On the morning of April 1st, 1999, an alarming 911 call reported the discovery of a woman’s unclothed, motionless body in a workplace parking lot located in the greater Atlanta area. The investigators processed the scene meticulously and were finally able to identify the body as 49-year-old Agnes Jennifer Lee, leveraging fingerprints from a prior minor shoplifting incident. The condition of the body was gruesome; her scalp was separated from her head, bruises, cuts covered her body, and there was soil embedded within indicating she’d been run over. Nearby her body, a set of dislodged teeth were discovered.
Adjacent to the body, a detailed tire imprint of size P235 was visibly etched on her thigh. The tire imprint appeared to be unusual and became pivotal eventually in the detection of the murderer. Prime suspicions of the investigators revolved around the possibility that the perpetrator might have run over Lee to obscure a sexual assault. However, the autopsy reports dispelled such speculations as no evidence of such an incident was observed.
The decisive cause of Lee’s death was established as strangulation. Lee had roots in Taiwan and had come to America due to her father’s acquaintanceship with her family, as recounted by her son, John Lee. Once settled in America, they started to build a family. Her name transitioned to ‘Jennifer’ after her relocation to Atlanta, which represented an attempt at commencing afresh following her divorce.
The police inspected Lee’s residence that was situated five miles from where her body was found, and found no indications of any criminal activity. However, her red Mitsubishi Mirage was conspicuously missing. Her employer, Larry Bixler, sung praises for Lee, detailing her outstanding commitment as a property manager treating the apartments as her own. Bixler claimed unawareness of any ill-will Lee might have had with anyone and disclosed that he hadn’t seen her for a few days.
Lee’s car was later found stationed outside her office and was ferried back to the police station to aid crime scene processing and collection of any valuable evidence. Despite numerous attempts, the detectives failed to find any leads directly tied to her murder. As the reality of her death set in, the anguish of her loss twined with the anxiety caused by an at-large murderer progressively mounted suspense in the community.
Efforts were heightened on scrutinizing the items retrieved from Lee’s workplace, hoping to discover a lead to the identity of a visitor. An event planner that bore the name ‘Robert’ penned down for that date became a focal point. During their search, they also discovered from Lee’s daughter a handwritten note among her mother’s possessions which had the name ‘Robert’, trailed by the letter ‘V’.
The detectives set forth on cross-referencing Ford Explorer ownership records with individuals named ‘Robert’ having a surname starting with ‘V’. Their diligent search led them to a 40-year-old man named Robert Vaughn. Upon probing further, they found that Vaughn had a previous brush with the law; he had been arrested for burglary.
A key turning point in the investigation occurred when Joshua Bixler positively identified Vaughn as the last man he saw with Lee. Det. Henry visited Vaughn’s residence to extract information about Lee and in the process invited him to the police station. Vaughn accepted and stated during the interview that he had met Lee back in 1997 through a mutual acquaintance but claimed not having seen her since two months prior.
When confronted with a witness report placing him with Lee on March 31, Vaughn demanded counsel. The detectives utilized that moment to swiftly secure a search warrant for Vaughn’s Ford Explorer. Unsurprisingly, the tires on the SUV were of size P235, which had earlier been found imprinted on Lee’s body.
Within the vehicle was a match to Lee: blood samples and hair strands discovered underneath the vehicle. Consequently, on May 13, 1999, Vaughn was arrested in connection with the murder of Lee. However, he declined to provide any statement towards the charges.
The proceedings for his trial began in August 2005. The prosecution advanced the theory that Vaughn had propositioned Lee and the subsequent rejection had provoked him. In a fit of rage, they alleged, he strangled Lee and in an attempt to distract from his atrocious crime, he stripped her of her clothing and ran her over.
In the end, Vaughn was adjudged guilty and handed a life sentence. He maintained his silence throughout, never admitting guilt to the horrifying act. Therefore, the actual reason that propelled the savage slaying still remains a mystery until this day.