On Thursday, April 6, at 9:00 p.m. ET, Investigation Discovery aired “A Time To Kill: Fast Food Cold Justice,” which focused on the Terri Brooks murder case.
The forthcoming episode’s synopsis is as follows:
Assistant manager Terri Brooks is brutally murdered during a late-night break-in at a Pennsylvania chain restaurant; after a second female restaurant employee is also slain in a nearby town, authorities worry that a serial killer is on the loose.
In February 1984, a neighbourhood eatery in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, was the scene of this horrible crime.
About 20 years went by without a solution to the murder before forensic technology assisted the detectives in apprehending the killer.
The programme gives a thorough overview of the case, describing the victim’s history, the circumstances that led to her death, and the graphic details of the crime.
How did Terri Brooks die?
Frances Nathalie Wakefield gave birth to Terri Lynn Brooks in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1958, and George Elmer Brooks was Terri’s father.
In February 1984, she was a Night Manager at a Roy Rogers eatery in Falls Township, Pennsylvania.
Tragically, Terri’s fiancé went to her father’s home one morning to let him know she was missing.
Terri had not come home after her shift, which George noticed when he went to check her room. Terri’s family suffered a terrible loss when they learned that her body had been discovered inside the restaurant that was locked.
The graphic facts of Terri Brooks’ murder were made public by police reports. With a butcher knife lodged in her neck, her body was discovered close to the kitchen.
Investigators discovered breath moisture inside the garbage can liner Terri was suffocated in, indicating that she was still alive when the terrible deed was carried out.
She was severely stabbed in the neck, strangled, and had her head repeatedly pounded on the concrete floor.
The Terri Brooks murder case’s postmortem report revealed that Terri had bruises and black and blue marks all over her body, as well as handprints that suggested she had been strangled.
She was not knocked out by the stabbing, but it most certainly immobilised her.
The medical examiner decided that asphyxiation by smothering with a trash bag, at the age of 25, was Terri’s official cause of death.
Sadly, she was still alive when it happened, which makes how brutally she died all the more horrifying.
She was also found with her winter coat’s contents scattered about, still on.
The investigation
The ferocity of Terri Brooks’ murder stunned the neighbourhood, and law enforcement made the investigation a major priority.
Terri Supino, a young worker at a nearby fast food establishment, was brutally murdered in 1983, leaving Woburn, Massachusetts, in shock.
Terri’s shoes were discovered not far from her body, against another wall, creating a terrible crime scene.
The drive-thru window was half open when the restaurant manager arrived and discovered that a sizable sum of money was stolen from the safe.
Because of how brutal and excessive the murder was, it was likely committed by a person who knew Terri rather than a random robber.
As the police questioned Terri’s coworkers, they discovered that she had recently fired the restaurant’s cook, former Marine Steve Daley, because of his outbursts.
Terri’s annoyance at Steve’s daily visits to the establishment prompted the police to ask Steve about the crime.
He passed the polygraph test, but the investigators released him since he was unable to offer a convincing alibi.
Because they offered convincing alibis, Terri’s coworkers from the night of the murder were disqualified as suspects by the investigators.
They also found skin tissue around Terri’s right ring finger’s bottom defensive wound and under her fingernails.
The case occurred in the 1980s, therefore forensic technology was not yet developed enough to permit DNA analysis of forensic evidence at the time.
The inquiry was unsuccessful despite pursuing other leads, including two additional attacks on female restaurant staff in the ensuing weeks.
Former police chief Arnold Conoline renewed the investigation in 1998. The officers discovered an astonishing truth from Terri’s friend Cindy Bradney during the re-investigation.
Cindy was not questioned by investigators during the first probe, although she eventually contributed to the case’s resolution.
The police learned that Terri and her fiancé, Alfred Scott Keefe, who was 36 years old at the time of Terri’s murder, had a tense relationship.
Scott and his brother Charles were found to be residing in Scott’s home, which was under surveillance.
The officers found Newport cigarette butts from the trash after obtaining a search warrant. Scott smokes Newport cigarettes.
Charles’ cigarette butts were found in an ashtray at a restaurant, however the forensic evidence and his DNA did not match.
Scott was questioned in February 1999 after Terri’s fingernail evidence and Scott’s DNA matched.
Although Scott initially denied having any part in Terri’s death, the Genetic evidence proved him wrong. Scott broke down and confessed to the crime after more questioning.
He claimed that after a disagreement with Terri regarding money, he became enraged and repeatedly struck Terri with a crowbar. Then he strangled her, faked a robbery to get away with it, and left the area.
Scott received a life without parole sentence after being found guilty of first-degree murder.
The Terri Brooks murder case serves as a reminder of the value of forensic evidence in criminal investigations and the necessity for law enforcement organisations to regularly reexamine open cases.
Who killed Terri Brooks? Where is he now?
Scott’s whereabouts following Terri’s death remained a mystery until 1998, when Arnold Conoline, a former police chief, decided to revive the investigation.
Detectives learned that before returning to his parents’ house in Falls Township, Scott had married, had a kid, and subsequently divorced his wife.
Until he was recently detained for drunk driving in another state, his movements following the murder of Terri Brooks were questionable.
Scott was interrogated, failed the polygraph test, and made a number of incriminating claims before finally confessing to the killing.
He claimed that he orchestrated the incident to make it seem like a random robbery after Terri tried to cancel the wedding and end their relationship.
Scott stated that he went to the Brooks family house the morning after the murder to appear innocent, which allowed him to avoid capture for the following fifteen years.
In February 1999, Terri Brooks’ murder led to his arrest, and he was charged with both first-degree murder and robbery. He admitted confessed to both charges during his 2000 trial and was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Scott is currently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institute in Albion, Western Pennsylvania, according to court records.
Although the circumstances behind Terri Brooks’ murder remained a mystery for a while, the detectives’ perseverance and determination allowed them to catch the killer.
Being a binge-watcher himself, finding Content to write about comes naturally to Divesh. From Anime to Trending Netflix Series and Celebrity News, he covers every detail and always find the right sources for his research.
