The Trail Went Cold - Episode 66 - Valerie Percy

May 7, 1988. Mountainair, New Mexico. Steve Sandlin, a 21-year old rookie with the local police department, is found dead inside the station. He has been shot in the head and since the police chief pushes forward the theory that Steve’s death was either suicide or an accident, it is officially classified as “undetermined”. However, Steve’s family becomes suspicious when they discover several bags of marijuana planted inside his house and learn that Steve had recently arrested a local resident who was involved in drug dealing. Information is uncovered to suggest that Steve may have been the victim of a conspiracy involving other police officers and it would be several years before his death is reclassified as a homicide. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” covers our first unsolved cold case involving the death of a police officer.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/steve-sandlin/

http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Steve_Sandlin

https://www.abqjournal.com/201338/officers-death-still-a-mystery-after-25-years-2.html

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing on podcast row at CrimeCon 2018 from May 4th-6th at the Gaylord Opryland hotel in Nashville. Listeners can receive a 10% discount on their ticket purchase by using the code “TTWC”.

“The Trail Went Cold” is now on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

We would like to thank our sponsor, Winc, for supporting this week’s episode. To receive a $20 credit and free shipping on 4 bottles of wine on your first order, go to trywinc.com/cold.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.