Natalie Blanche Holley, a 25-year-old white female, was tragically murdered on January 25, 1986. She was the night manager at a Church's Fried Chicken restaurant in Tampa, Florida. After finishing her shift and locking up the store, she left around 1:30 a.m. and headed to her car. Her body was discovered hours later by a morning jogger in an overgrown orange grove.
She had been stabbed ten times in the chest and throat.
The investigation into her death led to the arrest of Oscar Ray Bolin Jr., a former carnival worker. Bolin was implicated in the murders of three women in the Tampa Bay area, including Natalie Blanche Holley. He was convicted of killing 17-year-old Stephanie Collins and 26-year-old Teri Lynn Matthews as well. All three women were stabbed to death.
Bolin's name surfaced in the investigations after an anonymous tip was received in 1990. At the time, Bolin was already serving a 22- to 75-year prison sentence in Ohio for kidnapping and raping a 20-year-old waitress in 1987. He was eventually sentenced to death for the murders of Collins and Matthews, but the death penalty verdict for Holley's case was thrown out due to legal errors. Another jury later found him guilty of second-degree murder in Holley's case.
Throughout the trials, Bolin maintained his innocence, claiming that evidence used to convict him was tampered with and planted. Despite his claims, the overwhelming evidence led to his conviction. Bolin's case gained further notoriety when he married Rosalie Martinez, a member of his defense team, while on death row. Martinez became one of the state's most outspoken death penalty opponents, maintaining her husband's innocence.
Oscar Ray Bolin Jr. was executed by lethal injection on January 7, 2016, at Florida State Prison. The execution brought some closure to the families of the victims, who had waited nearly three decades for justice.
