Cold case of Florida mom Linda Slaten, 31, who was raped and strangled in her home as her kids slept takes shocking twist after 40 YEARS – as her murderer is unmasked as beloved local football coach whose photo was hanging on her son’s wall

A popular crime documentary series has delved into the gripping true story of a mother of two who was raped and strangled in her own home by a man her son hailed as a hero.

Linda Slaten, 31, was found dead in her apartment Lakeland, Florida, with a wire coat hanger twisted around her neck in 1981.

Her two sons, who had been sleeping in the house at the time of the murder, had to wait nearly 40 years for answers when the case was heard.

But they were stunned to discover that it was their trusted football coach Joseph Clinton Mills — a photo they had hung on their wall for years — who was responsible for their mother’s brutal death.

Here, FEMAIL exposed the disturbing reality surrounding the case after an episode of 48 Hours investigated The Betrayal of Linda Slaten.

The gruesome story began on Sept. 4, 1981, when Linda’s younger sister, Judy Butler, walked over to the family’s apartment to see if the mother-of-two wanted a coffee together, the paper said. 48 hours episode.

There was no answer, but when Judy went back to her own house, which was only three doors down, she noticed that the screen in Linda’s bedroom window was missing.

She peered in and was devastated to see her sister’s lifeless body lying across the bed. She said, “At first I thought she might be asleep, but then I just started screaming.”

Police officers arrived and found Linda with her dress pulled down from the top and up from the bottom, with what appeared to be an iron coat hanger around her neck.

Her underwear and shoes lay on the carpet, with detectives reportedly claiming she was bleeding from her vagina.

Detectives, describing the scene as “brutal, malicious and ugly,” acknowledged there were no signs of a struggle in the room, but her window was unlocked and the screen had been removed.

Her children — Jeffrey, then 15 years old, and Timothy, then 12 years old — who were asleep during the attack, were led out of the house.

But Timothy caught a glimpse of the harrowing spectacle.

Holding back tears, he recalled, “I saw the whole crime scene. I saw my mother’s bloodied body with a clothes hanger around her neck. And I still see it.’

Jeffrey also said, “I would have died that night trying to save my mom, but I didn’t hear anything and it’s so hard to live with that.”

The family of three had moved into the Lakeland apartment just two weeks before Linda’s death.

Her body was transported to Lakeland General Hospital, where medical personnel completed an autopsy and performed a sexual assault package.

Authorities were also able to retrieve a palm print from Linda’s bedroom window through which the killer had entered.

Linda’s ex-husband Frank Slaten became a person of interest because of his history of abuse towards her – as did her then-boyfriend, and even 15-year-old Jeffrey.

But the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was unable to find a perpetrator and, with no new leads, the case eventually stalled.

Jeffrey said, “It’s been hard on me all my life because I didn’t know who it was. Because I was always terrified, I was friends with him. I was always looking over our shoulder.’

The boys, who moved in with their grandparents, both tried to get on with their lives and Timothy continued to show promise as a football player, encouraged by coach Joseph Clinton Mills.

The then 20-year-old, referred to as Joe by most, was said to be incredibly supportive and continued to offer Timothy lifts for practice — in a habit that had begun long before Linda’s death.

Timothy even proudly hung a photo of his teammates and coach – taken a month after the murder – on his bedroom wall.

But nearly 40 years ago, research was opened wide in November 2018 when researchers considered using genetic genealogy.

Genetic genealogy compares unknown DNA to public genealogy databases populated by the DNA of relatives who voluntarily upload it.

After analyzing the DNA of the unidentified suspect, Parabon NanoLabs analysts told authorities the most likely suspect was Coach Joe, then 58 years old.

“Joseph should be strongly reckoned with due to the fact that genetic connections have been found on both sides of his family tree, and he lived near the crime scene in 1981,” the report said.

In the summer of 2019, authorities searched Mills’ trash and were able to find matching DNA to the samples found in Linda’s sexual assault kit.

They were also able to match Mills’s fingerprints, which were on file from 1984 when he was convicted of theft for forging a will, with those found on Linda’s windowsill.

When Mills was first interviewed by phone in 1981, he told authorities he saw the victim briefly as he drove Timothy home from football practice that night.

Mills, who was a coach for the Lakeland Volunteers football program, said Linda came to his car to thank him for bringing her son home.

He told police he left and did not return to the apartment that night – and authorities decided not to pursue him any further.

But after his arrest in December 2019, and in light of the new evidence, Mills changed his story during the interview.

Mills told police that when he dropped Timothy off that night, Linda “made an open invitation to come to her residence for a ‘fun time,'” according to court documents.

He reportedly told authorities he returned to Linda’s home in the early hours of September 4 and entered through the unlocked bedroom window – with Mills claiming that “Linda asked him to engage in ‘wild’ sex.” ‘

Mills stated that when she entered Linda Slaten’s bedroom, Linda already had a wire pendant around her neck as she lay on the bed.

“Mills stated that he tightened and tightened the wire hanger around her neck while having intercourse with Linda Slaten until she lost consciousness,” ABC News reported.

Mills reportedly told police he left through the window before Linda’s body was discovered.

Authorities have challenged Mills’ claim that the meeting was consensual, saying there was evidence that a foreign object had been used in the assault and that Linda had cuts consistent with a struggle to get the wire out to remove her neck.

Mills eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and sexual battery and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Reflecting on the outcome, Jeffrey said, “I’ve had the killer’s photo in my house all the time and never had a clue about it.” He’s a cold-blooded monster, that’s for sure.’