Les Jones

True Crime > TBI Makes Arrest in 1985 Dyersburg Murder

From the Knoxville News-Sentinel via Wolf Pack Ledger posting in comments at Find Johnia Berry's Killer.

A Dyersburg man was indicted for a 21-year-old murder based on genetic evidence that linked him to the crime. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation charged Harold Bernard Schaffer, 42, with the 1985 stabbing death of William "Junior" Pierce at his Dyersburg hardware shop. Schaffer, who is currently serving time on cocaine and forgery charges, was indicted Monday by a Dyer County grand jury on a first-degree murder charge.

John Mehr was TBI's local agent when Pierce's body was found by a customer on May 17, 1985. Mehr, who is now TBI's regional supervisor in Jackson, continued pursuing the case using DNA evidence found at the scene.

"It was long time in coming," Mehr said. "Hopefully, this will start the conclusion. I never gave up hope that this case would be solved."

I'm constantly amazed at how long it can take to solve murders.