On a grim day in March of 2015, the quiet life of Glenn Cawley, a 55-year-old White male, came to a violent and sudden end in his Twin Falls, Idaho, home. On March 12, his estranged wife, Lillian Cawley, who was living in California at the time, grew concerned when she couldn't reach him. She contacted the authorities and asked them to check on his welfare.
Responding deputies made a horrifying discovery; Glenn Cawley was dead, the victim of a shotgun blast to the back of his head.
The investigation into the homicide soon pointed toward a person of interest: Michael Southerland. At the time of Cawley's death, Southerland was romantically involved with Lillian. A few weeks after the murder, in April 2015, Southerland and Lillian Cawley moved into Glenn Cawley's former residence together. The situation took another turn on October 28, 2015, when deputies responded to a 911 call from Lillian's daughter reporting a break-in at the home.
During a search of the residence for intruders, law enforcement found multiple firearms in Southerland's possession. Among the weapons was a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun found by his side of the bed. Investigators noted that this weapon appeared to be consistent with the one used to murder Glenn Cawley. The shotgun was loaded with the same size of round that had been used in the killing. Southerland, a convicted felon, was subsequently arrested for unlawful possession of firearms.
While Michael Southerland pleaded guilty to the federal gun charges and was sentenced to 42 months in prison, he was not charged with Glenn Cawley's murder. The investigation into the homicide was described by the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office as active and ongoing. The FBI, who assisted in the investigation, also linked Southerland to the cold-case murder, but as of June 2016, the case remained officially unsolved, leaving a family waiting for justice.
