Linda Renee Blackmon was 27 when she was killed in Elbert, Georgia, in the summer of 1990. She was believed to have been murdered on or about June 13; her body was found in a lake on July 1, 1990, weighed down with a brake drum. Investigators determined she had been shot in the head with a shotgun and her throat had been cut multiple times.

Two men, Leonard Maurice Drane and David Robert Willis, were with Blackmon the night she was killed and were arrested and charged in connection with her death. Drane maintained he did not participate, saying Willis shot and then cut Blackmon’s throat and that Willis threatened him into silence; Drane led police to the murder and disposal sites. Despite what was described at trial as slight evidence against him, Drane was convicted and sentenced to death.

Years later, while being evaluated for parole in 2010, Willis confessed that he alone had killed Blackmon and that Drane had only been present. That confession has been a focal point in efforts to challenge Drane’s sentence. Does anyone have information about Linda’s last days or what happened in Elbert County in June 1990?