This week saw a breakthrough in the investigation of the oldest unsolved cold case in the police department. The man, 80, was arrested for the alleged murder of his parents almost 50 years prior.

The Maryville Police Department said in a statement that on Tuesday, Nov. 7, a grand jury indicted Michael Fine on two charges of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing his parents, Helen Fine and Maynard Fine, in 1977. Currently residing in Alabama, Michael Fine was arrested in Jefferson County and is pending extradition to Tennessee.

Decades-Old Mystery Solved: Arrest Made in 1977 Cold Case Killings of Helen and Maynard Fine

Helen Fine and Maynard Fine were discovered dead at their Maryville home on May 20, 1977, from what appeared to be gunshot wounds. After a lull, the investigation into their killings was revived in May 2021.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 8, Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp provided more information regarding the killings and Michael Fine’s apprehension. Crisp claims that while working at a house on Everett Avenue, a telephone technician found the decomposing body of Helen Fine, 54, in a car parked outside the residence. When Maryville Police arrived, they found the decaying body of Maynard Fine, 67, inside the house. The technician had called Maryville Police.

Crisp reported that many gunshot wounds claimed their lives.

A year later, the gun used in the murder was discovered in a dump, and investigators were able to link Michael Fine to it.

Police were able to “do our job, seek justice, and bring the person who committed such a crime to answer for that and the families to know that it didn’t end in 1977,” according to Crisp, who termed the arrest “rewarding”. Nobody is overlooked.”