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Cable repair ticket key to solving 1981 murder?

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OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is asking the public for help in identifying the person who signed a cable repair ticket book in connection with the 1981 stabbing death of a woman in her home in Moore.

University of Oklahoma student Tracey Neilson was found stabbed to death on her 21st birthday on Jan. 5, 1981. Despite combing through close to 1,500 leads, authorities are no closer to cracking the case than they were on day one, reports CBS affiliate KWTV.

On Monday, the 34-year anniversary of the murder, officials held a news conference and introduced a piece of evidence found at the crime scene - a cable repair ticket book. The last ticket in the book is for work at Neilson's home at 11:51 a.m. that day. A scribbled signature or initials is in the bottom left hand corner of the ticket and the OSBI is hoping someone will recognize the writing and be able to identify it.

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The book doesn't include a company name and OSBI director Stan Florence said Monday that investigators have been unable to identify the company.

Jeff Neilson, who was married to Tracey at the time of her death, told KWTV that they had cable television at their home, but he doesn't remember there being a problem with it.

Authorities say an $11,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Tips can be made to the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017.
 
Canadian woman's death unsolved 34 years later
Jan. 5 should have been Tracey Neilson’s 55th birthday. Her family, though, instead of celebrating, was at a news conference in Oklahoma City.

It’s been 34 years since Neilson, a former resident of Canadian, was killed on her 21st birthday in her apartment in Moore, Okla.

Last Monday, agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation released evidence they hope will lead them to her killer: a cable trouble-assignment ticket book containing a ticket for work at Neilson’s apartment the day of her death, an employee number and a scribble of initials.

Neilson’s family members said they hope the book will jog someone’s memory.

“Everybody should take a look at it, because it’s wrong,” said Neilson’s mother, Sandy Waterfield, of Canadian. “If somebody out there can come forward and say, ‘This is what happened’ or, ‘I know something,’ this is a duty we all have.”

Agents said they’ve worked for decades to identify the book’s owner. The last ticket lists Neilson’s apartment at Jamestown Square Apartments as the service address and puts a worker in the apartment at 11:51 a.m. the day of her death.

“We did determine back during that time, there wasn’t any work that was supposed to be done either by a cable company or a telephone company,” said Steve Tanner, OSBI special agent. “We checked all the utilities at the time to check if there was anybody supposed to be out there at the time, and there wasn’t.”

Neilson started her birthday by running errands. Globe-News files show neighbors told police they saw Neilson completing chores at the apartment about noon. Loved ones tried to call her to wish her a happy birthday that afternoon. She never answered.

At 5:11 p.m., her husband, Jeff, arrived home from classes at the University of Oklahoma and found her body lying face up on their bed. She was clothed in blue jeans and a plaid shirt and barefoot. Her throat had been slashed, and she had been stabbed multiple times above the waist.

Her husband said the apartment door had been unlocked. Police found no signs of forced entry, a struggle or a robbery. No weapon was found. Read more...
 
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says callers provide “helpful information” in 1981 cold case
A day after soliciting the public’s help to solve a 34-year-old murder, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation officials said they received “helpful” information from callers.

Agency spokeswoman Jessica Brown said Tuesday the agency received numerous calls with information about a cable repair ticket book OSBI Director Stan Florence said could breathe “new life” into the case of Tracey Neilson.

Neilson, a 21-year-old University of Oklahoma student, was stabbed to death on her birthday inside her Moore apartment on Jan. 5, 1981. She was found by her husband of five months when he returned from class at the university’s medical school.

Florence asked for help identifying the person who wrote in the ticket book, which he made public for the first time Monday.

The last ticket in the book, Florence said, is for work at Neilson’s home the morning she was killed. On the bottom left corner of the book is a box for the employee name with three letters written in that box.

Brown would not disclose details of the calls but did say “they have been helpful.”

“I think we’re making progress,” she said.

OSBI, the Moore Police Department and the victim’s family are offering a combined $11,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the OSBI hotline at (800) 522-8017.

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Tracey Neilson - MooreCrimeTips.com
****Unsolved Cold Case 81-00393****

On Monday, January 5, 1981, Tracey Diane Neilson, 21 years of age, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in her apartment located at 1104 NW 10th Street. Tracey was a junior at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. She lived with her husband of five months who was also a student at the University. Tracey was killed around noon and she was found neatly dressed. It was Tracey’s 21st birthday. Anyone with information about Tracey’s death, please contact CrimeStoppers of Moore at (405)793-5160 or online at www.moorecrimetips.com. You can remain anonymous and the information you provide could lead to a cash reward.
 
Article posted on January 12, 2015...

Panhandle woman's death on 21st birthday unsolved 34 years later

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Courtesy: OSBI
A lone fingerprint, what OSBI agents called “one of the best pieces of evidence,” was found, but trying to match latent prints without a suspect print was time-consuming and extremely difficult in the 1980s.

Two neighbors provided different descriptions of a man police said may be the same suspect; the first was described as in his late 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 155 pounds with dark, curly medium-length hair and a day’s growth of beard; the second was described as being in his early 30s, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 150 to 170 pounds with short black hair worn in a military style with short sideburns. Link to artist sketch of possible suspect HERE>>

No one matching either description has been found, and no motive was established.

Steve Tanner (OSBI special agent) said while the ticket book doesn’t show a company name, agents have narrowed it down to Southwestern Bell (now AT&T) and are looking for anybody who was employed in the area at that time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the OSBI hotline at 1-800-522-8017. A reward of $11,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Neilson’s killer.
 
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