HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — The Hernando County Sheriff's Office closed a cold case from 1972, giving a name to a "Jane Doe" left nameless for more than 50 years. And, authorities say her murderer had killed at least three other people.
Jerry Fletcher, who died in 2014 while serving time in jail, is now accused of the strangulation and murder of Peggy Shelton, one of his wives, in 1972. This charge is in addition to two other murders Fletcher was charged with.
Shelton and Fletcher got married in Hillsborough County on Dec. 18, 1971, according to marriage records. There was no record of divorce between the two.
Hernando County deputies found Shelton wrapped in a "unique" blanket in Withlacoochee State Forest on July 19, 1972, approximately four days after she was murdered, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said at a press conference.
At the time, deputies were unable to test her DNA. Shelton was never reported missing and Fletcher reportedly never mentioned her to anyone.
She was buried in a local cemetery as a "Jane Doe," and her case was unsolved.
The blanket Shelton was found wrapped in was identified by a textile specialist later on as a commonly found blanket made for southern hotels during the 1960s and 70s. The hotel blankets of cottages owned by Fletchers' parents were reportedly a similar match to the blanket Shelton was found in, Nienhuis said.
After Shelton's murder, Fletcher left Florida for Illinois, where he was found guilty and arrested for the abduction, rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl.
Fletcher also reportedly raped, strangled and murdered 13-year-old Shirley McCune, who was found wrapped in a blanket in a cemetery in Marshall County, Illinois, according to Nienhuis.
Before Shelton's murder, 14-year-old Gina Justi was found strangled and left in a blanket in an orange grove in Palm Harbor, FL, and Fletcher was later convicted in 2013 for her death after finding his DNA on her, the sheriff said.
Before that, Fletcher lived in Tampa and was charged with abducting a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint but was acquitted, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
When Pinellas County deputies went to see Fletcher in his Illinois cell, he admitted to "more murders" in Florida but refused details because there was no guarantee of no death penalty charges, according to the Hernando County Sheriff.
In 2015, there was an order to remove Shelton from her grave to complete a full DNA profile. Due to DNA decomposition, though, identifying her body was reportedly difficult because she was still reported as a "Jane Doe."
In 2019, her body was sent for genealogy to Marshall University. The genealogy profile on Shelton was sent to Othram, who got her name in 2021. Detectives then reached out to Hawkins County, Kentucky, where she had lived, and confirmed it was her.
Fletcher's other two wives, Gloria Espinoza and Matilda Rigsby, were interviewed by Hernando detectives, who said that he was a violent person and that they thought he would kill them if they didn't leave him, which they both did.