Mugshot | |
Born | November 12, 1957 Richland Hills, Texas, U.S. |
---|---|
Died | November 1, 2013 (aged 55) |
Other names | The Fast Food Killer, Justin Parks |
Criminal penalty | Death |
Details | |
Victims | 7 |
Span of crimes | February 16, 1997–April 23, 1997 |
Country | United States |
State(s) | Tennessee |
June 25, 1997 |
Paul Dennis Reid, Jr. (November 12, 1957 – November 1, 2013[1]), also known as The Fast Food Killer,[2] was an American serial killer, convicted and sentenced to death for seven murders during three fast food restaurant robberies in Metropolitan Nashville, Tennessee and Clarksville, Tennessee between the months of February and April 1997. At the time of the murders, Reid lived with roommate Brian Fozzard and had a room at a boarding house, and he was on parole from a 1983 conviction in Texas on charges relating to the aggravated armed robbery of a Houston steakhouse. He had served seven years of a 20-year sentence, and was paroled in 1990.[3] Originally from Richland Hills, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth,[3] Reid went to Nashville to pursue a career as a country music singer.[4]
Oct 08, 2019 RELATED: Serial killer's lifetime of evil backed up by a prodigious memory Little told law enforcement victims were picked up in Tennessee, and one. If serial killers are some of the most deranged creatures on earth, is it possible for some serial killers to be more deranged than others? As it turns out, it sure is possible, and the murderers on this list prove it. Sexual assault, robbery, cannibalism, and of course, murder — the following 10 men are.
- 1Crimes
- 2Trials
Crimes[edit]
Captain D's[edit]
At Captain D's on Lebanon Road in Donelson, Tennessee, on the morning of February 16, 1997, Reid entered the store before opening, under the guise of applying for a job. Once inside, he forced employee Sarah Jackson, 16, and the manager, Steve Hampton, 25, into the restaurant's cooler. Reid forced the two to lie face down on the floor and then shot them execution style. Money, including large amounts of change, was found missing from the cash register. Reid used the cash from this robbery as a down payment on a car two days later.
McDonald's[edit]
At McDonald's on Lebanon Road in Hermitage, Tennessee [3.4 miles (5.5 km) northeast of Captain D's], on the evening of March 23, 1997, Reid approached four employees as they exited the store after closing. At gunpoint, he forced them back into the restaurant. Reid shot three employees to death execution style in the storeroom: Andrea Brown, 17; Ronald Santiago, 27; and Robert A. Sewell,[5] 23.
Reid attempted to shoot José Antonio Ramirez Gonzalez, but his weapon failed. Reid then stabbed Gonzalez 17 times and left him for dead. Gonzalez avoided further attacks by lying completely still and pretending to be dead. Reid then took US$3000 from the cash registers and fled.[6] When the scene was discovered, Gonzalez was taken to a nearby hospital, treated, and ultimately survived. He eventually testified against Reid.
Baskin-Robbins[edit]
At Baskin-Robbins on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard in Clarksville, Tennessee, on the evening of April 23, 1997, Reid went to the door after closing and persuaded the employees to let him inside. Once inside, Reid kidnapped Angela Holmes, 21, and Michelle Mace, 16, and forced the two to Dunbar Cave State Park. Their bodies were discovered the next day at Dunbar Cave Park.Their throats had been slashed.[5]
Trials[edit]
Reid was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder across three trials. Jurors from West and East Tennessee were brought in and sequestered,[7] because a judge determined that the overwhelming media coverage in Nashville would prevent the selection of an unbiased jury from Middle Tennessee.
Captain D's[edit]
In the Captain D's murders, Steve Hampton's driver's license and a video rental card were found in the median of Ellington Parkway with Reid's fingerprints on each. Reid was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder.
Baskin-Robbins[edit]
In the Baskin-Robbins murders, Reid's car was found to contain forensic evidence from the victims, as well as evidence of a credit card gasoline purchase near the location of the bodies on the night of the murders, placing him at the scene around the time of the crime in an area roughly 40 miles (64 km) from his home. Witnesses also placed a vehicle similar to Reid's vehicle in the immediate area at the time of the crime.[5] Blood evidence from the victims was found on his shoes. He was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder.[8] The Clarksville trial took place in the time between the two Nashville trials.
Sentences[edit]
Reid received seven death sentences for his convictions, the first two coming on April 20, 1999. Reid's execution was stayed several times in the years following, including an instance in 2003 just hours before the scheduled execution. Reid eventually waived his right to an appeal. Members of his family, along with anti-death penalty activists, claimed he was mentally handicapped and unable to make such a decision, and filed multiple motions (both successful and unsuccessful) to stay his execution. However, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld all of Reid's sentences.[6] Reid's case has received national attention among anti-death penalty activists.[9]
Reid resided at Tennessee's Morgan County Correctional Complex (Inmate #303893). His seven death sentences are the most ever handed down to a single person in the state of Tennessee.[10][11]
His latest execution date was scheduled for January 3, 2008, but was stayed on December 26, 2007 by US District Judge Todd J. Campbell, pending investigation into the constitutionality of Tennessee's lethal injection methods. The stay was part of a larger investigation, and not directly related to Reid's case.[12] On April 16, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in a Kentucky case upholding the legality of execution by lethal injection. The state of Tennessee immediately began appealing stays of execution to resume death penalty cases, including Reid's.[13]
Mental issues[edit]
After his arrest, Reid's family (notably his sister, Linda Martiniano) argued that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial, and after his convictions, they argued that he was not able to make sound legal decisions. Reid displayed erratic decision making, choosing to appeal some verdicts and not others, and professing his will to die as sentenced after having fought to avoid such a fate earlier in his defense. At the same time, however, Reid showed signs of paranoia, calling his defense team 'actors' and claiming he was part of a United States governmentmind-control project called 'Scientific Technology' that monitored his every move. In cross-examinations, the prosecution attempted to counter this defense by claiming Reid was a crafty con artist using these 'delusions' as a defense mechanism.[14]
Other crimes suspected[edit]
For a time, Reid was considered a prime suspect in the 1993 Brown's Chicken massacre in Palatine, Illinois due to the similar nature of the crime in relation to the two incidents in Nashville. Characteristics included shoeprints found at the scene and descriptions of the killer that matched Reid's profile. His alibi checked out, however, and Reid was later ruled out as a suspect. Juan Luna was convicted on seven counts of murder in 2007. On September 29, 2009, Luna's cohort, James Degorski, was found guilty of all seven counts of murder. On October 20, 2009, Degorski was sentenced to life in prison. All but two of the jurors had voted for the death penalty.
Reid is a suspect in the Houston-area killings of three people in a bowling alley for which Max Soffar has twice been convicted.[15]
Death[edit]
Reid died at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry, on November 1, 2013. The cause of death was from complications due to pneumonia, heart failure, and upper respiratory issues. Reid had been in the hospital for about two weeks.[16]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Mass murderer Paul Dennis Reid dies on death row
- ^'Tennessee Department of Correction Inmate Photos'. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- ^ ab'Texan Wants To Drop Death Row Appeals'. KWTX.com. December 2, 2006. Archived from the original on May 27, 2011. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^Echegaray, Chris (13 May 2008). 'Judge to rule on Reid's inaction'. p. B1.
- ^ abctruecrimebook.net
- ^ ab'State Supreme Court Affirms Reid Convictions, Death Sentences For McDonald's Murders'. The Chattanoogan. December 27, 2006. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^'1st Jury Brought From Another City in 7 Years'. Nashville, Tennessee: NewsChannel 5.com. 2006-08-07. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^'Opinions'. TN AOC - Supreme Court. 2nd Quarter 2005. Retrieved 2008-10-26.Check date values in:
|date=
(help) - ^Reid, Paul Dennis (June 28). 'The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty'. Democracyinaction.org. Archived from the original on 2006-06-16. Retrieved 2008-10-26.Check date values in:
|date=
(help) - ^Sherman, Mark (7 January 2008). 'Lethal injection is on trial before justices today'. The Tennessean. p. 6A.
- ^'Multiple Death Sentences'. State.tn.us. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^Icamina, Paul (December 26, 2007). 'Federal Court Stays Execution Of Convicted Tennessee Murderer'. Nashville, TN: Allheadlinenews.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^Brooks, Jennifer (17 April 2008). 'Injection ruling lets Tenn. resume cases'. The Tennessean. pp. A1, A10.
- ^Echegaray, Chris (13 May 2008). 'Judge to rule on Reid's inaction'. pp. B1, B2.
- ^http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/governor-perry-have-mercy-man
- ^Paul Dennis Reid's cause of death revealedArchived 2014-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
External links[edit]
- http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/opinions/tsc/CapCases/reidPD/ReidPD.htm - Various legal documentation related to Reid case
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110723091240/https://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/reidpd_122706.pdf - 2006 Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals decision to uphold death sentences
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110723091300/https://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/reidpdDIS_122706.pdf - 2006 Tennessee Court of Criminal appeals dissenting opinion
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Dennis_Reid&oldid=933811601'
TDOC Inmate Photo | |
Born | April 14, 1951 (age 68) |
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Other names | The Prosti-Shooter[1] The Rest Stop Killer The Truck Stop Killer |
Spouse(s) | Linda |
Children | 2 |
Details | |
Victims | 6 |
Country | U.S. |
State(s) | Tennessee |
Date apprehended | July 12, 2007 |
Bruce D. Mendenhall (born April 14, 1951) is a convicted American murderer and accused serial killer. He was arrested in Tennessee in July 2007 – and found guilty in 2010[2] – for the June 26, 2007 murder of Sara Hulbert. The body was found by the security guard on duty that night. A long haul trucker, his truck was found to contain the blood of numerous other murdered or missing women.[2] He has been charged with the murders of three other women at truck stops in Alabama, Indiana and Tennessee.[3] He is still under investigation for murders in Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas—some of which carry the death penalty.
Biography[edit]
Mendenhall grew up in Crawford County, Illinois.
He was married to Linda, and they had two daughters. Linda, who has since died, had reportedly gone blind from diabetes. Mendenhall never had problems with the law, though his wife and friends knew he kept a gun illegally in his truck.
Arrest[edit]
A resident of Albion, Illinois, Mendenhall was arrested at the TA truck stop on Interstate 24 in Nashville, Tennessee on July 12, 2007[4] after Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione spotted a truck that matched surveillance footage from the night Sara Nicole Hulbert was murdered at the same truck stop.[5] Upon inspection of the vehicle, a large quantity of bloody clothing and identification and personal effects of an Indianapolis woman, who went missing the day before, was found in a plastic sack along with blood spots scattered around the inside of his cab to include the steering wheel and even on his hands when arrested [6] and Mendenhall was taken into custody.[3] Police catalogued 300 items from the truck including a rifle, knives, handcuffs, latex gloves, several weapons cartridges, black tape, a nightstick, and sex toys.[7] Sampling of these items turned up the DNA of five different women. On August 2, 2007, Mendenhall waived his right to a preliminary hearing.[6]
Victims[edit]
Mendenhall's victims were primarily young prostitutes, usually found shot, though detectives have determined that his method of killing may have changed over the years.[8] During questioning, he implicated himself in the shooting death of Hulbert, whose body was found on June 26, 2007.
He has also implicated himself in the shooting death of Symantha Winters, whose body was found June 6, 2007 in a trash can at a truck stop in Lebanon, Tennessee. She had a criminal record showing at least one previous charge of prostitution.[5] On August 17, 2007, a Wilson Countygrand juryindicted Mendenhall for the murder of Winters. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life. [9]
Another victim killed on July 11, 2007 at a Flying J truck stop on Interstate 465 in Indianapolis, Indiana was recently found. Carma Purpura, a 31-year-old mother of two, was last seen at the far-southside Indianapolis truck stop. On April 10, 2008, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi charged Mendenhall with murder in the case. DNA tests link a large quantity of the blood from Mendenhall's truck cab to the woman's parents. Investigators also found her cell phone, ATM card and clothing she wore on the day she disappeared. Four years later her remains were discovered just off I-65 in Kentucky.[10]
On July 28, police in Birmingham, Alabama charged Mendenhall with the murder of Lucille 'Gretna' Carter, who was found nude in a trash bin with a plastic bag taped around her head on July 1. She was shot with a .22 caliber weapon.[11]
Investigators said Mendenhall was initially cooperative, but subsequently ceased to implicate himself in other murders.[12] Police are investigating the possibility that Mendenhall is responsible for other murders in the region including:
- Deborah Ann Glover, an Atlanta prostitute whose body was found near a Motel 6 in Suwanee, Georgia on January 29, 2007. Police are certain that Mendenhall was in Georgia on the day Glover was shot.[8]
- Sherry Drinkard, a prostitute from Gary, Indiana whose body was found naked in a snow embankment
- Tammy Zywicki, a student who was found stabbed to death on September 2, 1992. She vanished from Interstate 80 near LaSalle, Illinois nine days before, after dropping off her brother at Northwestern University.[13]
- Robin Bishop, a prostitute who was run over at a Flying J truck stop on Interstate 40 in Fairview, Tennessee on July 1, 2007.[14]
- Belinda Cartwright, a hitchhiker who was run over at a truck stop in Georgia in 2001. A composite police sketch made of the suspect based on information from witnesses bears a striking resemblance to Mendenhall.[7][15]
Until August 2009, Mendenhall was considered in the murder of Jennifer Smith, a prostitute found nude at a truck stop in Bucksnort, Tennessee in April 2005.[8] DNA evidence in 2009 proved that she was the second victim of killer John Wayne Boyer.[16]
Related Crimes[edit]
While he was in jail, Mendenhall's wife died of natural causes and he came upon some insurance money. He separately approached two inmates with offers to pay them $15,000 to murder the three associates that Mendenhall had implicated in his original statement to police. One of the murders was to be performed in a 'copycat' fashion to lead police to believe the killer was still at large.
For the crime of conspiracy to commit murder he was convicted and sentenced to an additional 30 years.
Mendenhall was also initially accused of solicitation of the murders of the two detectives involved in his arrest and questioning. Those charges were later dropped.
References[edit]
- ^'Police Try To Link 'Prosti-Shooter' With Indy Slaying'. WRTV. 2007-10-10. Archived from the original on 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ abWells, Len (2017-02-15). 'Court denies appeal from convicted killer Mendenhall'. Evansville Courier & Press. Gannett Company. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
- ^ abGreg Giuffrida (2007-07-12). 'Police: Man arrested in truck stop death'. San Jose Mercury News.
- ^'Homicide detectives arrest suspected serial killer'. Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. 2007-07-12.
- ^ ab'Police: Truck driver spoke of 6 killings'. USA Today. 2007-07-13.
- ^ ab'Suspected Serial Killer Waives Right To Hearing'. www.newschannel5.com. 2007-08-02. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
- ^ abJeremy Finley (2007-07-31). 'Group Suspected Accused Trucker Years Ago'. WSMV. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
- ^ abc'Mendenhall Suspected In Bucksnort Murder Case'. www.newschannel5.com. 2007-07-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
- ^'Mendenhall gets guilty verdict'. Lebanon Democrat. Archived from the original on 2018-03-03.
- ^'Remains found in Kentucky identified as Indy woman'. Indianapolis Star.
- ^'Truck driver charged in Alabama woman's death'. Chicago Tribune. 2007-07-28.[permanent dead link]
- ^'Was Silver City woman victim of serial killer?'. www.kob.com. 2007-07-24.
- ^Dana Kozlov (2007-07-13). 'Confessed Killer May Be Linked To Zywicki Murder'. www.cbs2chicago.com. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14.
- ^Christian Botorff (2007-07-18). 'Trucker gets look in other killings'. The Tennessean.[permanent dead link]
- ^Len Wells (2007-07-31). 'Cold cases thawing'. Evansville Courier & Press.
- ^'Man serving time for killing New Hanover woman indicted on murder charges in Tenn'. Star-News. 2007-08-07.
External links[edit]
- Tennessee Department of Correction; Felony Offender Information Tennessee Offender Management Information System Identification (TOMIS ID): 00465896
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Mendenhall&oldid=924402893'