In the winter of 1995 the body of 42-year-old Michael Gerald King was discovered at an unauthorized dumping site off Dutchtown Road in Knoxville, Tennessee. On January 8 his remains were found concealed beneath several bags of leaves; investigators estimated he had been dead about two days. The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head. King was wearing a blue work-style jacket, a blue sport shirt over a blue t-shirt with a pocket, blue jeans, white socks, tennis shoes, and a blue toboggan, and no identification was found on him.

King was described as a highly intelligent, self-taught software programmer who never pursued that as a career. He had a criminal history, including a six-year prison term after explosive chemicals were found in his Knoxville apartment in 1982, and he was thought by some to have supported himself by stealing and selling stolen goods. Investigators considered motives ranging from retaliation tied to alleged illegal activities to a confrontation with associates or a burglary gone wrong, but there were no witnesses and insufficient evidence to identify a suspect.

The case remains an unsolved homicide with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit listed as handling the investigation. Did anyone in Knoxville in 1995 know Michael Gerald King, his associates, or have information about activity near Dutchtown Road that winter?