File:Marcia Trimble 1965 1975 TennesseeA.jpg — Credit: School portrait, c. 1974. · Public domain
Marcia Virginia Trimble, a nine-year-old girl, disappeared on February 25, 1975, while delivering Girl Scout Cookies in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. Local and state police, later joined by the FBI due to the possibility of kidnapping, searched for her. Her body was discovered 33 days later, on Easter Sunday, in a garage near the Trimble family home. She had been sexually assaulted, and the cause of death was determined to be strangulation after a broken hyoid bone was found. Despite having been deceased for about a month, her body showed little decomposition due to the cool, dry environment in which it was found.
Investigators believed the perpetrator was likely a local juvenile who knew Trimble, and police attention focused for years on Jeffrey Womack, a 15-year-old neighbor who was one of the last people to see her alive. Womack said he sent Trimble away because he lacked money to buy cookies; police found a roll of pennies, a five-dollar bill, and a condom in his pockets, which they viewed as suspicious. Womack retained an attorney and stopped cooperating with police and media. He passed two polygraph tests, and police were unable to obtain a confession or matching DNA evidence despite testing samples from 96 suspects, including Womack. In 1980, authorities arrested Womack for the murder, but the charge was dismissed for lack of evidence. Some investigators continued to believe he was responsible.
Semen recovered from Trimble's body and clothing was stored improperly and deteriorated over time, complicating efforts to identify a suspect through DNA. Investigators disagreed over interpretations of the evidence, including whether more than one attacker was involved. In 2001, three investigators — Police Captain Mickey Miller, retired homicide detective Tommy Jacobs, and former FBI agent Richard Knudsen — offered differing theories about the crime, though all concluded the killer was likely a local juvenile.
On June 6, 2008, a Davidson County Grand Jury indicted 60-year-old Jerome Sydney Barrett on charges of first-degree murder and felony murder in Trimble's case, after DNA evidence recovered from her remains was matched to him. Barrett had been arrested days after Trimble's disappearance in connection with an unrelated rape of a Belmont University student on February 17, 1975, and was in jail from March 12, 1975, until after Trimble's body was found, yet he had not previously been investigated for her murder despite convictions for other assaults on women and children. Barrett was also linked by DNA to the murder of Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez, killed on February 2, 1975, near the Vanderbilt campus close to Green Hills. During questioning, Barrett reportedly acknowledged involvement in Trimble's death.
On July 18, 2009, a jury convicted Barrett of first-degree murder in Trimble's killing, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Journalists later reported that investigators had, for years, not disclosed that DNA evidence had excluded numerous neighborhood suspects, and that Trimble's body had been handled without protective gloves at the scene. The case, and the decades-long focus on Womack, had a lasting impact on the Nashville community, which came to see it as a loss of civic "innocence."
Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez was murdered near the university, close to Green Hills; later linked by DNA to Jerome Barrett.
1975-02-17
A Belmont University student was raped in Nashville; Jerome Barrett was later convicted of this crime.
1975-02-25
Marcia Trimble disappeared while delivering Girl Scout Cookies in Green Hills, Nashville.
1975-03-12
Jerome Barrett was arrested in connection with the Belmont University rape and jailed, remaining in custody until after Trimble's body was found.
1975-03-31
Marcia Trimble's body was discovered on Easter Sunday, 33 days after her disappearance, in a garage near her family home.
1980
Authorities arrested Jeffrey Womack for Trimble's murder; the charge was later dismissed for lack of evidence.
2001
A local paper interviewed investigators Mickey Miller, Tommy Jacobs, and Richard Knudsen, who offered differing theories about the unsolved case.
2007-12-03
Nashville television stations reported that DNA recovered from the Trimble crime scene matched Jerome Barrett.
2008-06-06
A Davidson County Grand Jury indicted Jerome Sydney Barrett on charges of first-degree murder and felony murder in Trimble's case.
2009-07-18
A jury convicted Jerome Barrett of first-degree murder for Trimble's killing; he was sentenced to life in prison.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Criminally Listed / 42 min
ITK Ep 98: The Murders of Marcia Trimble and Sally Des Prez
People
Jerome Sydney Barrett
CONVICTED
Indicted in 2008 and convicted on July 18, 2009, of first-degree murder for the killing of Marcia Trimble; DNA evidence linked him to the crime. Also had prior convictions for other sexual assaults.
Sarah Des Prez
VICTIM
Vanderbilt University student murdered on February 2, 1975, near the university; later linked by DNA to Jerome Barrett.
Jeffrey Womack
CHARGED
Teenage neighbor investigated for years as the primary suspect; arrested in 1980 for Trimble's murder, but the charge was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Richard Knudsen
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Former FBI agent who worked on the investigation and offered a theory about the sequence of events preceding Trimble's disappearance.
Tommy Jacobs
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Former Nashville homicide detective involved in the investigation; offered a theory about the crime in a 2001 interview.
Marcia Trimble
VICTIM
Nine-year-old girl who disappeared while delivering Girl Scout Cookies and was found dead 33 days later, having been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Mickey Miller
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Nashville Police Captain involved in the investigation; offered a theory about the crime and commented on its impact on the city.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
portrait victim
File:Marcia Trimble 1965 1975 TennesseeA.jpg
Credit: School portrait, c. 1974. · Public domain · Source
Nine-year-old Marcia Trimble disappeared while selling Girl Scout cookies in Nashville, Tennessee, in February 1975 and was found dead 33 days later. Police wrongly pursued a teenage neighbor for years before DNA evidence linked Jerome Sydney Barrett to the crime; he was convicted of first-degree murder in 2009.
Where did the murder happen?
Green Hills, Nashville, Tennessee.
Who was convicted?
Jerome Sydney Barrett (Indicted in 2008 and convicted on July 18, 2009, of first-degree murder for the killing of Marcia Trimble; DNA evidence linked him to the crime. Also had prior convictions for other sexual assaults.).
