A phone call helped crack a murder case that went unsolved for over 25 years. The phone call was made by none other than the killer himself, Johnny Dwight Whited. Whited, 53 resides in Trinity, Alabama, and is living with a terminal illness.

Whited made the phone call to the Decatur Police Department late last week. In the call, police were able to link Whited to the April 16, 1995 murder of 27-year-old Christopher Alvin Dailey. Dailey died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Decatur Detective Sean Mukaddam shared with the New York Times that during the phone call, Whited could not recall technical details of the murder, including the date or the year.

Mukaddam adds, "I've never had a situation where I've just picked up the phone and received a call like this. Nothing where the suspect calls me out of the blue and wants to admit." After his discussions with Whited, Mukaddam shared with the New York Times that Whited seemed "repentant" of his actions, hinting at this being a possible motive for the confession years after.

In the phone call, Whited provided enough information that allowed police to narrow down on the crime Whited was confessing to. It was then that Whited took police to the crime scene, where he recounted the events of the murder. After providing consistent information that matched the crime, Whited was arrested on charges of murder, and his bail has been set at $15,000.

Whited's Troubled Past

This is not Whited's first run-in with the law. Throughout the years, Whited has been arrested for various drug-related charges and traffic offenses. Less than three weeks after the murder of Daily, Whited was arrested for the possession of a crack cocaine pipe.

No defense attorney is listed for Whited on the murder charge, but Whited does have an attorney for a recent methamphetamine charge that he is waiting to stand trial for. His lawyer in that charge, Griff Belser, shared with the Huntsville Real-Time News that " has not mentioned anything about this other matter to me."

1995 Murder of Christopher Alvin Dailey

Two hunters stumbled upon Dailey's deceased body April of 1995 as they were hunting around the area of George Russel Road S.W. Dailey's submerged vehicle was found a little under two hours later in the Tennessee River. At the time, local news sources shared that there was a rock placed on the car's accelerator. During the course of the murder investigation, a suspect was never named. As the case grew cold, it was revisited several times, but no leads were ever established.

After the charges were filed against Whited, Dailey's family was notified of the arrest. No motive has been established yet, and police believe the two did not know each other at the time of the murder. Authorities are not yet clear on what prompted Whited to confess to the murder nearly 25 years later.