Our card this week is Donna Tattersall, the queen of spades from Rhode Island.

In 1979, 24-year-old Donna was found dead behind a bar, a bar that she was seen alone

at just hours earlier.

Thanks to eyewitnesses, police quickly zeroed in on a promising suspect.

But when the case went to trial, they learned things weren't as straightforward as they

were seen. For more than 40 years, the sexual assault and murder of Donna Tattersall has haunted

the people of Potucket Rhode Island as they wait for the monster who committed such a heinous

crime to be held accountable. I'm Ashley Flowers and this is The Deck.

On April 22nd, 1979, before Sunday's service began, a reverend in Potucket Rhode Island

was taking a stroll in the alleyway beside his church. As he approached the back of the building,

something caught his eye in the grassy lawn behind the firehouse lounge, which was a popular

bar that sat right behind the church. It was a woman. She looked like she had passed out after

a long night of drinking, sprawled out on the ground, so the reverend called police.

But when the responding officer arrived at around 10am, it was clear that the situation was

actually much more serious than that. The woman on the ground was only half clothed,

and she wasn't passed out, she was dead. Because she was only partially clothed and had

some bruising, it was clear right away that foul play was involved. Within minutes, the area

was closed off and was swarming with detectives, patrol officers, and the medical examiner.

To everyone's surprise, one of the patrol officers piped up and said that he knew the woman.

In fact, he'd just seen her the previous night when he was working patrol at the firehouse lounge.

He knew her name was Donna, but he wasn't sure of her last name. He said Donna had been

sitting at the bar by herself for the majority of the evening. And the last time he recalled seeing

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