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Linda Smith, a 61-year-old registered nurse and grandmother, was found gagged and strangled inside her house in Osnaburg Township, Ohio, in December 2009. Smith's body was found during a welfare check requested by her concerned daughter after she failed to get in touch with her.
The case remained unsolved for a few years until DNA evidence collected from the crime scene directed investigators to Kenneth Roth, a convicted felon with an extensive criminal background. Roth was working as a handyman for the victim at the time of the killing and was later found guilty.
Evil Lives Here on ID chronicles the brutal murder of Linda Smith in an episode titled Nobody Believed Me.
The synopsis states:
"When Matt Roth is just a boy, his stepfather brings him along on handyman jobs; he thinks he is just there to help his dad, but he doesn't realize he is walking into the scenes of brutal murders."
The upcoming episode will air on ID this Sunday, March 26, at 10:00 pm ET.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of abuse. Readers' discretion is advised.
Registered nurse Linda Smith was found strangled to death during a welfare check conducted at her house
Born in Canton, Linda Smith earned her nursing degree in 1969 and served as a registered nurse for about four decades. She was also the mother of two children, a grandmother, and lived with her pet dog in Osnaburg Township. Her estranged husband Craig Smith wasn't living with her, but the two were in the process of reconciliation and had been dating for a while.
However, in December 2009, authorities found Smith dead in her Orchard View Drive Southeast house. She was found lying face down on the bed with her pants pulled down to her ankles during a welfare check requested by her daughter, who hadn't been able to get in touch with her for days. She was also gagged with her arms behind her back. The nurse was strangled to death with her underwear on December 9.
While investigating the crime scene, authorities found no signs of forced entry, but her house was in complete disarray. However, the investigation came to a standstill due to a lack of significant evidence and potential leads until 2013, when the sheriff’s department pursued the murder case once again. They then connected a handyman named Kenneth Roth to the killing using YSTRA DNA found on the victim's underwear.
Linda Smith's killer Kenneth Roth, whose DNA was found at the crime scene, admitted to being at her house that day
Reports state that Kenneth Roth also admitted to being present at Linda Smith's house the day she was murdered. The 61-year-old hired him to help with tasks like moving furniture and yard work. He also made inconsistent statements to the authorities during the years-long investigation. He had a criminal background and was convicted of murder and s*xual assault in the past.
At the time of the killing, Roth was a local resident who performed odd jobs for the people in the community who hired him and was already serving time in prison for the possession of a gun. He was convicted in 2017, nearly nine years later, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
ID's Evil Lives Here will shed more light on Linda Smith's case this Sunday.
