Intriguing letter apparently part of probe in 1987 homicide

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) - A letter kept in a safe deposit box apparently is part of the evidence against an Alabama man who is charged with killing a 19-year-old woman in Illinois in 1987, an attorney said.

Defense lawyer Christopher DeRango made the disclosure Wednesday, the same day that Jesse Smith pleaded not guilty in the death of Tammy Tracey of Rockford, who disappeared after going to a park to wax her car.

Smith, 64, of Tuscumbia, Alabama, was arrested in Georgia on Nov. 19. He's a former Illinois resident.

Police have declined to say what led to Smith's arrest. But DeRango said police in a probable cause statement referred to a letter written by someone who implicated Smith, the Rockford Register Star reported. The writer is deceased.

'œIt makes reference to a letter that came out of a safe deposit box that apparently was only released after someone's death that makes allegations about this case,'ť DeRango said. 'œCandidly, I have no idea how that would be admissible in a court of law or how in the world they intend to establish its veracity.'ť

The letter was discovered 11 years ago and was written by someone who claims to have had a relationship with Smith in the late 1980s, DeRango said.

Tracey's remains were found in the Sugar River Forest Preserve in Durand in 1988. She had been stabbed and shot.