Decades-Old Cold Case Closed

July 19, 2024, marked a disturbing anniversary. It marked 52 years since the body of a 29-year-old woman was found in the woods near the interstate. The unidentified body of Peggy Joyce Shelton, who had only been identified “within the last couple years,” according to Sheriff Al Nienhuis, had been strangled and wrapped in a “fairly unique blanket.” However, it was not until recently that the perpetrator was able to be identified as Jerry Lee Fletcher (DOB 3/22/1942), and the sheriff officially announced the case’s resolution at Thursday’s press conference.

Before her demise, Shelton had been married to Fletcher on December 18, 1971, in Hillsborough County with no record of a divorce and Fletcher never reported her missing. Despite this, the perpetrator would later list Gloria Espinoza, who he had married in 1965, as his only previous marriage. From 1970-1973, Fletcher’s parents owned a roadside motel on Nebraska Avenue in Hillsborough that sported eight small cottages. Just prior to his marriage to Peggy, the address of the motel was listed as Jerry’s residence.

This is where the comforter appears to come into play, as it was twin-sized in nature – the size commonly used in small hotels. A resident of the motel told detectives that the beds at the establishment were twin-sized as the dimensions of the rooms did not allow for anything larger. Sheriff Nienhuis added that a textile expert determined that the pattern on the blanket was made “for the southern states and it was most likely used for motel chains in the [19]60s and [19]70s.”

This was not Fletcher’s only violent offense either. After leaving Florida and marrying Sophia Lucille Hughes in 1973, he would murder, strangle, and rape Shirley McCune in April of that year. She was also wrapped in a comforter. In June 2011, Pinellas Detective Michael Bailey’s investigation connected Fletcher with the 1971 abduction, murder, and rape of 14-year-old Gina Justi in Palm Harbor through DNA evidence. She was yet another victim who was found wrapped in a blanket.

Fletcher admitted to additional murders in a meeting with Bailey in prison but would not divulge specifics without a guarantee of avoiding the death penalty. The convict died shortly thereafter in 2014. Though he will not be able to face further punishment in this life, “the justice he faces now is with his creator,” said Sheriff Nienhuis.

On May 24 of this year, Major Case Detective George Loydgren visited the deceased convict’s former cellmate, James Owens, who believed Fletcher was a contract killer. Considering Fletcher’s murder of at least three women and the similarities between his methods, Detective Loydgren added that “there’s no doubt in my mind he doesn’t fit the criteria for a serial killer.” Due to the similarities of the murders, Sheriff Nienhuis and company closed the case.

This case was solved thanks to the tenacious work of Detective Loydgren and the entire HCSO Major Case Unit. These individuals are “tasked with finding justice for victims as well as for families, and they investigate our most serious crimes,” the sheriff said. As evidenced by the timetable of this investigation, the unit’s work can span decades if need be, especially if the cases are on the older end. In this instance, the less advanced technologies of the previous century contributed to the protracted length of this investigation.

Due to this, Shelton was originally buried as a “Jane Doe” with no DNA on record. Detective Loydgren ordered the exhumation of her body in 2015 to attempt to get DNA from the body, but Shelton’s DNA had deteriorated greatly with the passage of time. With help from the University of North Texas, which was able to develop the DNA with the samples available, and Marshall University’s genealogy labs, detectives were able to determine her identity. Detective Loydgren then discovered her marriage status through an online “web sleuth.”
Modern methods such as Rapid DNA look to alleviate these issues in the future. Sheriff Nienhuis, who previously served as the President of the Florida Sheriff’s Association, stated that Rapid DNA would enable the genetic information of anyone who is arrested for a serious crime in Hernando or other counties to be processed into the nationwide system within an hour and a half. In a short amount of time, the offender’s DNA will be checked against anyone wanted for crimes serious or otherwise.

The detective informed her son and granddaughter, Heather, of Shelton’s death at the hands of Fletcher. “Fortunately, we’re able to have a conclusion to the case and be able to give the family that bit of peace,” he noted. He also assisted with the arrangements for her cremation. “At least they know where their mother and grandmother is,” stated Detective Loydgren.