Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
ABC 20/20 will explore the 1987 mysterious murder of Susan Woods in Stephenville, Texas, that went unsolved for 20 years. The episode is titled ‘There Is A Monster In Me’ and it will air on the network this Friday, January 19, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
Texas Monthly reported that Susan Woods’ father found her naked, dead body in a bathtub full of black water in 1987. Her hands tied behind her with a tank top. The medical examiner later confirmed that the killer had raped and sodomized her. In the bathroom, detectives also found two sets of fingerprints and palm prints, as well as cigarette butts in the living room.
Detectives initially suspected the estranged husband Michael Woods’ involvement in Susan’s murder, but the case went cold. Nearly two decades later, Michael’s fingerprints did not match the ones from the crime scene. Cold case detectives then used the FBI’s electronic national fingerprint database to match the prints to Joseph Scott Hatley in 2006. The following year, Hatley entered a plea deal to serve 30 years in prison.
How was Susan Woods’ murder case solved?
According to reports such as Texas Monthly and Plainview Herald, it took detectives nearly two decades to solve Susan Woods’ murder case. Susan’s murder shocked the small town of Stephenville in Texas in 1987.
Susan’s father, Joe Atkins, discovered her dead body submerged in a bathtub filled with water at her house. The 30-year-old reportedly missed her shift at the sandpaper factory for two days. A supervisor called Joe, informing him that Susan had failed to show up at work. Joe, concerned that something was wrong, drove to his daughter’s house only to find the scene. Officers found fingerprints and palm prints in the bathroom and cigarette butts in the living room.
The medical examiner confirmed that the killer had raped and sodomized Susan Woods. They also found a red line across the victim’s throat, which suggested that her killer had tried to strangle her. Plainview Herald stated that the examiner determined she died from asphyxiation or drowning.
According to The Cinemaholic, at the time of the murder, Susan was going through a divorce with Michael Woods. Her best friend, Cindy Hayes, alleged that Michael had left her a cassette with an incriminating recording. In the recording, Michael said offensive and crude things about Susan, her family, and her friends.
During the initial investigation, detectives suspected Michael’s involvement in the crime, but there was no direct evidence to implicate him. Moreover, there was a lack of other leads. The case went cold despite an abundance of physical evidence, as DNA analysis was still years away.
Nearly two decades later, cold case detectives re-opened Susan Woods’ case and were able to prove Michael Woods’ innocence. They used the DNA from the cigarette butts to clear Michael as a suspect. Then, in May 2006, they matched the fingerprints from the crime scene to Joseph Scott Hatley using the FBI’s electronic national fingerprint database.
Plainview Herald stated that detectives identified Joseph as the killer as he had been convicted of robbery in another state since the murder. His prints were already in the system when they re-opened the case. Eventually, in 2007, Hatley struck a plea deal to serve thirty years, and as part of the deal, he also agreed to testify against his cellmates in the Stephenville jail.
In 2017, Joseph Scott Hatley was diagnosed with bladder cancer. A year later, he got an early release from prison on good behavior after serving only 11 years. In 2021, the convicted killer’s landlord found him dead on the floor of his trailer home, reported Texas Monthly.
ABC 20/20’s episode ‘There Is A Monster In Me’ on Susan Woods’ murder case airs on January 19, 2024.
