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On a chilly March day in 2002, an Iowa grandmother, Shirley Wilson, was found stabbed to death inside the home she shared with her grandson, Travis Milligan. Wilson was stabbed multiple times with a steak knife, and while the crime scene suggested signs of a struggle, there was no indication of a forced entry, which led authorities to believe that the killing was an inside job.
From the very beginning, the victim's grandson Milligan, whose whereabouts were unknown at the time, was the primary suspect until police found enough evidence to implicate him in the crime. He was eventually found guilty of first-degree murder.
This week's episode of Murder in My House will chronicle Shirley Wilson's murder case. The episode, titled The Killer Had a Key, airs on ID at 9:00 pm ET this Tuesday, April 4, 2023. The synopsis for the upcoming episode says:
"Winter in Iowa gets an extra chill when a grandmother of 12 is found stabbed to death in her home; with no forced entry, detectives believe she knew her assailant, leaving the family wondering who has betrayed them in cold blood."
Shirley Wilson was stabbed at least 67 times with a steak knife from her kitchen
The 68-year-old Kentucky native Shirley Wilson settled in Iowa and was residing with her grandson Travis Milligan at the time of the murder. Her son Roy found her lying in a pool of blood in the house, dead from multiple stab wounds, on March 2, 2002. Authorities believed she was stabbed 67 times with a steak knife from the kitchen the previous night. The broken knife parts were found next to Wilson's body.
The crime scene was in complete disarray, with things knocked over and broken, suggesting that a struggle had taken place between Wilson and the attacker. There were no signs of a break-in, which further indicated that the victim knew the killer or the person had access to the house. Since nothing was missing from the house, the burglary-gone-wrong theory was also ruled out.
Wilson's son and a few others were interrogated until authorities started questioning the whereabouts of her grandson Travis Milligan, who was nowhere to be found. Reports state that Milligan only returned to the house, where he resided with his grandmother, sometime around 10:00 pm on March 2 and found officers investigating the crime scene. He was then taken to the police station.
Shirley Wilson's grandson became the prime suspect
Authorities suspected the grandson's involvement from the very beginning and interrogated him to learn about his whereabouts on the night of the murder. Travis Milligan, then 19 years old, informed the police that he visited a strip club with a few friends on the night of March 1 before returning to Shirley Wilson's house after midnight. He claimed to have stayed for 15-20 minutes, smoking a few cigarettes before leaving.
Milligan claimed that after leaving Wilson's house, he walked to a local convenience store from where a friend, D.J. Schofield, picked him up because it was too cold to walk outside. They then headed over to Schofield's house, where he stayed for the night instead of returning home. The 19-year-old claimed to have only heard about his grandmother's death the following night once he returned.
Travis Milligan was implicated in Shirley Wilson's stabbing death using digital and blood evidence
Officers were somewhat unconvinced by Travis Milligan's story and examined surveillance footage from the strip club, which captured him leaving the establishment after midnight at 12:39 am on the night Shirley Wilson was murdered. His friend Schofield also confirmed his story.
However, Schofield's phone records showed that he received a call from the convenience store at around 2:17 am. This essential finding suggested that the suspect stayed at the victim's house longer than what he had told authorities.
Other evidence included statements from someone who was with Milligan at the strip club. The individual claimed that he talked about killing someone from the family that night. Authorities also found a smear of the victim's blood on Milligan's knee. He was later charged with first-degree murder and was formally arrested on March 12 and was eventually found guilty.
ID's Murder in My House will further delve into Shirley Wilson's stabbing death this Tuesday.
