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Terri Brooks was working as a night manager at the Fairless Hills Roy Rogers restaurant when she was found murdered by her manager in the opening hours of February 4, 1984. Furthermore, given that she was beaten, stabbed, strangled, and suffocated, the crime scene suggested that Brooks died in what seemed like a burglary-gone-wrong.
While DNA evidence was collected from the crime scene, it was only useful for the case after 15 years when it matched a sample taken from Brooks's fiance at the time of the murder, Alfred Scott Keefe, who eventually confessed to the crime. Keefe claimed that the victim broke up with him, after which he snapped and attacked her at the restaurant before staging the crime scene.
ID's A Time to Kill revisits Terri Brooks' 1984 killing in an all-new episode titled Fast Food Cold Justice, scheduled to air on Thursday, April 6, at 9:00 pm ET. The synopsis for the upcoming episode reads:
"A late-night break-in at a Pennsylvania chain restaurant leaves assistant manager Terri Brooks brutally slain; when another female restaurant employee is murdered in a nearby town, detectives fear there's a serial killer on the loose."
Terri Brooks' murder: A brutal attack on the victim, cold case for 15 years, a breakthrough using DNA, and other details about the killing
1) Brooks suffered severe brain hemorrhage and was suffocated to death
Terri Brooks' body was discovered near the kitchen early on February 4, 1984, with a knife sticking out of her neck. A garbage can liner was wrapped over her face, and moisture inside it suggested that she was still breathing when it was placed over her head. She also had multiple black and blue marks, bruises, and hand marks around her neck, which suggested that she was strangled.
A subsequent autopsy revealed that she sustained a severe brain hemorrhage as her head was repeatedly slammed onto the hard concrete floor and that the knife blade severed a bone in the back of her neck. The medical examiner, however, confirmed that the stab wounds and other injuries only paralyzed her and declared the cause of death as asphyxiation.
2) Her manager was first to find the crime scene
Terri Brooks' family last saw her when she was leaving the house for her night shift the previous evening. Sadly, they only found out that she had been murdered the following morning when they called her workplace asking about her whereabouts, and the manager, who was the first to arrive at the crime scene, informed them about the tragedy.
The victim's manager said he found the body inside the locked restaurant and near the kitchen during the opening hours, sometime around 6:00 am. He then reported the incident to law enforcement.
3) The crime scene suggested that Brooks was killed during a botched burglary
According to reports, the crime scene suggested that the victim was killed during a botched burglary. She was still wearing her winter coat, and the contents of her purse spilled out near the body. Moreover, the safe was open and empty.
The manager reported that around $2,500 was stolen from the safe, further informing the police that the drive-thru window was partially open when he arrived. The scene also suggested that a fight took place between the attacker and the victim.
4) Authorities initially suspected one of Terri Brooks' co-workers
During the initial stages of the investigation, authorities suspected the involvement of Steve Daley, a former Marine and one of the restaurant's chefs who had recently been fired after he threw a temper tantrum at Brooks while in the kitchen, calling her "a bitch." They believed that after being dismissed, Daley used to visit the restaurant as a customer only to annoy the 25-year-old.
Daley did not have a solid alibi, but was ruled out as a suspect when he passed a polygraph test along with all of the victim's other co-workers.
5) Brooks' fiance Alfred Scott Keefe was declared a suspect 15 years later
In 1984, authorities collected skin tissue under Terri Brooks' fingernails, which was later used to find the killer after the case went cold for nearly 14 years.
In 1999, the DNA evidence matched a sample collected from cigarette butts smoked by Brooks' fiance from the time of the murder, Alfred Scott Keefe. He failed a polygraph test and eventually confessed to the crime.
Further details about Terri Brooks' decades-old murder case will be addressed in this Thursday's episode of ID's A Time to Kill.
