Henry Louis Wallace
Henry Louis Wallace | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 4, 1965 Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 11 |
Span of crimes | March 8, 1990 – March 8, 1994 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | South Carolina, North Carolina |
Date apprehended | March 12, 1994 |
Henry Louis Wallace (born November 4, 1965), also known as the “
Early life
Henry Louis Wallace was born in Barnwell, South Carolina,[2] the son of Lottie Mae Wallace. Wallace grew up with his mother working long hours as a textile worker. She was verbally abusive, criticizing her son for even the smallest mistakes. He attended Barnwell High School, where he was elected to the student council and was a cheerleader. After he graduated in 1983, Wallace became a disc jockey for a Barnwell radio station.[2]
Wallace went to several colleges before joining the
Early criminal career
During his time in the Navy, Wallace began using several drugs, including
Murder victims
On March 8, 1990, Wallace murdered 18-year-old Tashanda Bethea,[3] a Barnwell High School student. He then dumped her body in a lake in his hometown. It was not until several weeks later that her corpse was discovered. Wallace was questioned by the police regarding her disappearance and death but was never formally charged with her murder. He was also questioned about the attempted rape of a 16-year-old Barnwell girl but was never charged for that. By that time, his marriage to Maretta had fallen apart. He was later fired from working as a Chemical Operator for Sandoz Chemical Co.
In February 1991, Wallace broke into Barnwell High School and the radio station where he once worked as a disc jockey. He stole valuable video and recording equipment and was caught trying to pawn them.
In November 1991, Wallace relocated to
In May 1992, Wallace picked up 33-year-old Sharon Nance, a convicted
In June 1992, Wallace raped and strangled Caroline Love, 20, at her apartment,[2] then dumped her body in a wooded area. Love was a friend of Wallace's girlfriend.[2] She was also his girlfriend's roommate and a college student. She had worked at a Bojangles at the time of the disappearance. After he killed her, Wallace, his girlfriend, and her sister filed a missing person's report at the police station. It would be almost two years (March 1994) before her body was discovered in a wooded area in Charlotte.
On February 19, 1993, Wallace strangled 20-year-old Shawna Hawk, a college student, at her home after first raping her and later went to her funeral. Hawk had worked at Taco Bell where Wallace was her supervisor.[2]
On June 22, Wallace raped and strangled his Taco Bell co-worker and manager, Audrey Spain, 24.[2] Her body was found on June 25.
On August 10, 1993, Wallace raped and
A month later, on September 14, 1993, Wallace went to the apartment of 20-year-old Michelle Stinson, a college student and friend of his from Taco Bell. He raped her and some time later strangled and stabbed her in front of her oldest son.[2]
On February 4, 1994, Wallace was arrested for shoplifting, but police did not make a connection between him and the murders.[2]
On February 20, 1994, a day after Shawna’s mother appealed to the public to find her daughter's murderer, Wallace raped and strangled Vanessa Little Mack, 25, in her west Charlotte apartment. He knew her through her sister, who was a co-worker of his at Taco Bell.
On March 8, 1994, Wallace robbed, raped, and strangled 24-year-old Betty Jean Baucom a day after her birthday. Baucom and Wallace's girlfriend were co-workers at Bojangles, where she was the assistant manager. After Wallace murdered her, he took a considerable number of valuables from the house, then left the apartment with her car.[2] He pawned everything except the car, which he left at a local shopping center.
Wallace returned to the same apartment complex on March 8, 1994, knowing that Berness Woods would be at work so he could murder Woods' girlfriend, Brandi June Henderson, an 18-year-old high school student, homemaker, and mother of Woods’ child. Wallace raped Henderson while she held her baby and then strangled her.[2] He also strangled her son, who survived.[4]
The police increased their patrols in east Charlotte after two bodies of young black women were found at The Lake Apartments complex. Even so, Wallace sneaked in to rob and strangle Debra Ann Slaughter, 35, who had been his girlfriend's co-worker. He raped, strangled, and stabbed her 38 times in the stomach and chest before taking money from the apartment for drugs.[2] Slaughter's body was found on March 12, 1994.
Wallace was arrested on March 13, 1994. For 12 hours, he confessed to the murders of 10 Charlotte women. He then confessed to an 11th murder he committed before moving to Charlotte. Wallace described in detail the women's appearances, as well as how he raped, robbed, and killed the women.[2][5]
Aftermath and criticism
Charlotte's police chief rejoiced at Wallace's arrest, reassuring the community that the women of east Charlotte were safe. However, many in the area's black community criticized the police's conduct during the investigation, accusing them of neglecting the murders of black women.[6] One woman stated that the police did not care because they viewed the young female murder victims as "fast girls who hang out a lot".[citation needed] As Shawna Denise Hawk's mother, Dee Sumpter, said: "The victims weren't prominent people with social-economic status. They weren't special. And they were black."
Charlotte's police chief, Dennis Nowicki, had said he was unaware of a killer until early March 1994, when three young black women were murdered within four days. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department apologized to Charlotte citizens for not spotting a link between the murders sooner. However, they said the murder cases varied enough to throw them off Wallace's trail. Until Wallace's murder pace picked up in the early weeks of March 1994, the deaths were sporadic and not entirely similar. It was only during the week of March 9, 1994, that Charlotte police warned the people in east Charlotte that there was a serial killer on the loose.
Trial
Over the next two years, Wallace's case was delayed over the choice of
According to
- "If he elected to become a serial killer, he was going about it wrong way... Mr. Wallace always seemed to take one step forward and two steps back. He would take items and put them in the stove to destroy them by burning them and then forget to turn the stove on."
In 1994 police had asked the FBI for assistance, but the FBI said that the murders were not the work of a serial killer.[2]
Psychologist Faye Sultan testified during the trial that Wallace had been a victim of
On January 7, 1997, Wallace was found guilty of nine murders. On January 29, he was handed nine
Following his sentencing, Wallace made a statement to his victims' families.
- "None of these women, none of your daughters, mothers, sisters, or family members in any way deserved what they got. They did nothing to me that warranted their death."
On death row
On June 5, 1998, Wallace married a former prison nurse, Rebecca Torrijas, in a ceremony next to the state's
Since being sentenced to death in 1997, Wallace has
See also
References
- ^ "Bad Henry: Charlotte serial killer profiled in true crime show". WCNC. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Lapeyre, Jason. "The Serial Killer the Cops Ignored: The Henry Louis Wallace Murders". Crime Magazine. Retrieved 19 May 2012. Full content available only to subscribers.
- ^ "Wallace's Mother and Sister Struggle With News of His Criminal Life". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
- ^ "Man Charged With Slayings In N.C. Sought In Kitsap Case: Investigators Blame Him For 10 Murders Over 20 Months". The Seattle Times. 14 March 1994. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ^ Connor, Christina (16 March 1994). "Sheriff: Wallace Confesses to 11th Killing With AM-Strangulations, Bjt". AP News. COLUMBIA, S.C.: Associated Press. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Nolasco, Stephanie (24 July 2018). "Taco Bell Strangler detective speaks out about the infamous case in new documentary: 'There are still wounds'". Fox News. FOX News Network, LLC. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "NC DPS Offender Public Information". webapps.doc.state.nc.us. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- ^ "N. Carolina Serial Killer Weds Ex-nurse In Prison". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. RALEIGH, NC. 7 June 1998. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
Other sources
- Various Newspaper sources, mainly The Charlotte Observer, The Augusta(GA)Chronicle, New York Times, News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), and USA Today.
- Offender Data Screen. North Carolina Department of Correction. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
External links
- Geringer, Joseph. "Henry Louis Wallace". crimelibrary. truTV. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
- "Bad Henry". Investigation Discovery. Retrieved 16 August 2020.