Cold Case Solved by DNA Evidence

Prosecutors with Charme Allen’s Major Crimes Unit obtained convictions today for a cold case that was solved with the help of DNA evidence. Assistant District Attorney Leslie Nassios announced an agreement today where Michael Mullins, 53, pled guilty to Attempted First Degree Murder and Aggravated Rape and received the maximum sentence of fifty years in prison for a case dating from 2008.

Nassios explained to Judge Scott Green that, in April 2008, a woman was found unconscious and partially clothed in Morningside Park. The woman had been sexually assaulted and suffered severe head injuries including facial fractures and puncture wounds. The victim was unable to identify her attacker, and the case went cold.

In February 2012, Knoxville Police Department Investigator Todd Childress received a tip from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that DNA from the 2008 attack matched a recent DNA sample submitted to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The DNA sample came from Michael Mullins who was under investigation in Memphis for a series of attacks that mirrored the 2008 attack. Memphis Police Department detectives interviewed Mullins who admitted to the rape and attempted murder that occurred in Knoxville years earlier.

Mullins was convicted in Shelby County of three separate murders and rapes and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole in those cases. District Attorney General Charme Allen still sought to hold Mullins accountable for the 2008 cold case.””Even though Mullins was never going to see the light of day, it was still important to prosecute this case. Every victim deserves justice. Every victim deserves closure.””

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.