dec. 3 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.

"I looked up to this guy [Joe Mills]," Tim Slaten says. "And I had a picture in my house ever since then, and never knew it was him."

"He's a coldhearted monster, that's for sure," Jeff Slaten says.

48 HOURS: "The Betrayal of Linda Slaten" is produced by Mead Stone. Gabriella Demirdjian is the field producer. Marc Goldbaum and Sara Ely Hulse are the development producers. Nancy Bautista is the broadcast associate. Mead Stone, Greg Kaplan and Grayce Arlotta-Berner are the editors. Peter Schweitzer is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

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