D.A’s Cold Case Unit Solves Murder From 1972
But how about those hundreds of forgotten cases that sometimes torment the families of victims?
District Attorney General Neal Pinkston says his Cold,Case Unit has solved a mystery from 1972.
There are hundreds of unsolved cases here in the Tennessee valley—some dating back generations.
Hamilton county district attorney general Neal Pinkston formed a "cold Case Unit" after he was elected last year.
And his goal is to tell family members they have not been forgotten.
Long time Chattanoogans may remember Leon Hicks who was co-owner of Hicks Brothers Restaurant on East 23rd Street, but was shot to death at his nearby trailer one night in 1972.
After 43 years and some leg-work, a suspect: Harry Brooks Daniels of Atlanta.
NEAL PINKSTON,DISTRICT ATTORNEY GENERAL "Witness interviews, circumstantial evidence… like the defendant had a gunshot wound to the left side of his stomach…he’d bragged about killing a tavern owner and during the scuffle he’d shot himself..and this particular crime scene there was a fedora hat …at his apartment in Atlanta there were 5 more fedora hats."
These faded photos turned-up in a moldy old satchel in the evidence room..and they show Daniels, a thief who spent a lot of time in Chattanooga.
He’s believed to have died in prison for another crime.
NEAL PINKSTON,HAMILTON CO. DISTRICT ATTORNEY "If the defendant were alive, we would be prosecuting him for the murder of Mr. Hicks."
Retired police captain Mike Mathis heads up the Cold Case Unit.
MIKE MATHIS, COLD CASE UNIT "That’s the whole point of having a dedicated unit out of this office. .that can devote the resources, whereas the police department or the sheriff’s department or some of these other local agencies don’t have the resources.
Mathis and Pinkston say they will continue to work the cold cases as new evidence turns up.
MIKE MATHIS, COLD CASE UNIT "It goes to prove that these things can be resolved."
Attorney Jerry Summers worked with the D.A.’s office in turning up the new evidence.
Pinkston says media coverage of the Hicks case has already brought calls from his family—including his 91-year old father.
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