Case #18: The Murder of Sheila Elrod

The date was February 12th, 1980. The place was San Angelo, Texas. Officer Robert Lloyd and his partner had been on patrol when they received a call about a shooting at a place called Musick Jewelry Store. 

Lloyd said he didn't know what to expect. When he and his partner walked inside, they found a female laying on the floor, face down in the middle of the showroom. 

The victim was 20-year-old Sheila Elrod. She was the store clerk. 

Sheila's killers had gone there with the intention of robbing the jewelry store. They ended up walking away with roughly $100,000 in jewelry. 

One of the people involved in the investigation was sergeant Fred Dietz. Dietz used to work security at the jewelry store and he knew Sheila. 

Dietz was also one of the first people to get work, with the intention of catching Sheila's killer.

One of the things her killers hadn't intended on was leaving behind a clue, which they did. 

It was determined that Sheila's killers broke the jewelry cases, and in doing so, cut themselves. It was clear from the start that there was blood everywhere. Investigators knew that some of it was Sheila's, as she had been shot in the back 3 times. 

Detectives elaborated further, stating that they believed the killers, bleeding, went out the front door, and ran to a nearby getaway car. It also helped they had a blood trail 

Working off of this theory, detectives collected blood samples from the carpet, specifically, the pieces of carpet that had stains from the trail of blood. They were also able to lift several unknown fingerprints from a broken display case, as well as a palm print. 

The woman who ran the palm print was officer Cathy DeLaughter. She had said that as the glass broke, the edges of the ridges curled over the edge of the broken piece of glass. This meant the palm print could only belong to whoever broke the glass, as opposed to a random customer. 

Detectives hit the streets, and began asking for names. Fred Dietz asked the owner of the jewelry store, a man named Paul Musick. Musick singled out a black man who had come to the jewelry store 2 days prior, right around closing time. 

Detectives had a list of about 150 suspects. However, none of them matched the palm print taken from the crime scene. They seemed to be out of suspects within months. 

While Sheila's family waited for answers, none came. Sheila's case went cold. 

Fast forward to 20 years later, Lt. Jerry Byrne with the Texas Rangers steps into the picture. Byrne opened the file on Sheila Elrod's murder, and, he too thinks the blood from the crime scene might hold the key to solving Sheila Elrod's murder. 

He went to the San Angelo Police Department, looking to reopen the case. As he was looking through the evidence from Shelia's murder, he pulls out several pieces of broken glass with dried blood on them. He takes samples of the blood, and takes them to the lab for DNA testing.      

The man who did most of the testing was David Young. Young extracted a sample of the dried blood and uploaded it to CODIS. 

It would take a year before the crime lab got a hit from CODIS. The blood belonged to a man named Louis Williams, a man with an extensive criminal history. 

Ranger Byrne questioned Williams. The blood matched. Some of the fingerprints matched. However, the palm print was not a match, meaning Williams most likely had an accomplice. 

Fast forward a little bit further to 2002. Louis Williams agreed to tell San Angelo police officers who his accomplice was, and how Sheila Elrod was murdered. Williams pointed the finger at a man named Harold Jones. He said that Jones was the man pulled the trigger. 

There is a problem with the story Williams told San Angelo Police. It didn't entirely fit Sheila Elrod's murder. For example, over the course of the investigation, it was determined that Sheila was killed with a .22. Williams had mentioned using a .38. But, these small details do describe another robbery and murder that took place 90 miles away, in Abilene, Texas. 

That crime scene also had some blood evidence left behind. The blood did not match Louis Williams. So, naturally, the next step would be to see if it was a match for Harold Jones. There was just one little issue I haven't mentioned yet. Harold Jones was dead. 

Now, they did manage to catch something of a break. Jones had left behind a wife and child. And you know what, it was a match. Harold Jones was tied to the murder in Abilene, a young man named Glenn Burns.

Louis Williams, meanwhile, was sentenced to life in prison for Sheila Elrod's murder. 

Final Thoughts: 

Going into this, I had never heard of this case before. So, I wasn't exactly expecting another murder to be tied with this. I do think it's too bad that Louis Williams couldn't be tied to both murders. I also think it's too bad that Harold Jones died before he could ever face justice.

Sources:

“Cold Case Files - A Knock at the Door/Shattered.” Season 5, episode 22.