Emma Truitt Brewer was 62 when she was found dead in her Western Heights apartment in Knoxville in December 1979 after a granddaughter checked on her because she missed church. The apartment door was slightly ajar; Brewer’s hands had been bound and she had been strangled with hosiery and an electrical cord. Jewelry and a gun were found near her body, but robbery was considered an unlikely motive.

Investigators quickly focused on a handyman named Mitch Reed, who had been working for Brewer and was believed to have stayed with her briefly. Reed admitted hitchhiking to Knoxville the day of the killing and to being on Brewer’s porch that night, though he said he only stopped to say hello. He was questioned but never charged; reports say he remained composed during interrogations and never confessed. Reed has since died and the case went cold.

Theories mentioned include a rejected advance or an argument over payment for services, but the murder remains officially unsolved. Does anyone have memories of Brewer, Reed, or of Western Heights in 1979 that could shed light on this case?