One of Lakeland’s most infamous cold cases is will hit primetime tv as CBS investigates the murder of Linda Slaten. CBS’s “48 Hours” will broadcast “The Betrayal of Linda Slaten” at 10 p.m. Saturday on CBS and will also stream on Paramount+ network.
On Sept. 4, 1981, Lakeland resident Linda Slaten, then 31, was murdered inside her North Brunner Parkway apartment – raped and then strangled with a metal coat hanger.
In November 2018, the police department received a call from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Orlando asking if they wanted to send over the DNA evidence in Slaten’s murder for further testing.
More than 38 years later, Lakeland police arrested Mills, now 58, on Dec. 12, 2019, to charge him with the murder of Linda Slaten. In February 2022, Mills, 61, pled guilty to four charges including sexual assault and first-degree murder of Linda Slaten. Mills was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
A sneak preview of CBS’s 48-Hour piece to air Saturday can be watched online at www.cbsnews.com/video/sneak-peek-the-betrayal-of-linda-slaten.