MCMINN COUNTY, Tenn. — A man has been indicted and charged in a cold case homicide reported in McMinn County more than 25 years ago after an ongoing investigation and the re-testing of evidence, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
At the request of the 10th Judicial District Attorney General, in November 1996, TBI special agents joined deputies with the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office in investigating the discovery of a female body, off the ramp of I-75 in McMinn County.
During the discovery, officials said that it appeared she suffered blunt trauma to the head and there was evidence that her hands had been bound at some point.
An autopsy identified the victim as Barbara Danley (Lehman) Johnson and it was determined she died as the result of a homicide, TBI said.
In August 2021, agents re-submitted evidence from the case to the TBI crime lab in Nashville for re-examination.
TBI said that based upon investigative efforts and the testing and results of the evidence, an arrest was made in Barbara Johnson’s murder.
On January 18, the McMinn County Grand Jury returned an indictment, charging Rodney E. Jackson of Roseville, Illinois, with one count of first-degree murder.
Jackson was arrested by the Illinois State Police and extradited back to Tennessee, where he has been booked into the McMinn County Jail, TBI said.
“I am incredibly grateful for the relentless work on the part of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in this case,” said 10th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Crump. Despite the years that have passed since her murder, Barbara Johnson will have her opportunity at justice. Part of TBI’s motto is ‘That guilt shall not escape’. They completely lived up to that motto in this case. The teamwork between the Bureau and our Cold Case Task Force was exceptional. The Cold Case Director, Calvin Rockholt, had followed this case since the formation of the task force and always believed it could be solved. The Bureau proved him right.”