Arrest made in decades-old murder case in Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (CNN, WVLT) – In Tennessee, police in the town of Maryville announce an arrest in a murder case that goes back nearly 40 years.

The suspect is already behind bars.

Roger Oody, 62, is now charged with the murder of Billy Wayne Hearon.

Oody is currently serving time in a Tennessee state prison for a separate homicide.

Police say Hearon was found dead in his Maryville home in 1985, suffering approximately 70 stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head.

Hearon was a disabled Navy veteran and only 28 years old when he was killed. He left behind 14 siblings.

Police say his family never stopped seeking justice.

Ryan Desmond, District Attorney of the Blount County Fifth Judicial District, said, “They are able to have some closure. They are able to know that the memory of their brother was not forgotten. Yes, it took a lengthy amount of time. But he was never forgotten. Not by the investigating officers and not by the community in Blount County, not by the city of Maryville.”

Maryville police say they are committed to investigating unsolved cases and brining closure to families.

For this case, police say someone came forward with a new tip in the past year.

That combined with new technology led to the breakthrough and arrest.