he went to the police station with the victim's sister to file a missing persons report. https://www.thoughtco.com/serial-killer-henry-louis-wallace-973140 (accessed March 1, 2023). This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. McFadden said he reflects on the investigation. He is believed to be the first documented serial killer who knew all of his victims. In 1985, he married high school classmate, Maretta Brabham. A 19-year-old cook at a Captain D's said he worked with Wallace for about a month, recalling that they talked about girls, going out and the Charlotte Hornets. Her body was found two days later. In 1998, Wallace married prison nurse Rebecca Torrijas, a woman 23 years his senior. Homicide investigator Garry McFadden, who worked on the case, feels that understaffing was the primary problem in the investigation. Why are we still having these debates? When one woman died a year ago, Stradford said Mack was especially saddened. Henry confessed in great detail, talking about the attacks and the sexual assaults. ", GREENSBORO Jurors found TikTok star Jessica Middlebrook, known as towtruckjess on social media, not guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thu. None of these women, none of your daughters, mothers, sisters or family members in any way deserved what they got. The marriage was short lived. Police were stunned at the enormity of his crimes, McFadden says. He worked as a cook or assistant manager at Taco Bell, Bojangles', Captain D's and the Black-Eyed Pea near Eastland Mall. He had the literal gall to show up at a service for someone that he knew he personally killed, said Sumpter. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Friends said Wallace liked to drink beer, listen to rap music and hang out at Granville Apartments on North Sharon Amity Road, where neighbors said he had lived since August. Henry Wallace has admitted to killing 11 women between 1990 and 1994. R ebecca Torrijas, wearing a. Once I touched them, it was over, there was no way I could stop, Wallace said in his jailhouse interview. I fight for my own breath sometimes. If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. One of Henrys mugshots had him wearing the same distinct earring, connecting him to another murder. In early 1990, Wallace murdered Tashonda Bethea in his hometown of Barnwell, and then dumped her body in a lake. Hes hugging me and patting me on the back, saying, Oh my God, Shawna was the sweetest person ever.'. She was a harsh disciplinarian, constantly criticizing her son for even the smallest mistakes. Every time hes done something I was the last to find out about it, Wallaces mother said. He never harmed his wife but thought about it, saying he just couldnt bring himself to do it. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. We definitely didn't have the manpower and we definitely didn't have the resources.. Eunice Stradford, Mack's friend and supervisor, said Mack always showed concern toward patients. The arrest of Henry Louis Wallace in March 1994 brought an end to a protracted reign of terror in Charlotte, North Carolina. So, if youre wondering what happened to Henry since then, weve got you covered. In fact, many of these women had known him so well that they gave him a certain level of trust. Another co-worker,Audrey Spain, was murdered by Wallace the following June. He was on the student council and. The outlet reported that, after eight years enlisted, he got into trouble on a burglary charge. Lottie Mae Wallace says she wont be going to the jail anytime soon. Woods now lives in Florida with his wife and three kids and works for a uniform company in the Tampa area. He had even been to some of their funerals. After high school, Wallace spent one semester each at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg and Denmark Technical College in Denmark, S.C., according to his mother. Thats what put the victims in danger. The Murders Tashanda "Shan" Bethea (suspected) March 18, 1990 Barnwell, South Carolina Wallace met Tashanda "Shan" Bethea in 1989. Neither school would confirm that he was a student. Wallaces race also might have played a role in allowing him to prey on women undetected, according to a 2004 case study on Wallace published in Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology. What his family and authorities did not know was that Wallace had already committed one murder just a year before his discharge. He has been on death row for more than 20 years. Henry Louis Wallace was born on November 4, 1965, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to Lottie Mae Wallace, a single mother. Sumpter's daughter, Shawna Hawk, was killed by serial killer Henry Wallace in 1993. Henry Louis Wallace Biography - Wiki. Serial killer Henry Louis Wallace killing spree began in 1990 with the murder of Tashonda Bethea in his hometown of Barnwell, South Carolina. Had the FBI become involved when they were first asked to by local police, the lives of Wallace's last several victims might have been spared. Vanessa was murdered at her apartment in February 1994. All of that happened in this spot, Woods said. 30, 2021, thoughtco.com/serial-killer-henry-louis-wallace-973140. Wallace confessed during questioning and in 1997, he received nine death sentences. In June 1992, Wallace claimed his third victim, Caroline Love, who was his girlfriend's roommate. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. He served as a weapons technician aboard the USS Nimitz, stationed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash. They tell me she was a great person, they say she wanted the best for me, Woods said. In March, Wallace set his sights on another friend of his girlfriend,Betty Jean Baucom, and robbed her apartment afterward. He also tried to strangle Hendersons 10-month-old son, who survived. MOMO aims to prevent violence in the community. To cover up the crime, his sister's friend attempted to burn her body. Brandi told me when she had Tyrece that she felt like her life was complete.. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Police finally zeroed in on Wallace after they located Baucoms car and found his palm print on the trunk. They didnt give enough value to Black womens lives. Henry Louis Wallace confessed to murdering the following women: 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Burrell has carried a burden for 28 years and thats one of the reasons he had been hesitant to see Woods. Proceedings began in September 1996. In college, Henry Louis Wallace worked as a disc jockey at a local radio station. On Friday, 20/20 is showing video they obtained from the case -- never-before-seen footage of a jailhouse interview conducted by the profilers who worked with his defense team. Wallace found his way back to South Carolina after a divorce from his wife that almost immediately followed his discharge. He eventually settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he began working at fast-food restaurants, eventually becoming a manager at a local Taco Bell. For the first time in the 25 years since his conviction, we look inside the mind of a cold-blooded killer. Wallace was the manager of a Taco Bell restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina. And he was just getting started. We trusted him totally.' Following this, Kirkpatrick investigated her home to find Hawk submerged in water in the bathtub. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/serial-killer-henry-louis-wallace-973140. Henry Louis Wallace is currently on death row at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina, awaiting execution. The Navy honorably discharged him in 1992 after he was caught stealing, and he returned home to South Carolina. In 1994, he murdered two women on the same day. "Serial Killer Henry Louis Wallace." Still, he feels the primary culprit was the homicide units understaffing, he says. ``I raised them all by myself. Were sorry that we didnt get him identified earlier, he said. A common misperception exists which suggested that few serial killers have been African American, at least according to media sources and many scholars, the authors write. At 16, he attempted to rape a friends younger sister. By Joseph Geringer . Those lives didnt have to be taken, Yvonne Wallace said. Wallace served four months in state prison in Allendale. (ABCs 20/20). The couple was wed in a room adjacent to the execution chamber that Wallace will one day sit inside and suffer the fate the state of South Carolina handed him. Wallace had tied a pair of shorts around his neck to stop his crying, according to investigators, but the baby survived. As the years progressed, bad Henry took over.. He has been on death row for more than 20 years. "The Taco Bell Strangler") was given death penalty on nine counts and is awaiting the sentence to be carried out. Lottie Mae Wallace brought up Henry and his older sister, Yvonne, on her own. We worked under very difficult conditions, says McFadden, now sheriff in Mecklenburg County. Some claimed that the police were slow in investigating the murders because the murdered women were all working-class black women, but the police denied that. I just lost it because I just could not comprehend that I had just talked to her and now she's dead.. It was just like something you do every day - no big deal. Early on, investigators didn't recognize that they were dealing with a dangerous serial killer. Sumpter is focused on making life better for others in honor of a life taken from her. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released a statement about the Wallace investigation to ABC News in May 2022. Her boyfriend, Darryl Kirkpatrick, and her mother filed a missing person's report. Wallace's mother was a strict disciplinarian who had little patience for her young son. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. On August 10, 1993, Wallace raped and strangled Valencia M. Jumpera friend of his sisterthen set her on fire to cover up his crime. This holds when comparing Wallace to the serial killer profile. Wallace joined the Navy in 1984. George Burrell is the cousin of Brandi Henderson. They tell me she was a great person, they say she wanted the best for me, Woods said. "The detectives who were assigned to the cases involving the victims of Henry Louis Wallace worked the cases as diligently as they would have any homicide case, with the race of the victim being irrelevant to the attention given to the cases, said the statement. Things seemed to be looking up for Wallace at this point, especially after he married his high school sweetheart and became the stepfather to her daughter. After his release from prison, Wallace moved in with his sister, Yvonne, in Rock Hill, S.C. On Friday, a special episode of ABCs 20/20 examined a jailhouse interview with the killer. All of that happened in this spot, Woods said. Sumpters 20-year-old daughter, Shawna Hawk, was murdered by Wallace in 1993. She said she couldnt blame me for what happened, Ms. Wallace said. During questioning, Henry confessed to killing ten women in Charlotte: Sharon Nance, Caroline Love, Shawna Hawk, Audrey Spain, Valencia Jumper, Michelle Stinson, Vanessa Mack, Betty Baucom, Brandi Henderson, and Deborah Slaughter. On March 13, 1994, Wallace was arrested and confessed to the murders of . murdered two women who lived in the same apartment complex. Ms. Bethea had lived with her aunt and uncle in the same Barnwell neighborhood as the Wallace family. One person being a chameleon, he will adapt to anything, any environment, any situation, hes very well respected, very well-liked person, he almost lures the women in for the other person.. Anguished, she collapsed to the floor with such force that she hit her head and started bleeding, she recalls. Like Love, she was raped prior to being strangled (via Caselaw). Within this shell there are two people, Wallace had said. He is currently awaiting death at Raleigh's Central Prison. Sumpter has stepped away from active involvement with Mothers of Murdered Offspring after realizing she needed to focus on her own healing. (WATCH BELOW: He had nowhere to go: Accused killer captured in SC after weeklong manhunt), He had nowhere to go: Accused killer captured in SC after weeklong manhunt. Furthermore, security footage from a bank showed a man with a distinct earring trying to use Vanessa Macks bank card. Once I touched them, it was over, there was no way I could stop, Wallace said in his jailhouse interview. According to various accounts, Wallace was raised by a single mother who abused him physically and psychologically while growing up in Barnwell, South Carolina. Hawk worked at Taco Bell, where Wallace was her supervisor. It was also clear from the lack of forced entry that the women trusted him enough to let him inside their homes. For almost two years the killer remained at large, causing what led to an angry hysteria In June 1992, he raped and strangled Caroline Love at her apartment, then dumped her body in a wooded area. He knew both of them, and both lived at the complex. He was also questioned in connection with the attempted rape of a 16-year-old Barnwell girl, but again, was not charged. Henry Louis Wallace (November 4, 1965) is a serial murderer who murdered ten young Black women in Charlotte, North Carolina, between May 1992 and March 1994. "None of these women,. In never-before-broadcasted footage, legendary criminal profiler and psychiatric nurse Ann Burgess interviews Wallace. They are like, I was her masterpiece.. . Burrell and Woods lost touch, but they were reunited in Charlotte a few weeks ago. This continued into the 1990s, and after an arrest for breaking and entering in 1992, Henry was given an honorable discharge from the Navy (because of his trouble-free service record). In February 1991, Wallace broke into his old high school and the radio station where he once worked. She did not get along with her mother, either, and the two argued constantly. Montaldo, Charles. In January 1988, he was arrested for breaking into a hardware store, and later plead guilty to a charge of second-degree burglary. Between 1992 and 1994, nine young black women in Charlotte, North Carolina, were raped and strangled to death, the murders increasing in ferocity and rapidity. Two of those women lived in the same apartment complex. He knew both of them, and both lived at the complex. She planned for her children to do better than the sock factory where she worked long hours to keep them fed, clothed and in school. How Danny Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper, Was Caught. He also led police to Loves body, whod been deemed a missing person. Serial killer Henry Louis Wallace was given nine death sentences Wednesday and then broke the silence he had maintained during his trial by apologizing for the crimes. Im still here, its like Im a survivor, Woods said. Due to his near-perfect service record, Wallace managed to get an Honorable Discharge from the Navy when his criminal activity came to light, but he was sent on his way. This time, the victim was a sex worker namedSharon Nance. His spree ended with Betty Baucom, who he killed like his other victims. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). 20/20: Lock the Door Behind You chronicles the work that went into the arrest and the. ``He had good manners, respectful.' This print then matched Henry, who was eventually arrested. He leans over to hug me and says, Ive been wanting to come and see you. His next victim, Caroline Love, was the roommate of Wallace's girlfriend. Four days later, Wallace committed his last known murder Deborah Ann Slaughter, who worked with Wallace's girlfriend, was stabbed 38 times and left to die. Police Chief Jack Boger rejected accusations by some that the investigation was slow because of the victims were all working-class blacks. Following the crimes, the media would ask the questions: Why weren't the crimes identified as serial killings much earlier? A few days after her murder, he and his sister went to Valencia's funeral. Despite Wallaces frequent calls and visits, his family said they learned just last month that he had a problem with crack cocaine. ThoughtCotells of how he tried to burn her corpse afterward. He is currently awaiting execution at Central Prison in Raleigh. According to Crime Magazine, he was fired from the station after being caught stealing records. Dee Sumpters daughter, Shawna Denise Hawk, was Wallaces friend and third victim. In the days before his arrest, Betty Baucom was found murdered in her apartment; she had been strangled to death with a ligature, there was evidence of a struggle, and she had been sexually assaulted. From 1992 to 1994, Wallace killed 10 women. His other victims followed a similar pattern. In late 1991, he moved to east Charlotte. He even attended at least one of their funerals, according to a 1995 article in The Charlotte Observer. Burrell declined, but he wonders if that would have saved her life. Records indicate that he awaits execution at the Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. ABC News 20/20: Lock the Door Behind You chronicles the work that went into the arrest and the allegations surrounding the polices attitude toward the victims. ThoughtCooutlines how most of Wallace's remaining victims were women that were known to him. It's not that we missed this. Wallace then moved to Charlotte, where he killed 10 more women through March 1994. Several days after the murder, Wallace and his sister attended Jumper's funeral. Wallace gave few clues to his friends and family that something was wrong. [1] Early life [ edit] Mack's sister, Leslie Little, had introduced Mack to Wallace in July 1993. The program also features an exclusive interview with Tyrece Woods on his life today after surviving an attack from Wallace when he was just 10 months old. His close brush with death at just 10 months has molded him as a man. [1] Contents 1 Early life 2 Early criminal career 3 Murder Victims 4 Aftermath and criticism 5 Trial 6 On death row All along, Wallacewho at some point had become addicted to crackplayed the part of the concerned friend, Hawks mother says. Additionally, the typical serial killer takes the lives of strangers and has a "type" that they work to eliminate. (Watch the video below: Mothers of Murdered Offspring started in wake of Henry Wallaces murder spree). All Rights Reserved. It began with a newly developed habit of stealing, which after several years evolved into rape and murder. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1985, at age 20, and married a high school classmate while on leave. Eventually, he started having rough sex with sex workers. It was the same earring that police had previously caught on bank security camera footage after Wallace had tried to use one of his victims bank cards but did not have the correct PIN. 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