The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced this week it has identified human remains from a cold case murder that took place nearly four decades ago in 1983.
As a result of a TBI DNA Initiative, the skeletal remains of a man found in 1983 in East Tennessee have been identified. The development comes nearly four decades after the victim's killer was convicted.
— Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) September 6, 2023
Skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area approximately 25 feet from Sycamore Lane in Crossville on August 26, 1983, according to TBI.
At the time of discovery, a forensic pathologist determined that the remains were those of a black male, likely between the ages of 20 and 25, who had been stabbed multiple times.
The victim’s death was ruled a homicide and, despite not knowing the identity of the victim, TBI and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office developed a suspect in the case.
The suspect was charged and later pled guilty to Second Degree Murder in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence in May 1984, as a result of the law enforcement agencies’ investigation.
The victim was into the system as a John Doe up until 2007 when the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center submitted a sample of the victim’s remains to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI).
A DNA profile of the victim was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, however, no matches were discovered that would identify the man.
In December of last year, a sample of the victims’s remains were sent to the Othram Laboratories in Texas for forensic genetic genealogical (FGG) DNA testing where scientists provided information about possible relatives connected to the man.
Using that information, a TBI intelligence analyst located potential family members of the victims in Michigan, and determined that the victim was Kenneth Levall Thompson of Detroit, Michigan through familial DNA testing.
“Agents made contact with one of those individuals and confirmed he had a brother who he had not heard from in four decades. Agents were able to obtain a familial DNA standard, which was submitted to Othram Inc. for comparison against the DNA of the unidentified man,” TBI said. “As a result, Othram Inc. positively identified the man as Kenneth Levall Thompson (DOB: 11/04/1965) of Detroit, Michigan. Investigators hope this development will provide long-awaited answers to Kenneth’s family, who last had contact with him around 1982 or 1983.”
The case of Kenneth Thompson was conducted by TBI’s Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative, which works to specifically determine the identities of cold case victims through specialized forensic genetic genealogy testing.
So far, TBI has cracked four cold cases through its Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative and is still working on 6 cases submitted for testing.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Building” by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
