UNSOLVED Fort Worth, TX 1980 Cheryl Lynn Tunnell-Springfield Cold Case murder

[morf13]

Episode 21 of The Murder in My Family podcast is out now with the 1980 Fort Worth, TX case of Cheryl Lynn Tunnell-Springfield. She was strangled and beaten in the early morning hours of Christmas. Her nude body was discarded under the Christmas tree only feet from where her young son slept.

Although the case is unsolved, police and Cheryl's sister Jan are confident they know who murdered Cheryl.

Cheryl's sister Jan discusses Cheryl's case and her efforts to get justice for Cheryl over the last 38 years. http://themurderinmyfamily.com/episode-21-cheryl-lynn-tunnell-springfield/

 

[OneParticularHarbor]

Wow, that seems highly personal. I'm not surprised her sister believes she knows who did it.

 

[RookieInvestigator]

I found an article about this case...This is so sad...I hope they get a DNA Match and find out who committed this crime...

ARTICLE

 

[puddintain]

New to this case. But it defiantly peaked my interest. Wish there was more on it. But, gonna keep looking.

 

[morf13]

Citizen Detectives, join us live tonight Tuesday December 13 at 9PM Eastern on the Citizen Detective Podcast as we dive into our last mystery of 2022; the Christmas, 1980 murder of 21 year old mother, Cheryl Lynn Tunnell Springfield in Fort Worth, Texas. She was beaten, and strangled to death and her nude body left discarded under the Christmas tree only feet away from where her young son slept unharmed.
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[Meganical]

Episode 21 of The Murder in My Family podcast is out now with the 1980 Fort Worth, TX case of Cheryl Lynn Tunnell-Springfield. She was strangled and beaten in the early morning hours of Christmas. Her nude body was discarded under the Christmas tree only feet from where her young son slept.

Although the case is unsolved, police and Cheryl's sister Jan are confident they know who murdered Cheryl.

Cheryl's sister Jan discusses Cheryl's case and her efforts to get justice for Cheryl over the last 38 years. Episode 21 Cheryl Lynn Tunnell-Springfield

The suspect the sister Jan believes is guilty is suspicious but if they have tested his DNA against that found at the crime scene, which the article could allude to, then the only thing I can see connecting him to the murder is the methodology being similar to that of the woman he was convicted of killing. The man Jan suspects does not sound intelligent and was easily caught for multiple crimes; his criminal record does suggest a good possibility he is involved, but I think it is odd he would have stripped Cheryl naked and done nothing sexual to her. The lack of sexual assault implies the possibility that the killer viewed Cheryl as a temptress but was more mad at her than attracted to her. However, and I mean as little offense as possible, I am very suspect of the ex-husband. Clearly, Cheryl knew her killer; she either let him in willingly or he had a key. Based on the podcast, Scott commented that they agreed to meet at six in the morning, which is a bizarrely early time for divorced parents to meet for their child to open presents when neither were in bed yet at midnight. When Scott enters and sees a naked body under the tree, he chalks it up to thinking some random girl is drunk and naked under his estranged wife's Christmas tree--I am sorry but what? Has that happened before? Not only did he not recognize that the wife he was supposedly getting back together with was the body but thought nothing of the naked body until after he checked on his son and then, assessed the body to realize it was his wife and she was dead. Did anybody corroborate the ex-husband's claim that Cheryl planned to get back together with him? If she did not plan to do that, then that gives motive. Still, I would have questioned any man that was familiar with Cheryl at the time of her death--any male employee of places she frequented; particularly a young man that has poor interpersonal or relationship skills that blames women for his rejections and could have misinterpreted Cheryl's kindness as a form of flirtation. If such a guy were to learn Cheryl was getting back together with her ex-husband, he would have felt that she led him on at his expense and would have lashed out. This is all simply my interpretation based on the information that was given in the podcast and the local article of the anniversary, so do consider that I have not read the case file when judging my introspection.