The murder of a Navy veteran has been solved nearly four decades later, police in Maryville, Tennessee, announced Wednesday (Nov. 6).

Billy Wayne Hearon died on January 4, 1985, at age 28, in the Shady Acres Trailer Park in Maryville, Tennessee. On Monday, Nov. 4, Roger Oody, now 62, who is currently serving a life sentence for an unrelated 1987 murder, was charged with first-degree murder, the police department announced of Maryville in a press release dated November 6. press conference.

Oody, who was 22 at the time of the killing, was an “acquaintance” of Hearon, Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp said at a Nov. 6 news conference.

Hearon was fatally stabbed approximately 70 times and found dead with blunt force trauma to the head in the Tennessee trailer park. Before his death, Hearon served in the United States Navy until he suffered a career-ending injury that prohibited him from working again. He was the 11th of 15 children in his family.

Hearon’s siblings continued to search for answers, with two of his sisters remaining in contact with the Maryville and Crisp Police Department.

“The Hearon family, I just want them to know that we’re very happy to bring some resolution and some closure to their brother’s situation,” Crisp said. “I know it weighs heavy on their hearts and minds because they shared it with me.”

Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond said Oody’s arrest came after a 2023 local news story about Hearon’s unsolved homicide “led to the development of evidence that we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Authorities then used investigative technologies and techniques and discovered new evidence over the past few months. Additionally, there is no statute of limitations on first-degree murder in Tennessee, so law enforcement could continue the investigation.

Crisp confirmed that Ody was a person of interest during the investigation. “His name was mentioned at that time. It’s been looked into,” he said, adding that at the time there was “no evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.”

On November 4, Oody was indicted by a Blount County grand jury. The next day, he was booked into the Blount County Justice Center. He is expected to make his first court appearance on November 8.

Oody is currently serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of Roy Stevens. Oody was convicted in May 1991 for the murder of Stevens on Oct. 3, 1987. Desmond said that, based on the law from the 1980s, Oody could be eligible for parole in 2035 because of the time he has already served.

“Without going into too much detail, I think you will learn that the homicide is connected to ours, that there is a connection and connection between the two,” Desmond said.

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Representatives for the Maryville Police Department and Blount County Prosecutor Ryan Desmond did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information Thursday.