Cold Case: Cliff Backmann

None — JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Action News is taking a new look into unsolved murders, hoping new tips will help investigators solve cold cases.

Someone murdered Cliff Backmann during an apparent robbery in 2009.

The working father was helping a friend with a project at an office park off Bonneval Road on the south side Saturday, October 20, 2009.

"The suspect in the case, we believe just walked in, confronted Mr. Backmann, robbed him and shot him once in the back. I doubt anyone heard it," homicide investigator Mark Gupton of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office told Action News.

Investigators say there was no evidence left behind.  They do have a call to 911, placed by Cliff Backmann right before he passed away.

Backmann's son, Ryan, is still dealing with that murder.   He has not listened to that call for help.

"It's something that for me is very difficult, for that to be the last time I hear my dad's voice," Ryan Backmann said.

"I mean, I can't drive to work without thinking that guy on the corner may be the guy that killed my dad," said Ryan Backmann.

Ryan Backmann quit his job as a architect, and started working with Compassionate Families as a victims' advocate.

Today he helps families whose lives have been changed by crime.

"Each person I meet, I learn from; each person I meet helps me cope a little bit more. Makes me feel a little more normal. Makes me feel like I'm not alone," Ryan Backmann said.

He is still hoping someone will come forward with information about his father's killer.

"I'll never lose hope," Ryan Backmann says.  "I need a hero. I need someone to come forward to say, 'I know something.'"

WJAX