Title: “A Detective’s Unbreakable Oath: The 16-Year Hunt to Catch Rodney Castlin’s Killer”
On a quiet December night in 2000, the Wingate Inn in Cobb County, Georgia, became the scene of a brutal and senseless crime. Two masked robbers stormed the hotel, one vaulting over the front desk with lethal intent. A single gunshot rang out, ending the life of night manager Rodney Castlin, a hardworking father and husband who had been balancing his job with business classes to build a better future.
The assailants fled with a mere $304, leaving behind a grieving wife, Kelley Castlin—eight months pregnant at the time—and their young son, along with two other children from Rodney’s previous relationship. But they also left something else: a fingerprint. A small but crucial piece of evidence that would take 16 years to bring justice.
A Detective’s Promise
Hours after the murder, forensic investigator John Dawes stood before Kelley Castlin and vowed that he would solve her husband’s case. It was a promise that would haunt and drive him for over a decade.
Years passed with no leads. The fingerprint left at the crime scene was run through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) repeatedly, but no match was found. As time wore on, the case went cold. But Dawes, now a homicide detective, never let go of that promise.
A Break in the Case
In 2012, a new clue emerged. A federal prisoner claimed to have information about a long-forgotten hotel robbery near Atlanta. This cryptic lead reignited the investigation. That same year, Dawes decided to run the fingerprint through AFIS once more. This time, the system returned a hit: James Lorenzo Randolph.
Randolph had been arrested just weeks after Castlin’s murder for an armed robbery in Columbia, South Carolina. The key detail? He had used a small-caliber black revolver—the same kind that had taken Rodney Castlin’s life.
Now, Dawes knew he was close.
Piecing Together the Puzzle
Randolph had left a fingerprint at the Wingate Inn, but a conviction required more than forensic evidence. The break came when investigators tracked down the getaway driver, who was already serving time for an unrelated federal crime. After eliminating him as a direct suspect, Dawes secured his cooperation. The driver’s testimony provided the missing link, corroborating details that only someone at the crime scene could have known.
But the deal came with a moral dilemma: In exchange for his testimony, the driver would be granted immunity from state charges. It was a tough call, but Dawes knew it was the only way to ensure justice for the Castlin family.
The Arrest and Trial
On October 6, 2014, Dawes was in Columbia, South Carolina, when officers finally arrested James Lorenzo Randolph for the murder of Rodney Castlin. That moment—16 years in the making—was overwhelming. The first call Dawes made was to Kelley Castlin. After all those years, he had finally fulfilled his promise.
At trial, the evidence was damning. The fingerprint. The murder weapon match. The driver’s testimony. It all pointed to one man: Randolph. The jury wasted no time. The sentence was swift and unforgiving—three life terms plus 35 years.
For Dawes, seeing Randolph sentenced wasn’t just about justice—it was about ensuring no other family suffered at his hands again.
A Hollow Apology
Before his sentencing, Randolph addressed the Castlin family: “I apologize that they lost a loved one. I know how they feel because I lost two loved ones. I’m sorry, man.”
Dawes, watching from the courtroom, wasn’t convinced. “The man doesn’t know remorse. Those words were very shallow.”
Hope for Other Cold Cases
Solving Castlin’s murder after 16 years proved that justice, though slow, was not beyond reach. “Families see a case like this solved and think, ‘They didn’t forget about that case. Hopefully, they’re working on mine,’” Dawes reflected.
For the Castlin family, the conviction brought long-awaited closure. And for one detective, a promise made on a cold December night in 2000 had finally been kept.
