Brutal murder of nurse finally solved after 37 years
One October night in 1986, a young nurse was brutally mutilated and murdered in her home. Her sadistic killer was never found – until now. WARNING: DISTRESSING
WARNING: DISTRESSING
For almost four decades, the distraught family of Teresa Lee Scalf have been tortured by the idea that her killer was walking free among them.
The 27th of October, 1986, was supposed to be just another normal Monday night.
The young mother had gotten home from a long shift at the local hospital, ready to relax, make some dinner, watch television and go to sleep.
She needed to go to bed early so that she would be bright and fresh for work the next morning.
But Teresa never showed up for her shift.
The 29-year-old was brutally murdered and mutilated in her Lakeland, Florida, home, with her devastated mother Betty discovering her butchered body.
The bloody crime scene was said to be horrific, with the killer “aggressively” stabbing and cutting Teresa in what police have described as a “sexually motivated attack”.
Police said her throat had been slit and she had defensive wounds on her hands.
“He cut her head almost all the way off,” Sheriff Judd said, according to WFLA.
Her eight-year-old son Craig was having a sleepover at his grandmother’s house on the night of his mother’s murder.
When Teresa did not stop by her mum’s house to check in on him on her way to work in the morning, Betty became concerned.
She used a credit card to enter the young mum’s duplex, which is where she found her daughter brutally murdered.
“Very sweet and very well liked”
In an interview with the Herald-Tribune back in 2003, Betty said that Teresa had a big heart and had always been the type of person to make friends with the underdogs.
“She was a do-gooder. The people who had no friends, she would befriend,” she told the newspaper.
“She was always rescuing stray animals and stray people,” Teresa’s sister Lynne added.
“She was a deeply caring person. She was very sweet and very, very well-liked.”
Betty said she was upset with the initial police investigation.
“I was frustrated with the way it was handled,” she explained.
“I didn’t think at the time that they spent enough time at her house.”
Back in 2003, she said that despite her previous frustrations with the investigation, she was hopeful that her daughter’s killer would be found.
“I’m hoping that sometime in my lifetime they’ll find out who the killer is.” she said.
Now, 20 years later, her wish has finally come true.
New technology
At the time, there were no obvious suspects, but detectives did find two blood samples at the crime scene.
While one of them belonged to Teresa, the other belonged to an unknown person.
However. there was no DNA genealogy or testing available at the time, and without the proper technology, there was simply no way to identify her killer.
In the 2000s, police were able to run the blood sample through the system, however there was no match.
All the evidence was submitted to the Combined DNA Index System, which is a “consortium of local, state, and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons,” police said in a statement.
However, for more than 30 years, the “sample remained unmatched to any known individuals.”
In 2022, the sheriff’s office partnered with Othram, Inc., a private lab that specialises in forensic genetic genealogy in cold case investigations.
The company analysed the blood sample and were able to “narrow the scope” of the investigation to look at “distant relatives of the still unknown suspect.”
Those relatives were interviewed, and soon, detectives finally had a suspect: Donald Douglas.
“Creepy neighbour”
Donald lived directly behind Teresa at the time of her murder and had even been interviewed by detectives in 1986 as part of a routine canvass of the neighbourhood.
But according to police, there was “no evidence to link him to the murder”.
Donald had no known criminal history from before or after the murder, so as a result, his DNA was never put into a law enforcement database.
As part of their 2022 investigation, detectives obtained a DNA sample from one of Donald’s sons.
Unbelievably, one of the genetic tests confirmed that the blood found at the scene of Teresa’s murder was Donald’s, “because the DNA profile indicated a 100% confidence of a parent/child biological relationship” based on a comparison to the son’s DNA profile.
“We are extremely grateful for the assistance from Othram, Inc., who provided us with multiple investigative leads and ultimately the missing genetic evidence needed to bring this investigation to a successful conclusion,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement.
“With their help, our detectives were able to negotiate through a family tree that led to the identity of Teresa Scalf’s killer.
“I want to thank Mr. Douglas’ son, who was cooperative and willing to assist our detectives. Thanks to Othram, Inc., our detectives hard work, and Mr. Douglas’ co-operation, we were able to help bring long-awaited closure to Theresa Scalf’s devastated family.”
Donald Douglas died of ‘natural causes’ in 2008 at 54, without ever spending a day in prison for his crime.
He was 33 when he killed Teresa.
Detectives said his body was cremated, which added further difficulties in getting DNA evidence from the suspect.
Sheriff Judd said he was identified thanks to genealogical DNA from 1949, when the killer’s third cousin had a child from an “illicit affair”.
He added that Donald’s son never imagined that his father could murder anyone and was shocked to learn that his DNA matched the blood sample found at the scene.
Closure after 37 years
Police believed that Donald became enraged when Teresa turned down his romantic advances.
“We think he had some interest in her sexually and obviously she didn’t have any,” Sheriff Judd said.
“She never had a relationship with him. So we believe that he was angry and upset because she wouldn’t have a relationship with him.”
Betty said Teresa would never have opened the door to a stranger and added that she always used the latch on her door.
She speculated that Donald was likely waiting inside her duplex for his moment to strike.
“Whenever he got in, he got in … probably through the glass sliding doors in the back,” she told LkldNow.
“But he was inside that house waiting for her when she got home, that much I know.”
According to her sister Lynne, Teresa had told her about a “creepy neighbour” who was “stalker-ish” but never described him, according to WFLA.
“If you are getting a creepy vibe, don’t just tell your sisters this creepy neighbour is doing weird things,” she said.
“Give a description. If we had had that description the sheriff just showed you, that would have narrowed it right down.
“Large man, scruffy, 30-ish? Think of what that would have done to the potential pool of suspects.”
The case is now considered closed.
Teresa’s mother Betty is now 84 years old and said she was thankful to have lived long enough to finally get some closure.
“I’m 84 years old, I lived to see this done,” she said during a news conference.
“I think that’s why I lived so long.”
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