NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A positive DNA match would likely lead to Jerome Barrett being charged in connection with the death of Marcia Trimble. While that may answer one big question, it certainly leaves a lot more unanswered ones.

Video: Questions Linger In String Of 1970s Attacks

Few are discussing whether Barrett was a pedophile long before he allegedly crossed paths with Marcia Trimble.

Barrett was released from prison on Aug. 14, 1974. It is unclear what he did during the late summer or fall of that year, but by Feb. 2, 1975, there were a string of attacks on women.

Vanderbilt student Sarah Des Prez was slain, and a Belmont student was raped 15 days later. Six days later, a woman in west Nashville was raped. Two days later, Trimble disappeared.

On March 9, a couple was held hostage and the wife was raped. On March 12, Barrett was arrested shortly after an attack that was foiled.

Former rape detective Ralph Langston said all of those crimes had the same mode of operation.

“All of them were random, but that doesn't mean they weren't planned rapes. He knew he was going to rape when he did it. They were just random, rather than stalking,” said Langston.

The only real variation of the other incidents was that Trimble was a 9-year-old girl while the others were women.

Barrett was already a convicted pedophile during the mid-1970s and released in August 1974 on child molestation charges.

After his release, Barrett secured a job near Julia Green Elementary School in Green Gills.

“I think he went looking up that street for those children because there's no telling how many he may have targeted. It may have just been the first one he saw that day. There were other littler girls,” said Langston.

Detective Sherman Nickens said he had tunnel vision about the case and really focused on just a couple of suspects. Even so, he still has questions if Barrett is the killer.

"Time-frame to me is the only thing puzzling to me. When Marcia walked out of the house, where was this guy? Where would he get her? Was he around the Edgerton home? Where was he at? Did he work out there? How did he get there? How did he leave?” said Nickens.

But for Langston, all of those questions make Barrett an even more likely answer to this case.

When Barrett was finally arrested in connection with a rape, detectives went to his apartment and found a mound of jewelry. Only a third of it was ever identified, so police believe there were more victims who never came forward.