The cold case murder of Lynn Knight, a 28-year old nurse who was savagely killed in California in the late 1970’s, will have her case featured on tonight’ s episode of Dateline NBC . In that episode Keith Morrison will examine the case and retell the tragic story through interviews with law enforcement detectives and others close to the case.
The sad case of Lynn Knight made news in 1979, when her body was found in her apartment in Torrance, California. An autopsy report concluded that Knight had been brutally stabbed at least 15 times, and that someone had tried to strangle her using a homemade garrote made out of two mop or broom ends. Detectives at the time did everything possible to find the ruthless killer but with little clues the case went cold for nearly 30 years. Police had long had their eye on Douglas Bradford, a man that Lynn dated briefly. After her murder, friends told detectives that she had broken up with Douglas Bradford but he continued to stalk her. While the case was cold, Bradford went on with his daily life. He got married and became an engineer.
For a long time family members began to feel that the case would never be solved, nor the real killer brought to justice. But, that all changed in 2009 when police were able to connect a wire found in the home of Douglas Bradford’s mother to the same rope that was used to make that crude garrote that detectives found all those years ago, according to People’s Magazine .
Finally, Douglas Bradford was arrested and charged with the murder of Lynn Knight. Investigators say he denied having anything to do with her murder. But a jury found him guilty and convicted him in her death. For her family members they felt that his conviction brought about some measure of justice in the case, though it left a bitter taste in their mouths to know that for 30 years Bradford got to live his life without paying for his crime. Lynn’s brother, Harry Knight, made the following statement.
“It’s been something we’ve been worried about for 35 years, that this guy did this and got awa.()”They brought so many pieces of the puzzle together and today was the last piece,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes. “It’s a relief. Every day I think about Lynne or there’s some little thing that makes me think about her…. I’ve woken up and just thought about the what ifs.”
Tonight’s episode with Keith Morrison will show viewers how detectives followed the clues in the case and how they eventually nabbed he killer. Tune in to Dateline NBC at 7/6 p.m. central. Here is the tease for the episode entitled The Wire .
“A young, beautiful nurse was murdered in her small studio apartment. The evidence police collected from the scene was scarce: a broken necklace and an unusual weapon. The investigation stalled. Decades passed. Could a determined detective crack the cold case 30 years after the crime?”
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