On Tuesday, Investigator Micheal Smith discussed the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office’s commitment to solving cold cases, and insists that the focus on bringing justice never wanes.
- In his discussion, Smith addresses two cold cases, both of which are several years old. The first of these cold cases is the murder of Paris Matthews.
Paris Matthews was murdered in 2013 after answering a knock on his door in Fort Walton Beach. Matthews was shot in his doorway, and died quickly thereafter says Smith.
“We gathered hundreds of interviews and thousands of pieces of evidence, but none of this was pointing us in a clear line as to who was responsible for his murder,” states Smith. “The leads just dried up.”
Smith then continues to discuss his second cold case, concerning the murder of Jimmy Lee Dodd in Fort Walton Beach. This one is personal to Dodd as he was the investigator on call the morning Dodd was killed.
“Mr. Dodd was in his home asleep with his girlfriend and something woke him to bring him out of the house. We believe possibly a telephone call or something like that,” explains Smith. “Something caused him to come out early in the morning, before he would normally be waking up, and he was shot dead in his driveway.”
In both of these cold cases, the individuals were deliberately targeted. The reason as to why, has yet to have been uncovered, according to Smith.
“There is nothing that cops like better than catching bad guys but we cannot do this without you,” he says. “We are as passionate as we can be about these cases. We never stop looking. But without direct evidence from witnesses, it’s difficult for us to get across that threshold of probable cause where we can make an arrest in these cases.”
Smith encourages anyone who may have information on either case to please step forward. You can contact the agency at 850-651-7400 or contact Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS.
