5 Serial Killers You Didn’t Know Are From Tennessee
Every state has its good side, like the weather, the tourist locations, like Gatlinburg or Nashville, and its people. It also has a bad side that doesn't always make the conversation: The people. Not all, but a select few that leave a dark mark on the state's history.
Every state is home to some sort of a "serial killer," and while some may have worked out of the state of Tennessee, they were still born and raised in the Volunteer State - some of whom you may not have known about or may not have known the origins of.
5. Paul Dennis Reid
Paul Dennis Reid was known for a stint as "The Fast Food Killer," and was active in the Nashville area in 1997. He targeted fast-food restaurants, robbing them in brutal fashion, and killed a total of seven employees between February 16th and April 23rd, 1997. Eventually, he was captured by police, tried, and sentenced to death. He passed away from complications of pneumonia and heart failure in 2013 while waiting for his execution.
4. Thomas Dee Huskey
Thomas Dee Huskey was active in the Sevier County area (home to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge) throughout the 1990s. He was convicted of murdering four women through strangulation and was known for his violent crimes towards women. He received the lethal injection in 2002.
3. Bruce Mendenhall
Bruce Mendenhall was a truck driver who operated through several state lines, known for murdering at least three women, though more were possible. He was caught when a detective spotted his truck, which matched the surveillance footage the night one of his victims was murdered at the same Nashville truckstop. He also was implicated in the death of a prostitute found in a garbage can in Lebanon. The DNA of five women were discovered in his truck, but it's unclear if two of them were victims. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2007.
2. Michael Bruce Ross
Michael Bruce Ross was monikered the "Roadside Strangler" during his active time from 1981-1984. Ross murdered eight women between the ages of 14-25 in Connecticut during the 1980s. Ross was executed in 2005. According to Murderpedia, personal ties link him back to Tennessee.
1. Edward Spreitzer
Part of The Ripper Crew of Chicago, a group of active serial killers in the 1980s, Edward Spreitzer was part of the crew that had a hand in the murders of over 18 victims. In his involvement of the crimes, Spreitzer was found guilty and sentenced to death. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole when Illinois abolished the death penalty. It's rumored that while born and raised in the Chicago area, Spreitzer had ties to Tennessee.
There are plenty more of Tennessee murders to read about, some more gruesome than the next, and you can read about them at Murderpedia.
