TN TN - Robert Kilgore, 68, Knoxville, 24 May 2004

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Robert Kilgore

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Sixty-eight year old Robert Kilgore was found stabbed to death by his daughter on May 24, 2004 at 8:00 a.m. at his place of business, Stone Source located at 7520 Chapman Highway. They found his body in the bedroom of the trailer that he also used as an office at the business site. His daughter went to check on him because he didn’t pick her up at the airport the night before.
Investigators believe that Kilgore knew his attacker and allowed him into the trailer after business hours. Kilgore often stayed at the business during the week and lived at his house on the weekends. They also think that the attack took place earlier that morning. Kilgore was known to be up at all hours of the night and spent most of his time in the office/living room part of the trailer. Investigator says that it is unlikely robbery was the motive because the office was not ransacked and nothing appeared to be missing.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit at 215-2243.
 
Investigation continues in South Knox homicide
Knoxville News-Sentinel, The (TN) - Thursday, May 27, 2004

A homicide victim found Monday afternoon in his South Knox County home business has been identified.

Knox County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Martha Dooley said autopsy results were unavailable for Robert Kilgore , 69, found dead about 3:37 p.m. Monday inside The Stone Source, 7520 Chapman Highway.

Kilgore's daughter found him. Kilgore helped his daughter run the landscaping stone business, which she owned.

Funeral services for Kilgore will be held today.
 
Video of daughter at: http://www.wbir.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=121464


One East Tennessee woman says it was the day that changed her life forever.
"It has completely traumatized and destroyed my life," Andrea Kilgore said. "I am not the same person. I never will be, and I'm lost. I don't know what to do."
Kilgore says she discovered her father's body, six years ago this month, on May 24, 2004.
"He had been dead for probably about 15 hours, and he was very swollen, odd-looking," Kilgore said through tears. "I just wanted to hold him, just one last time, to hold him."
Her father, 68-year-old Bob Kilgore, had been stabbed 31 times in the face and neck.

"If he had died a natural death, I could have accepted it, but this just leaves everything very empty, empty to the whole family," said Marie Kilgore, Bob Kilgore's ex-wife, on paper only, she says.
It happened at Bob Kilgore's business, The Stone Source, on Chapman Highway.

Knox County Sheriff's Det. Ray Treece says what first seemed to be a robbery turned out to be much more complicated. Det. Treece says the doors were locked, no valuables were missing, and Bob Kilgore still had nearly $8,000 in cash left in his pockets. Plus, he says the number of stab wounds leads investigators to believe the crime was much more personal.

The detective says Kilgore knew his killer. The business owner was well-known to keep a plastic grocery bag covering the door window. If someone knocked, he would lift it and peek out before allowing someone inside.

Treece says he must have allowed his killer in that night. Also, Kilgore had several weapons within reach that he never used to defend himself.

Kilgore's family believes that's because the killer was a trusted friend, someone who owed Bob Kilgore money and recently had been cut off from getting any more.

"I felt like I had been robbed of trust, just this trust I had had in this person," Marie Kilgore said. "I just feel like he's gotten away for six years of freedom."

Andrea Kilgore believes the cash was left in her father's pocket because the killer was after much more than that.

"I think he had some money hidden on the property that he had been saving all his life, like many older people do these days, and they may have a safe. Well, his safe might have been a garbage bag or a bank bag, we don't know, but we definitely know that they did not just come there to kill him. They came there to kill him for a reason, because they wanted his money," she said.

Now, years later, Det. Treece is hoping new leads and, perhaps, new DNA testing on some evidence, could finally close this cold case.
It's a day he's longed to see.

"This one is actually dear to my heart because this is one of my unsolved cases. Personally, this is one of mine," he said. Det. Treece says any new detail, however minor, could crack the case.

That one phone call from the public could lead to a phone call from him to the family. "I'm just praying every day that it does happen, that when I least expect it, I just hear the phone ring, and I'm saying, 'hello,' and, 'this is Det. Treece, we've got some good news, some real good news,' and that's what I would like to hear," Marie Kilgore said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Knox County Sheriff's Office at 865-215-3704.
 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Each day, Marie Kilgore thinks about how her three grandchildren never got to know their grandfather. "He loved his grandchildren, he was always there for them. Everything they needed he always provided. They were the apple of his eye."


On May 24th, 2004, Bob Kilgore's daughter found his body inside his Stone Source business on Chapman Highway in South Knox County. The autopsy report shows someone stabbed him more than thirty times. His family believes the attack was sudden, and unexpected. His wife thinks Bob knew his killer. "It was somebody that owed him money, he had been discussing that with me two to three days before his death."


So far, there is no hard evidence that points to one suspect, Bob's daughter Andrea says there are still plenty of hard questions that the family still struggles with. "I just want to know why, wanting to look at the person who did this and ask them why. Why would you take them from their family, from their loved ones? What was your reason?


Investigators are hoping you can help heat up this cold case. If you have any information that can help authorities, call the Knox County Sheriff's office at (865) 215-2243.



http://www.local8now.com/news/headlines/Cold_Case__122227679.html
 
Nearly nine years ago, an East Tennessee man was found dead in his business on Chapman Highway, and detectives with the Knox County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Division are still turning new leads.


Bob Kilgore, 68, was not only a well-known businessman, but also a father, grandfather, brother, son, and friend to many.


"He was one of the most generous people that you would ever meet," said Bob Kilgore's wife."He was always loving towards his grandchildren, and they were kind of like the apple of his eye, and I'm sure they were."

"Of the three of us, you know me and my cousins, I was probably lucky enough to get to know him the most," said Jade Kilgore, one of Kilgore's granddaughters.


Family members said it's a daily chore to get through everyday life ever since Kilgore was found dead inside Stone Source on May 24th, 2004.
His daughter, Andrea Kilgore, went to his business after he didn't pick her up from the airport.


"I had to take a cab from the airport," said Andrea Kilgore. "I knocked on the door, everything was pitch black, all of the vehicles were there."


Andrea Kilgore said she went down the street to what was an Amico gas station at the time, and asked a clerk for help. Together, they went back to Stone Source, and the clerk used a rock to break a window of the building.


"It's like surreal, it's not real," said Andrea Kilgore, remembering when she opened the door to find her father's body.

"It was devastating. I have never seen anything like that on TV. You see these cold case files and all these things they recreate. But that's nothing compared to what you walk into," said Andrea Kilgore.


Detectives described the scene as gruesome, with blood spewed on the walls.


"They got him from behind with a knife, and they cut him," said Detective Sara Quindry.


Quindry said Kilgore still had around $8,000 stashed in his pocket, so it did not appear robbery was the motive. Family members and Quindry said they believe the Kilgore knew the killer or killers.


"I think it was somebody that was angry at him," said Quindry. "Many witnesses said this, when he's done talking to you and if he's angry, he'll turn around and walk away. So when he turned around and walked away, that's when they got him. "


"I feel robbed. I feel very robbed," said Andrea Kilgore. "And I would just like to look the person in the eyes and ask 'why'?"


Quindry said the cold case division is constantly following new leads. She said new evidence was shipped off to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in the last four months.


"There are several people that I believe know what's going on with this case. And if they would just come forward and tell the truth, that's all we want. We want the truth. And then, you know, we follow our leads until we find them," said Quindry.


Quindry said each witness interview can lead to another witness interview, and until detectives track down the person or persons who killed Kilgore, they will not stop working on the case.


"We want justice for him, and we want justice for his family," said Quindry.
Andrea Kilgore said justice will never truly be served because her son never got to meet his grandfather.


"They would have gone fishing and done all the things the other grandchildren had a brief time to do," said Andrea Kilgore.


But, family members said an arrest would help bring closure, nine years since their loved one was murdered.


"We'll just let him know if he's listening up there in heaven, that we're still fighting for him,and we're asking questions of him every day. And that we have not forgotten him," said Marie Kilgore.


"It's really easy, especially after so many years, to lose faith but at the same time, even if we never find out who did it, that's not going to bring him back and we still will always have his memory, nobody can take that from us," said Jade Kilgore.


Anyone with information on the unsolved murder is asked to call the Knox County Cold Case Division at 215-3742.


http://breastfedchildren.blogspot.com/2013/02/cold-case-detectives-tracking-new-leads.html
 
Bumping for more visibility on this case. When you see someone stabbed 31 times - at least from the TV shows I've watched, that usually indicates it was someone close to the victim, a crime of passion. Just a theory.
 
This is from a Todd Sweet in The Post & Email, in which he accuses a John Edward Dawson of confessing:

"Believe it or not, this should be able to be confirmed do [sic] to my recent hours spent with Det. Sgt. Pat Henry do [sic] to knowledge of 2 murders that my cell mate [sic] has confessed to me, Mr. Henry gave me voice recorders to bring into the cell among other things to get the confession. Maybe not a great idea, but I am trying to get trust so as I can get the terrorist thing delt [sic] with. One of the murders was Troy Green and the other Bob Kilgore from Knoxville.[Editor’s Note: References to the Green and Kilgore murders in a local newspaper indicate that Dawson was indicted for Mr. Green’s slaying. Sweet has told The Post & Email that he has information regarding both crimes and that law enforcement has visited him about one of them.]"

https://www.thepostemail.com/2012/0...nfession-provides-details-of-jailhouse-crime/
 

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