September 3, 2019 • 19 mins
Edward Warner Adcox was a pedophile and, as far as the public knew, the top suspect in Kathy’s murder. But did he kill her?
If you have any information on Kathy’s case, please contact Metro Nashville Police Department’s Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329.
Flatrock was created in collaboration with Spreaker. Senior production provided by Kim Green. Executive producers are Olivia Lind and Greg Thornton. Co-produced by Dixie Bratton, Chris Chamberlain, Jamie R. Hollin, Cathy Lind, Betsy Phillips, Terry Quillen, and JJ Wright. Backed by Brandon Herrington. Music by Preston Garland. Additional voices provided by Thrasher Banks, Katie Champion, Nick Fowler, Erica Kelley, Erin from All Crime No Cattle, Matt Noll, Steven Pacheco, Ken Quillen, and Chase Stejskal.
Additional music in this episode:
artist: XTaKeRuX / album: Illusion / track: Dark Room / license: Attribution / source: FMA /freemusicarchive.org/music/XTaKeRuX/2019073141810785/Dark_Room_
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Cylinders / track: Cylinder Seven / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/2014010103336111/Chris_Zabriskie_-_Cylinders_-_07_-_Cylinder_Seven
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Neptune Flux / track: To Hide Their Secrets / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Music_from_Neptune_Flux/ChrisZabriskie-MusicfromNeptuneFlux-08
artist: Chris Zabriskie/ album: It’s a Wonderful Jaws / track: I Used to Need the Violence / license: attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Its_a_Wonderful_Jaws/ChrisZabriskie-ItsaWonderfulJaws-03-Violence
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Neptune Flux / track: Remember Trees? / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Music_from_Neptune_Flux/ChrisZabriskie-MusicfromNeptuneFlux-07
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Thoughtless / track: There’s a Special Place for Some People / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Thoughtless/Chris_Zabriskie_-_Thoughtless_-_03_-_Theres_a_Special_Place_for_Some_People
Special thank you to Bea Jones, Lt. Patrick Taylor of the Metro Nashville Police Department, and Chief Mickey Miller of the Hendersonville Police Department.
If you have any information on Kathy’s case, please contact Metro Nashville Police Department’s Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329.
Flatrock was created in collaboration with Spreaker. Senior production provided by Kim Green. Executive producers are Olivia Lind and Greg Thornton. Co-produced by Dixie Bratton, Chris Chamberlain, Jamie R. Hollin, Cathy Lind, Betsy Phillips, Terry Quillen, and JJ Wright. Backed by Brandon Herrington. Music by Preston Garland. Additional voices provided by Thrasher Banks, Katie Champion, Nick Fowler, Erica Kelley, Erin from All Crime No Cattle, Matt Noll, Steven Pacheco, Ken Quillen, and Chase Stejskal.
Additional music in this episode:
artist: XTaKeRuX / album: Illusion / track: Dark Room / license: Attribution / source: FMA /freemusicarchive.org/music/XTaKeRuX/2019073141810785/Dark_Room_
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Cylinders / track: Cylinder Seven / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/2014010103336111/Chris_Zabriskie_-_Cylinders_-_07_-_Cylinder_Seven
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Neptune Flux / track: To Hide Their Secrets / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Music_from_Neptune_Flux/ChrisZabriskie-MusicfromNeptuneFlux-08
artist: Chris Zabriskie/ album: It’s a Wonderful Jaws / track: I Used to Need the Violence / license: attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Its_a_Wonderful_Jaws/ChrisZabriskie-ItsaWonderfulJaws-03-Violence
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Neptune Flux / track: Remember Trees? / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Music_from_Neptune_Flux/ChrisZabriskie-MusicfromNeptuneFlux-07
artist: Chris Zabriskie / album: Thoughtless / track: There’s a Special Place for Some People / license: Attribution / source: FMA / freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Thoughtless/Chris_Zabriskie_-_Thoughtless_-_03_-_Theres_a_Special_Place_for_Some_People
Special thank you to Bea Jones, Lt. Patrick Taylor of the Metro Nashville Police Department, and Chief Mickey Miller of the Hendersonville Police Department.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Flat Rock contains disturbing subject matter whichmay not be suitable for all listeners.
Listener discretion is advised. Previously onFlat Rock, I walked you through some
of the early suspects in Kathy's murder. We got a general sense that there
(00:27):
were some very troubling characters in andaround the edges of her life. Unfortunately,
this child was born and lived ina bad situation, and a lot
of these criminals and these pedophiles werearound her. I mean, it's terrible.
(00:48):
From Nashville, Tennessee. I'm OliviaLynde and in collaboration with Spreeker,
this is flat Rock. In episodethree, I gave a broad overview of
suspects in Cathy's murder. Now I'mready to narrow my focus over the next
few weeks to the men at thetop of the investigator's suspect list. After
(01:11):
the break, I'll tell you abouta man I mentioned last week, a
man who, as far as thepublic knew, was the number one suspect
and most likely perpetrator. Edward Warnerad Cox was a child molester with a
(01:32):
lengthy criminal history. In nineteen fiftyone, a Los Angeles court convicted him
of robbery in nineteen fifty five.He went to prison after his conviction in
two cases for passing forged checks inEl Paso. In nineteen fifty eight,
ad Cox was charged with assaulting awoman named Virginia Bowie in Maxton, North
(01:55):
Carolina. He also faced charges forplacing her in fear of her life and
trespassing related to the same incident.I know a little more about this incident
than the ones in California In Texasthanks to newspaper reports, Booie was at
her housekeeping job one afternoon when Adcoxshowed up, and a child in the
(02:16):
home let him in. Ad Coxasked Bowie if the home needed painting work,
and after she said no, hebegan to follow her around the house.
According to The Robesonian, the Lumberton, North Carolina newspaper, he then
quote made improper proposals to her.The paper said Adcox served as his own
(02:38):
defense and seemed to show experience atit. According to the paper, he
told the court he quote paid thewoman a compliment, which he did not
know was a crime. His argumentseemed to have swayed The Robesonian because the
paper boldly suggested ad Cox couldn't havecaused Booie to fear for her life.
(03:00):
He didn't use weapons or threats,but on cross examination, ad Cox admitted
to serving time in prison for larceny, armed robbery, and forgery. He
was convicted of trespassing an assault andgiven the choice of serving thirty days or
paying ten dollars plus court costs.He didn't have the money, so he
(03:20):
was taken into custody. Skip aheada few years to April nineteen ninety six,
ad Cox, described by the Tennesseeanas an ex mental patient, was
arrested in Nashville for sexually assaulting aseven year old boy. While in custody,
authorities asked him about the murder ofeleven year old Wanda June Anderson in
(03:46):
nineteen sixty five, a crime Idiscussed in an earlier episode. Ad Cox
was ultimately charged with vagrancy, loitering, and failure to register as an ex
convict. A detective Sergeant John C. Mullane told the paper he thought ad
Cox might have information on Wanda's killingthat wasn't made public. Mullane didn't give
(04:09):
any other details to hint at whattype of information that might have been.
During the interrogation, ad Cox toldauthorities he dreamed of killing Wanda, but
denied involvement in her attack and murder. Ad Cox didn't kill Wanda. It
turned out he was actually in aNorth Carolina prison at the time of her
(04:32):
murder, serving a ten to fifteenyear term. That prison sentence was for
assault with intent to rape a twelveyear old girl in nineteen sixty The conviction
was overturned on appeal and ad Coxpleaded guilty to a lesser charge, but
clearly he was capable of committing asex crime against a young girl. Alarmingly,
(04:58):
ad Cox were as the bus driverfor the roller Drome's skating rink in
nineteen sixty nine. Mickey Miller,the former Metro homicide detective who investigated Kathy's
cold case in the nineties, expressedshock that someone with ad Cox's background would
be given a job around children.You've got a child molester, convicted child
(05:21):
molester working at the skate and rank, turn little kids skates on him and
driving him on bus troops. Howdoes that happen? It's just amazing to
me. Adcox quit his job atthe rink just two days before Kathy disappeared.
In fact, he was one ofthe first people questioned after her body
(05:44):
was found. When police searched hisroom, they found newspaper clippings about the
murder, grizzly mementos they found inthe possession of more than one suspect.
Ad Cox was given a polygraph atthe time, but the results were inconclusive.
Then nothing. Adcox wasn't even mentionedin the paper by name close to
(06:10):
the time of the murder. AsI mentioned in the last episode, Fred
J. Bowen and Jackie Roosevelt Rosewere looked at as possible suspects in the
early seventies, but once those leadsfizzled out, the case went ice cold
between late nineteen seventy two. Infall nineteen seventy seven, things were quiet
(06:31):
in the case as far as thepublic knew. No news of suspects hit
the paper. That all changed whenthat September the Tennessee And reported that Metro
police had a quote good suspect andan arrest was imminent. The day after
the report, the paper revealed thename of Cathy's possible killer, Edward Warner
(06:57):
Adcox. In the summer of nineteenseventy seven, ad Cox was in jail
awaiting trial on molestation charges his victim, this time an eight year old boy.
During his stay in the jail house, a young girl appeared on TV
and ad Cox made a troubling statementto a fellow inmate, Richard Parrott.
(07:24):
According to The Tennesseean, Parrot signeda statement alleging that ad Cox pinched him
and said, wouldn't you like toget hold of that pop? Why did
you do that to that little girl? I didn't have any choice because she
knew me and she would tell onme. Parrot informed authorities. According to
newspaper reports, ten other inmates alsotold police ad Cox had made similar admissions
(07:46):
to them. Because of this,Detective Charlie Mills put an informant in the
cell with ad Cox, and adCox told the informant the same story.
Mills told the Tennesseean that police droveat Cox in June of nineteen seventy seven
to the lot where Cathy was found. Once there, Adcox became, as
(08:07):
he described it, visibly upset.I want to note that there was no
consensus about Adcox's viability as a suspect. The Tennesseean reported that Major General Glenn
E. Bowers, head of theMetro Detectives, at that time, said
he didn't know how Adcox had beenlabeled a prime suspect. Bowers also told
(08:28):
the media he felt television and newspaperreporters had blown the situation out of proportion.
Adcox denied any involvement in Cathy's deathin an interview with Channel four News,
the local NBC affiliate. I wasnot guilty on the murder. I've
never killed anybody in my life.I just can't stand the side of blood
myself. His public defender, JohnKyle told the Tennessee and police harassed his
(08:52):
client, pulling him out of thejailhouse and hounding him in connection with Cathy's
case. They would take him outand write him around. He said they
cursed him and threatened him and triedto trick him. Kyle also said the
police badgered ad Cox anytime a sexcrime occurred. They questioned him extensively and
repeatedly when it occurred in nineteen sixtynine, and it is my understanding that
(09:13):
he had an alibi. Oddly,Kyle said he didn't know the details of
that alibi. Detective Mills denied theallegations of harassment, but set in a
press conference, police tried to geta confession quote as we always do,
(09:39):
with a warrant signed by Kathy's mother, Nora. Ad Cox was arrested for
Kathy's murder on September twenty second,nineteen seventy seven. The following month,
a full scale psychological examination was orderedfor ad Cox. He'd already been evaluated
in connection to the molestation of theeight year old boy and was ruled competent
(10:01):
to stand trial in that case.The new exam focused on his condition over
a period of years, as opposedto the present. In March nineteen seventy
eight, the Middle Tennessee Mental HealthInstitute issued a letter with their findings ad
Cox was sane and competent to standtrial for Cathey's murder. At Adcox's preliminary
(10:22):
hearing that April, the state focusedon testimony from jail inmates who claimed he'd
confess to Cathy's murder. Conversely,two officers testified that they didn't remember any
admission by ad Cox to Cathey's murder. When interviewed twenty years later by the
Nashville Scene Detective Charlie Mills, bythen retired, said District Attorney Tom Shriver
(10:46):
didn't feel like there was enough evidenceto go before the grand jury, though
the detectives disagreed. The testimony asit appeared in the paper was difficult to
hear. He said he killed Arkas she wouldn't be quiet, and he
told her to be quiet. Hetold her to lay in the backseat.
He said, if he told thepolice, he'd do the same thing to
(11:07):
me that he did to her.Did he say how he felt about her?
He loved her. It seemed asthough ad Cox, in spite of
his history, set off a lotof alarm bells for the people around him.
Still, their concern didn't rise tothe level of separating him from children,
just as it hadn't kept him fromthe job at the skating rink.
(11:30):
The boy's mother wasn't aware of whatad Cox was doing to her son,
but didn't feel great about him either. Part of her testimony I printed in
the newspaper conveyed that I knew theman four years, and I never liked
him much because of the way helooked at me sometimes. But I never
thought he could have done something likethis to my son. When my son
told me what he had done tohim, I had to hold onto the
(11:52):
wall. I just couldn't believe it. It took me a long time to
realize my son was telling the truth. According to news report or It's a
teenage neighbor testified to another disturbing statementby ad Cox. He told me my
father that he raped a lot oflittle girls. He was a real weird
man, and I just let themalone. My father told him never to
come into our house again. Ultimately, ad Cox's case was bound over to
(12:16):
the grand jury, but his attorneyswere adamant that the state didn't have a
case against their client. Richard Parrott, the jailhouse informant, who was by
this time serving five years for burglary, claimed that he didn't remember informing police
of an admission from ad Cox,but he also didn't deny signing the statement.
(12:37):
Detective Charlie Mills told the Tennessee Andat the time that police had no
physical evidence linking ad Cox to themurder, but he felt that details Adcox
had allegedly given about the crime toother inmates would have only been known by
the killer and the detectives on thecase. Metro Homicide Detective Lieutenant Patrick Taylor
(12:58):
walked me through what goes into aDA's decision about whether or not to go
to trial. Well, the worstthing they want to do is to go
into trial. You get in aquill because if you do, then he
say yeah I did it, andyou're done. I mean yeah. So
the DA's not going to go inthere if they have a case that is
very iffy. So that's what wewould guess. Why they took an molley
(13:22):
on it, and that was it. Ad Cox was never indicted for Cathy's
murder. His involvement with the legalsystem wasn't over though. Adcox eventually pleaded
guilty to molesting the young neighbor andwas sentenced to five years in prison with
parole eligibility after serving half. AdCox was unanimously denied parole in late nineteen
(13:48):
seventy nine, but he was upfor mandatory release in May of the following
year. As far as I couldfind, he didn't have any more illegal
entanglements until nineteen eighty eight. That'swhen Adcox found himself once again on the
wrong side of the law, thistime arrested for attempted robbery. The affidavit
(14:11):
from the bank teller read the abovementioned gentleman approached the bank teller window and
in a serious low tone of voice, stated that he had a thirty eight
and his family hadn't eaten in weeks, and he needed money. He asked
us to give him all of ourmoney. After a while, he laughed
lightly and began saying he had hisfoold, and then he said he was
leaving to go find his wife insidethe Kroger store. For this incident,
(14:35):
Adcox was convicted of a lesser charge, given a thirty day suspended sentence in
ordered to pay court costs. Thereweren't any further arrests or convictions for sex
crimes. Given the circumstantial evidence,it's easy to see why Adcox rose to
the top of the suspect list inthe seventies, But did he kill Kathy.
(14:58):
Investigate who were later assigned to thecase have their doubts. You've already
heard from Mickey Miller a number oftimes in this series. In the late
nineteen eighties and early nineties, Miller, who was a captain with Metro Homicide
at the time, started working onKathy's case while investigating the nineteen seventy five
(15:20):
murder of nine year old Marsha Trimble. His team was looking into DNA in
that case and around that time,he received a call from Kathy's aunt,
which prompted him to take a lookat the cold Kathy Jones file as well.
Miller and fellow investigators looked into Adcox, who actually cooperated with the investigation,
(15:41):
and they dropped him down from thetop of the list. I interview
him probably for four hours one nine. I've been spartaka essay, and he
willingly gave his blood. Well,I think we had a search for buddy.
He said, I am molested alot of children. That's not one
of them. So, I mean, you never really know, you know,
(16:04):
and the guy was a very badperson. Aside from police, Kathy's
cousin, Donna Robertson, also didn'tsee ad Cox as the culprit b Jones,
the widow of Cathy's brother Kelly,stressed to this to me, Donna
voice harping and very strongly that hedid not do it. He was not
(16:25):
the one. She believed someone elsedid it. There was no change in
her mind. And I mean shewould go to lobby and just keep pulling
up to into articles, and shewas talking to detative telling them things that
she remembered and and her story neverchanged. That didn't happen, so son
(16:47):
have to stand back and go.That is odd. You know ad Cox
died on February twenty first, twoand three, And what about the man?
Donna Robertson suspected the man, membersof Kathy's family suspected, and the
(17:08):
man at the top of the suspect'slist. Today, I'm going to tell
you all about him. Flat Rockwas created in collaboration with Spreeker Senior Production
provided by Kim Greene. Executive producersare Olivia Lynde and Greg Thornton. Co
(17:30):
produced by Dixie Bratton, Chris Chamberlain, Jamie R. Holland, Kathy Lynde,
Betsy Phillips, Terry Quillan and j. J. Wright. Backed by
Brandon Harrington. Music by Preston Garland. Additional voices provided by Thrasher Banks,
Katie Champion, Nick Fowler, EricaKelly of Southern Fried, True Crime,
(17:53):
Aaron from All Crime, New Cattle, Mattnell, Stephen Pacheco, Ken Quillan,
and Chase stay School. Additional musicprovided by artists x takaroo X and
Chris Zabriski. More information and linksto their work is available on flatrockpod dot
Com and in the show notes.Special thank you to be Jones, Lieutenant
(18:18):
Patrick Taylor of the Metro Nashville PoliceDepartment, and Chief Mickey Miller of the
Hendersonville Police Department. If you haveany information on Kathy's case, please contact
Metro Nashville Police Department's Cold Case Unitat six one five eight, six two
seven three two nine. Hi Truecrime fans, I'm Erin and I'm Shay.
(18:44):
We host All Crime, No Cattle, a conversational podcast which focuses on
true crime stories from the Lone StarState. We strive to bring you a
balanced and well researched story about Texascases big and small. We do the
research so you don't have to.We also end every episode with a good
news story, just remind everyone thatreal life isn't quite as depressing as true
crime can make it out to be. New episodes drop every Thursday, and
(19:06):
you can find us wherever you listento your favorite podcasts. All Crime,
No Cattle because crime is bigger inTexas, y'all.
Flat Rock contains disturbing subject matter whichmay not be suitable for all listeners.
Listener discretion is advised. Previously onFlat Rock, I walked you through some
of the early suspects in Kathy's murder. We got a general sense that there
(00:27):
were some very troubling characters in andaround the edges of her life. Unfortunately,
this child was born and lived ina bad situation, and a lot
of these criminals and these pedophiles werearound her. I mean, it's terrible.
(00:48):
From Nashville, Tennessee. I'm OliviaLynde and in collaboration with Spreeker,
this is flat Rock. In episodethree, I gave a broad overview of
suspects in Cathy's murder. Now I'mready to narrow my focus over the next
few weeks to the men at thetop of the investigator's suspect list. After
(01:11):
the break, I'll tell you abouta man I mentioned last week, a
man who, as far as thepublic knew, was the number one suspect
and most likely perpetrator. Edward Warnerad Cox was a child molester with a
(01:32):
lengthy criminal history. In nineteen fiftyone, a Los Angeles court convicted him
of robbery in nineteen fifty five.He went to prison after his conviction in
two cases for passing forged checks inEl Paso. In nineteen fifty eight,
ad Cox was charged with assaulting awoman named Virginia Bowie in Maxton, North
(01:55):
Carolina. He also faced charges forplacing her in fear of her life and
trespassing related to the same incident.I know a little more about this incident
than the ones in California In Texasthanks to newspaper reports, Booie was at
her housekeeping job one afternoon when Adcoxshowed up, and a child in the
(02:16):
home let him in. Ad Coxasked Bowie if the home needed painting work,
and after she said no, hebegan to follow her around the house.
According to The Robesonian, the Lumberton, North Carolina newspaper, he then
quote made improper proposals to her.The paper said Adcox served as his own
(02:38):
defense and seemed to show experience atit. According to the paper, he
told the court he quote paid thewoman a compliment, which he did not
know was a crime. His argumentseemed to have swayed The Robesonian because the
paper boldly suggested ad Cox couldn't havecaused Booie to fear for her life.
(03:00):
He didn't use weapons or threats,but on cross examination, ad Cox admitted
to serving time in prison for larceny, armed robbery, and forgery. He
was convicted of trespassing an assault andgiven the choice of serving thirty days or
paying ten dollars plus court costs.He didn't have the money, so he
(03:20):
was taken into custody. Skip aheada few years to April nineteen ninety six,
ad Cox, described by the Tennesseeanas an ex mental patient, was
arrested in Nashville for sexually assaulting aseven year old boy. While in custody,
authorities asked him about the murder ofeleven year old Wanda June Anderson in
(03:46):
nineteen sixty five, a crime Idiscussed in an earlier episode. Ad Cox
was ultimately charged with vagrancy, loitering, and failure to register as an ex
convict. A detective Sergeant John C. Mullane told the paper he thought ad
Cox might have information on Wanda's killingthat wasn't made public. Mullane didn't give
(04:09):
any other details to hint at whattype of information that might have been.
During the interrogation, ad Cox toldauthorities he dreamed of killing Wanda, but
denied involvement in her attack and murder. Ad Cox didn't kill Wanda. It
turned out he was actually in aNorth Carolina prison at the time of her
(04:32):
murder, serving a ten to fifteenyear term. That prison sentence was for
assault with intent to rape a twelveyear old girl in nineteen sixty The conviction
was overturned on appeal and ad Coxpleaded guilty to a lesser charge, but
clearly he was capable of committing asex crime against a young girl. Alarmingly,
(04:58):
ad Cox were as the bus driverfor the roller Drome's skating rink in
nineteen sixty nine. Mickey Miller,the former Metro homicide detective who investigated Kathy's
cold case in the nineties, expressedshock that someone with ad Cox's background would
be given a job around children.You've got a child molester, convicted child
(05:21):
molester working at the skate and rank, turn little kids skates on him and
driving him on bus troops. Howdoes that happen? It's just amazing to
me. Adcox quit his job atthe rink just two days before Kathy disappeared.
In fact, he was one ofthe first people questioned after her body
(05:44):
was found. When police searched hisroom, they found newspaper clippings about the
murder, grizzly mementos they found inthe possession of more than one suspect.
Ad Cox was given a polygraph atthe time, but the results were inconclusive.
Then nothing. Adcox wasn't even mentionedin the paper by name close to
(06:10):
the time of the murder. AsI mentioned in the last episode, Fred
J. Bowen and Jackie Roosevelt Rosewere looked at as possible suspects in the
early seventies, but once those leadsfizzled out, the case went ice cold
between late nineteen seventy two. Infall nineteen seventy seven, things were quiet
(06:31):
in the case as far as thepublic knew. No news of suspects hit
the paper. That all changed whenthat September the Tennessee And reported that Metro
police had a quote good suspect andan arrest was imminent. The day after
the report, the paper revealed thename of Cathy's possible killer, Edward Warner
(06:57):
Adcox. In the summer of nineteenseventy seven, ad Cox was in jail
awaiting trial on molestation charges his victim, this time an eight year old boy.
During his stay in the jail house, a young girl appeared on TV
and ad Cox made a troubling statementto a fellow inmate, Richard Parrott.
(07:24):
According to The Tennesseean, Parrot signeda statement alleging that ad Cox pinched him
and said, wouldn't you like toget hold of that pop? Why did
you do that to that little girl? I didn't have any choice because she
knew me and she would tell onme. Parrot informed authorities. According to
newspaper reports, ten other inmates alsotold police ad Cox had made similar admissions
(07:46):
to them. Because of this,Detective Charlie Mills put an informant in the
cell with ad Cox, and adCox told the informant the same story.
Mills told the Tennesseean that police droveat Cox in June of nineteen seventy seven
to the lot where Cathy was found. Once there, Adcox became, as
(08:07):
he described it, visibly upset.I want to note that there was no
consensus about Adcox's viability as a suspect. The Tennesseean reported that Major General Glenn
E. Bowers, head of theMetro Detectives, at that time, said
he didn't know how Adcox had beenlabeled a prime suspect. Bowers also told
(08:28):
the media he felt television and newspaperreporters had blown the situation out of proportion.
Adcox denied any involvement in Cathy's deathin an interview with Channel four News,
the local NBC affiliate. I wasnot guilty on the murder. I've
never killed anybody in my life.I just can't stand the side of blood
myself. His public defender, JohnKyle told the Tennessee and police harassed his
(08:52):
client, pulling him out of thejailhouse and hounding him in connection with Cathy's
case. They would take him outand write him around. He said they
cursed him and threatened him and triedto trick him. Kyle also said the
police badgered ad Cox anytime a sexcrime occurred. They questioned him extensively and
repeatedly when it occurred in nineteen sixtynine, and it is my understanding that
(09:13):
he had an alibi. Oddly,Kyle said he didn't know the details of
that alibi. Detective Mills denied theallegations of harassment, but set in a
press conference, police tried to geta confession quote as we always do,
(09:39):
with a warrant signed by Kathy's mother, Nora. Ad Cox was arrested for
Kathy's murder on September twenty second,nineteen seventy seven. The following month,
a full scale psychological examination was orderedfor ad Cox. He'd already been evaluated
in connection to the molestation of theeight year old boy and was ruled competent
(10:01):
to stand trial in that case.The new exam focused on his condition over
a period of years, as opposedto the present. In March nineteen seventy
eight, the Middle Tennessee Mental HealthInstitute issued a letter with their findings ad
Cox was sane and competent to standtrial for Cathey's murder. At Adcox's preliminary
(10:22):
hearing that April, the state focusedon testimony from jail inmates who claimed he'd
confess to Cathy's murder. Conversely,two officers testified that they didn't remember any
admission by ad Cox to Cathey's murder. When interviewed twenty years later by the
Nashville Scene Detective Charlie Mills, bythen retired, said District Attorney Tom Shriver
(10:46):
didn't feel like there was enough evidenceto go before the grand jury, though
the detectives disagreed. The testimony asit appeared in the paper was difficult to
hear. He said he killed Arkas she wouldn't be quiet, and he
told her to be quiet. Hetold her to lay in the backseat.
He said, if he told thepolice, he'd do the same thing to
(11:07):
me that he did to her.Did he say how he felt about her?
He loved her. It seemed asthough ad Cox, in spite of
his history, set off a lotof alarm bells for the people around him.
Still, their concern didn't rise tothe level of separating him from children,
just as it hadn't kept him fromthe job at the skating rink.
(11:30):
The boy's mother wasn't aware of whatad Cox was doing to her son,
but didn't feel great about him either. Part of her testimony I printed in
the newspaper conveyed that I knew theman four years, and I never liked
him much because of the way helooked at me sometimes. But I never
thought he could have done something likethis to my son. When my son
told me what he had done tohim, I had to hold onto the
(11:52):
wall. I just couldn't believe it. It took me a long time to
realize my son was telling the truth. According to news report or It's a
teenage neighbor testified to another disturbing statementby ad Cox. He told me my
father that he raped a lot oflittle girls. He was a real weird
man, and I just let themalone. My father told him never to
come into our house again. Ultimately, ad Cox's case was bound over to
(12:16):
the grand jury, but his attorneyswere adamant that the state didn't have a
case against their client. Richard Parrott, the jailhouse informant, who was by
this time serving five years for burglary, claimed that he didn't remember informing police
of an admission from ad Cox,but he also didn't deny signing the statement.
(12:37):
Detective Charlie Mills told the Tennessee Andat the time that police had no
physical evidence linking ad Cox to themurder, but he felt that details Adcox
had allegedly given about the crime toother inmates would have only been known by
the killer and the detectives on thecase. Metro Homicide Detective Lieutenant Patrick Taylor
(12:58):
walked me through what goes into aDA's decision about whether or not to go
to trial. Well, the worstthing they want to do is to go
into trial. You get in aquill because if you do, then he
say yeah I did it, andyou're done. I mean yeah. So
the DA's not going to go inthere if they have a case that is
very iffy. So that's what wewould guess. Why they took an molley
(13:22):
on it, and that was it. Ad Cox was never indicted for Cathy's
murder. His involvement with the legalsystem wasn't over though. Adcox eventually pleaded
guilty to molesting the young neighbor andwas sentenced to five years in prison with
parole eligibility after serving half. AdCox was unanimously denied parole in late nineteen
(13:48):
seventy nine, but he was upfor mandatory release in May of the following
year. As far as I couldfind, he didn't have any more illegal
entanglements until nineteen eighty eight. That'swhen Adcox found himself once again on the
wrong side of the law, thistime arrested for attempted robbery. The affidavit
(14:11):
from the bank teller read the abovementioned gentleman approached the bank teller window and
in a serious low tone of voice, stated that he had a thirty eight
and his family hadn't eaten in weeks, and he needed money. He asked
us to give him all of ourmoney. After a while, he laughed
lightly and began saying he had hisfoold, and then he said he was
leaving to go find his wife insidethe Kroger store. For this incident,
(14:35):
Adcox was convicted of a lesser charge, given a thirty day suspended sentence in
ordered to pay court costs. Thereweren't any further arrests or convictions for sex
crimes. Given the circumstantial evidence,it's easy to see why Adcox rose to
the top of the suspect list inthe seventies, But did he kill Kathy.
(14:58):
Investigate who were later assigned to thecase have their doubts. You've already
heard from Mickey Miller a number oftimes in this series. In the late
nineteen eighties and early nineties, Miller, who was a captain with Metro Homicide
at the time, started working onKathy's case while investigating the nineteen seventy five
(15:20):
murder of nine year old Marsha Trimble. His team was looking into DNA in
that case and around that time,he received a call from Kathy's aunt,
which prompted him to take a lookat the cold Kathy Jones file as well.
Miller and fellow investigators looked into Adcox, who actually cooperated with the investigation,
(15:41):
and they dropped him down from thetop of the list. I interview
him probably for four hours one nine. I've been spartaka essay, and he
willingly gave his blood. Well,I think we had a search for buddy.
He said, I am molested alot of children. That's not one
of them. So, I mean, you never really know, you know,
(16:04):
and the guy was a very badperson. Aside from police, Kathy's
cousin, Donna Robertson, also didn'tsee ad Cox as the culprit b Jones,
the widow of Cathy's brother Kelly,stressed to this to me, Donna
voice harping and very strongly that hedid not do it. He was not
(16:25):
the one. She believed someone elsedid it. There was no change in
her mind. And I mean shewould go to lobby and just keep pulling
up to into articles, and shewas talking to detative telling them things that
she remembered and and her story neverchanged. That didn't happen, so son
(16:47):
have to stand back and go.That is odd. You know ad Cox
died on February twenty first, twoand three, And what about the man?
Donna Robertson suspected the man, membersof Kathy's family suspected, and the
(17:08):
man at the top of the suspect'slist. Today, I'm going to tell
you all about him. Flat Rockwas created in collaboration with Spreeker Senior Production
provided by Kim Greene. Executive producersare Olivia Lynde and Greg Thornton. Co
(17:30):
produced by Dixie Bratton, Chris Chamberlain, Jamie R. Holland, Kathy Lynde,
Betsy Phillips, Terry Quillan and j. J. Wright. Backed by
Brandon Harrington. Music by Preston Garland. Additional voices provided by Thrasher Banks,
Katie Champion, Nick Fowler, EricaKelly of Southern Fried, True Crime,
(17:53):
Aaron from All Crime, New Cattle, Mattnell, Stephen Pacheco, Ken Quillan,
and Chase stay School. Additional musicprovided by artists x takaroo X and
Chris Zabriski. More information and linksto their work is available on flatrockpod dot
Com and in the show notes.Special thank you to be Jones, Lieutenant
(18:18):
Patrick Taylor of the Metro Nashville PoliceDepartment, and Chief Mickey Miller of the
Hendersonville Police Department. If you haveany information on Kathy's case, please contact
Metro Nashville Police Department's Cold Case Unitat six one five eight, six two
seven three two nine. Hi Truecrime fans, I'm Erin and I'm Shay.
(18:44):
We host All Crime, No Cattle, a conversational podcast which focuses on
true crime stories from the Lone StarState. We strive to bring you a
balanced and well researched story about Texascases big and small. We do the
research so you don't have to.We also end every episode with a good
news story, just remind everyone thatreal life isn't quite as depressing as true
crime can make it out to be. New episodes drop every Thursday, and
(19:06):
you can find us wherever you listento your favorite podcasts. All Crime,
No Cattle because crime is bigger inTexas, y'all.
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