The Murder of Laura Salmon
For this case, I watched an episode of Forensic Files. It’s season 12 episode 20, titled ‘Jean Pool.’
A college student is found dead near a quarry.
Background
Laura Lee Salmon was born on October 6, 1965. At the time of her death, Laura was attending Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She was also working as a cashier at a Kroger grocery store.
Laura Salmon
The Discovery
On May 31, 1984, a farmer made a discovery in a field. He saw a young woman’s body lying on the ground. She was only wearing a bra, and was covered with two pairs of jeans. The first pair was hers, and the second was a pair of men’s jeans. There was also a pair of underwear found in one of her hands.
The body was identified as being that of Laura Salmon. Laura’s autopsy revealed that she died due to blunt force trauma to the head. At the scene, several rocks were found near her body. The reported suggested that Laura had been hit over the head about 10 times.
The medical examiner also found evidence that Laura had consensual sex about 24-48 hours before she died. There were no injuries to suggest that she had been sexually assaulted.
The men’s jeans were examined. The investigators found semen on them. The DNA was collected, and sent into the lab for testing. At the time, DNA testing was in its infancy.
Laura’s Last Movements
On May 31, Laura had left Kroger around 1pm. She was then supposed to attend at meeting to check her grades at MTSU, and then go swimming at her grandmother’s. Laura never showed up to her meeting at the university.
Laura’s car was found near the grocery store. There were no fingerprints inside, but the police did find a foreign hair. They also found dirt and debris in the wheels, on the drivers side floor, on the passengers side floor mat, and on the floor of the rear passengers side. The debris was consistent with that of the debris found at the crime scene.
On May 30, witnesses said they had seen Laura dancing with a man at nightclub. The man was later revealed to be one of Laura’s friends.
The area where Laura had been found was a known lovers lane and party area.
Possible Suspects
The first person that the police interviewed was Kyle Gilley, Laura’s high school boyfriend. Kyle was known to be very jealous, and had been abusive to Laura in the past.
Kyle and Laura in high school
Kyle denied having been involved, and said he had an alibi. His father confirmed that he had been at home all night. The police didn’t look much further into Kyle, which really upset Laura’s mom.
A woman in Nashville, Tennessee contacted the police. She told them that she had been sexually assaulted by a man, and that he threatened that she would end up like Laura.
The man was questioned. He denied the assault or knowing Laura. But, the police did discover that he was a student at MTSU, and had been on campus the day Laura died. He also had a history of being violent towards women.
The man’s hair was compared to the foreign hair found in Laura’s car. At first, the crime lab said it was consistent to the hair found in the car. The man was also too small to fit into the men’s jeans found at the scene. The waist was 30 inches, and the inseam was 36. Eventually, this man was cleared, as his hair and DNA was not a match.
A Cold Case
The police interviewed over 100 suspects in this case, but they were all dead ends. Laura’s case went cold for 16 years before it was reopened by a cold case led by Laura’s friend, Dan Goodwin.
Dan Goodwin had went into journalism after college. He said he was more interested in the police investigations, and joined the force.
Dan and Laura went to the movies on May 27, 1984. Dan was asked to give a sample of his DNA, but it wasn’t a match.
Dan and Lt. Bill Sharp, sent all of the evidence to the crime lab again. They learned about another suspect named David. David’s son had been attending Oakland High School in 2000. Laura had gradated from the same high school years earlier. David’s son claimed that his dad had killed Laura, and dumped her in the lovers lane/quarry. David was eventually cleared. He had been dead for a few years, but his children voluntarily gave the police samples of their DNA to compare to the sample from the jeans.
The evidence led the police back to one person: Kyle Gilley.
The Eyewitness
Dan Goodwin and Bill Sharp learned that there had been an eyewitness back in 1984. The eyewitness had seen Kyle driving Laura’s car on May 31. She pointed Kyle’s photo and Laura’s car out of photo lineups. She described Kyle as having a blank look on his face, and staring straight ahead.
By 2000, Kyle was living in Florida, had been divorced twice, and worked in the Manatee County public works department. Kyle also had a criminal history for aggravated sexual battery, attempted burglary and resisting arrest.
Kyle was interviewed in Florida. He still denied killing Laura, and asked for a lawyer. He did give a sample of his DNA, which came back as being a match to the semen on the jeans.
A new crime scene analyst had also found medium velocity blood spatter on the knee area of the jeans. The analyst said that the killer had been kneeling as he struck Laura with the rocks.
Kyle Gilley was arrested and charged with murder.
The Trial
Laura’s mom, Lourene, had told the original investigators that she knew Kyle had killed her daughter. She said the original investigators didn’t take her seriously.
The motive seemed to be jealousy. Laura had been a year older than Kyle, and he became even more jealousy when she left for college. Laura started to spend time with new friends, and began seeing other people when they broke up.
The prosecution and police believed that Kyle had followed Laura to the nightclub on the night before she died. On May 31, Laura had plans to go swimming, and maybe invited Kyle to go with her. Kyle and Laura ended up at the quarry where they had a fight. Kyle killed Laura, and left his jeans there because he noticed they had blood on them.
In September 2006, Kyle went on trial. His defense claimed that there was unknown DNA found at the crime scene, which was proof that Kyle was innocent.
Kyle was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Kyle Gilley
Other
In 2008, Kyle lost his appeal, and his convicted was upheld. Dan Goodwin said:
“Kyle Gilley is going to be where he belongs for the rest of his life. ”
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s pretty clear to me that they have the right person in prison. Kyle had always been jealous of Laura spending time with other people. Laura tried to get away from Kyle, while still being nice to him. I mean she probably still had a lot of feelings for him. Kyle was angry, and killed Laura for no reason. Luckily, he’s dumb as shit and left behind his DNA. It took almost 20 years, but Laura and her family finally got the justice they deserve.
Sources
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5205515/laura-lee-salmon
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1070286.html
https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/tcca/PDF/041/Gilleyd.pdf
