Ep 10. Death of a Deacon/A Wife's Mission

In season 5 episode 10 of Cold Case Files Classic, viewers are taken through two separate cases involving the death of a deacon and a wife's mission to find justice for her husband.

The first case revolves around the murder of a well-respected church deacon in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1984, Otis Jeffries was walking home from a church meeting when he was brutally attacked and killed. The case went cold for over a decade before detective Tony Mullins took on the case and uncovered new evidence, including a shoeprint at the scene that matched that of a local man named Michael Norris.

Through interviews with witnesses and the discovery of a possible motive, Mullins builds a strong case against Norris. But with no physical evidence linking him to the crime, the case becomes a battle of words in court.

The second case focuses on the wife of a murder victim, who becomes determined to solve her husband's cold case. In 1981, William Wilson was shot and killed outside of his home in Kansas City, Missouri. Despite witnesses seeing a car speeding away from the scene, the case went unsolved for over 20 years.

That is until Wilson's widow, Shirley, meets with detective Steve Lyddon and they launch a joint investigation. With Shirley providing information she had uncovered on her own, such as a crucial phone call the night of the murder, Lyddon is able to piece together crucial evidence and build a case against the suspect.

Through interviews with family members, coworkers, and witnesses, Lyddon is able to track down the driver of the car seen leaving the scene and eventually identify the shooter. With Shirley's help and determination, justice is finally served for her late husband.

As with all Cold Case Files episodes, viewers are taken through the intricacies of both investigations and left on the edge of their seat as detectives work tirelessly to solve these long-forgotten cases.