Murder investigation ongoing

The investigation into the murder of Mt. Juliet mother Sara A. McPherson, 35,  is now a month long with police officials saying the investigation is "going the way it should."

A Mt. Juliet Police officer discovered McPherson shot dead in the driver's seat of her 2002 Mitsubishi Diamante parked near the U-Store-It facility in South Mt. Juliet predawn Oct. 31.

"Early this morning Officer Michael Rountree was on routine patrol on Central Pike around 1:13 a.m. and became suspicious when he saw a vehicle parked with the lights on," said MJPD Community Policing Director Tyler Chandler the day after the grusome discovery. "The vehicle was parked at the U-Store-It."

According to Chandler, police are treating the death as a homicide and will not release details of the scene until the investigation is complete.

However, this week he said the investigation of moving along.

"Detectives are following strong leads and working to identify the suspect," he said this week.

The Medical Examiner has estimated that the death ocurred sometime between 10 p.m. on Oct. 31 and just before the time the body was discovered, according to Chandler.

Members of the Lebanon Police Department's Forensic Unit are assisting MJPD investigators on solving this crime.

According to Chandler, the vehicle was relocated to a garage at City Hall so it could be properly processed.

In a statement issued after McPherson's body was found, Chandler further stated that there is "no indication that the woman was looking at a storage unit." He also said that the woman was not an employee of the storage facility and that "there is no indication that this was a random killing."

"This is a very unfortunate and sad event," Chandler stated in the release. "And it is the Mt. Juliet Police Department's mission to investigate this homicide with complete dedication to ensure that justice is met for the victim."

Mt. Juliet News Managing Editor Laurie Everett can be reached at 754-6397 or by email at mtjulietnews@tds.net