Stephanie Anne Collins, a 17-year-old white female, was tragically murdered on November 5, 1986. She was last seen leaving a drugstore in north Tampa, Florida, where she worked. Her car was found in the parking lot with the keys inside. Her remains were discovered in a ditch near the Hillsborough River, northeast of Tampa. The cause of death was not immediately known, but her body had been in the area for some time.
The investigation into Stephanie's death revealed that she was one of
several young women who had been killed and dumped in the Tampa Bay area around the same time. Police initially looked for connections between her death and other similar cases, including the murders of Teri Lynn Matthews, 26, and Brenda Tyrrell, 33. However, there was no definitive link between these cases.
Four years after Stephanie's murder, Oscar Ray Bolin Jr., a convicted serial killer, was charged with her murder, along with the murders of Teri Lynn Matthews and Natalie Blanche Holley. Bolin was eventually convicted and sentenced to death for these crimes. However, his convictions and sentences were overturned multiple times, leading to a series of retrials and appeals. Despite these legal challenges, Bolin was ultimately convicted again in each case.
In 2014, a review by the Office of the Inspector General revealed that agents in the FBI Crime Lab, including one who worked on Bolin's cases, had falsified evidence. This discovery led to further appeals in two of the cases, including Stephanie's. However, Bolin exhausted all his appeals in the Matthews case, and an execution date was set for January 7, 2016.
Stephanie's family, including her mother Donna and stepfather John Witmer, expressed relief that some closure was finally in sight. They had endured years of emotional turmoil and legal battles, but the execution of Bolin provided a sense of justice for Stephanie's tragic death.
