After a quarter of a century, a cold case murder has finally been closed. The break in the case came from the perpetrator who felt the need to confess his sins after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
The story below was shared on Instagram.
Detective Sean Mukaddam, a Decatur police violent crimes investigator, said he was initially skeptical Wednesday when a secretary told him a man was on the phone wishing to confess to a murder.
“You’re always leery,” Mukaddam said. “I thought it might be a prank call. But it quickly developed that this was the real deal.”
Johnny Dwight Whited, 53, of Trinity, said he wanted to be ready to “meet his maker,” Mukaddam said. The case he confessed to had gone about as cold as a murder can get.
“There was nothing else to follow up on,” he said. “When it gets like this, you’re hoping something else will come up. It usually doesn’t occur like this.”The body of Christopher Alvin Dailey was discovered by two hunters on April 26, 1995 in a wooded area on George Russell Road S.W. in Decatur. About 90 minutes later, Dailey’s partially submerged 1983 Toyota Tercel was found in the Tennessee River. Dailey had been killed by a single gunshot to the head.
After the initial call on Wednesday, Whited, met with Mukkadam & directed police to the crime scene.
From there, they walked a quarter of a mile to the place where Whited said he killed Dailey. He then took them to the place where he dumped the vehicle in the water.
Whited has been charged with murder in Dailey’s death & is being held on $15,000 bond. At the time of his confession he was awaiting trial on a methamphetamine charge. Whited had a string of arrests for traffic & drug offenses through the years, including one for possession of a crack cocaine pipe less than three weeks after Dailey’s body was discovered.