Region · United States

True crime cases in Tennessee

30case filesUpdated Jul 18, 2026

Casepin holds 30 case files in Tennessee. By legal status, 8 marked unsolved, 1 marked cold, 3 marked ongoing and 18 marked solved.

8unsolved 1cold 3ongoing 18solved

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Files: 30
Unsolved: 8
Cold: 1
Ongoing: 3
Solved: 18
Span: 1872–2024
With coverage: 16

Map of the 30 case files in Tennessee, pinned by legal status — 30 files in TennesseePins coloured by legal statusExplore live

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Credit: New York World-Telegram & Sun / Wikimedia CommonsPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListen
Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee · 1968
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray, an escaped convict, pleaded guilty to the murder in 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years, though he later recanted. A 1999 civil jury found Loyd Jowers and unnamed others civilly liable for a conspiracy, a finding the U.S. Department of Justice disputed in 2000 for lack of evidence.
1 thing to watch or hear
Credit: Lorenzen_Wright.JPG : Original uploader was Nick81aku at en.wikipedia derivative work:…Public domainSourceSOLVEDListen
Collierville, Tennessee, United States · 2010
Murder of Lorenzen Wright
Lorenzen Wright, a former NBA player, went missing from Collierville, Tennessee, in July 2010 and was found shot to death days later. Seven years afterward, his ex-wife Sherra Wright-Robinson pleaded guilty to facilitating his murder, and her friend Billy Ray Turner was convicted of carrying it out.
1 thing to watch or hear
UNSOLVEDListen
Cleveland, Tennessee · 2009
Disappearance of Marsha Brantley
Marsha Brantley, a Cleveland, Tennessee woman, disappeared around May to June 2009; her car, phone, and other valuables were left behind, and no direct evidence of what happened to her has ever been found. Her then-husband, Donnie Brantley, was charged with her murder in 2013 and again in 2016, but both charges were later dismissed for lack of evidence, and her disappearance remains unsolved.
1 thing to watch or hear
SOLVEDListen
Knoxville, Tennessee · 2016
Murders of Joel and Lisa Guy
On November 26, 2016, 28-year-old Joel Michael Guy Jr. murdered and dismembered his parents, Joel Guy Sr., 61, and Lisa Guy, 55, in the family's Knoxville, Tennessee home. He was convicted of both murders and of abuse of a corpse in October 2020 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus four years.
1 thing to watch or hear
SOLVEDListen
Memphis, Tennessee, United States · 2022
Murder of Eliza Fletcher
Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher was abducted while running and killed in September 2022, and Cleotha Abston later pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping.
1 thing to watch or hear
SOLVEDListen
Waffle House, Antioch, Nashville, Tennessee · 2018
Nashville Waffle House shooting
On April 22, 2018, Travis Reinking fatally shot four people and injured others at a Waffle House in Antioch, Nashville, before an unarmed customer, James Shaw Jr., wrestled his rifle away. Reinking was captured after a 34-hour manhunt and convicted in 2022 of first-degree murder.
1 thing to watch or hear
Credit: VeggiesCC BY-SA 2.0SourceSOLVEDListen
Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States · 2015
2015 Chattanooga shootings
On July 16, 2015, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire at a military recruiting center and a Navy Reserve center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, killing four Marines and a Navy sailor before being fatally shot by police.
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James A. Cayce Homes, East Nashville, Tennessee · 2017
Killing of Jocques Clemmons
Jocques Clemmons, a 31-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by Nashville police officer Joshua Lippert after a traffic stop on February 10, 2017. The Davidson County District Attorney declined to prosecute Lippert, a decision that sparked sustained protests, and the case was closed by federal authorities in August 2017 without charges.
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Campbell County Comprehensive High School, Jacksboro, Tennessee · 2005
2005 Campbell County High School shooting
On November 8, 2005, a 14-year-old student shot the principal and two assistant principals at Campbell County Comprehensive High School in Jacksboro, Tennessee, killing assistant principal Ken Bruce.
UNSOLVEDListen
The Curve neighborhood, near Memphis, Tennessee · 1892
People's Grocery lynchings
On March 9, 1892, a white mob dragged Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart from a Memphis, Tennessee jail and killed them, after the three Black men — co-owners and workers at the People's Grocery — were arrested following altercations with a white rival grocer and armed deputies.

About these files

Case files in Tennessee

The files run from 1872 to 2024. The 2010s hold the most, with 7 files. The oldest is Lynching of David Jones, from 1872.

They are spread across 16 cities and towns; the most are in Memphis (5), Nashville (5) and Knoxville (4). By type, the largest groups are murder and homicide cases (24), kidnapping and abduction cases (4) and disappearance cases (4).

16 files of the 30 have coverage attached: 22 videos, podcasts and documentaries from 12 creators. Dr. Todd Grande, That Chapter and Coffeehouse Crime have covered the most of them.

Every file is written from cited sources and pinned where it happened, and every person named carries the legal status the record gives them. If you hold information about an unsolved case, contact the investigating agency named in its file rather than posting it publicly. Families and anyone involved can request a correction from any file.

Every file

Every case file in Tennessee

30 files

Holly Bobo — Credit: Home photographEditorial useSource
SOLVED AudioMurder of Holly BoboDarden, Tennessee, United States · 2011 · 3 to watch & hear
Cobbins, Davidson, Thomas, Lynn Coleman — Credit: Nate HooperCC BY-SA 4.0 Source
SOLVED AudioMurders of Channon Christian and Christopher NewsomKnoxville, Tennessee · 2007 · 3 to watch & hear
Tyre Nichols Protest at the Ohio Statehouse 8 — Credit: Becker1999CC BY 2.0 Source
ONGOING AudioKilling of Tyre NicholsMemphis, Tennessee · 2023 · 2 to watch & hear
Aiden Hale at The Covenant — Credit: Unknown authorPublic domainSource
SOLVED Audio2023 Nashville School ShootingThe Covenant School, Green Hills, Nashville, Tennessee · 2023 · 1 thing to watch or hear
Martin Luther King Jr. — Credit: New York World-Telegram & Sun / Wikimedia CommonsPublic domainSource
SOLVED AudioAssassination of Martin Luther King Jr.Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee · 1968 · 1 thing to watch or hear
Chattanooga-Shooting-Map — Credit: VeggiesCC BY-SA 2.0 Source
SOLVED Audio2015 Chattanooga shootingsChattanooga, Tennessee, United States · 2015
UNSOLVED AudioDisappearance of Dennis MartinSpence Field, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee · 1969 · 2 to watch & hear
Grave of Antoinette Rappel — Credit: TthrailCC BY-SA 4.0 Source
UNSOLVED AudioLynching of Ell PersonsNear Macon Road bridge over the Wolf River, Memphis, Tennessee · 1917
Blair Adams Spotting and Murder Site — Credit: AppalachianCentristPublic domainSource
UNSOLVED AudioKilling of Blair AdamsOff Interstate 40, East Knox County, Tennessee, United States · 1996 · 1 thing to watch or hear
Mary Church Terrell Papers: Miscellany, 1851-1954; Clippings; Lynching, 1906 — Credit: terrell, mary churchPublic domainSource
SOLVED AudioLynching of Ed JohnsonWalnut Street Bridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee · 1906
File:Lorenzen Wright (crop).jpg — Credit: Lorenzen_Wright.JPG : Original uploader was Nick81aku at en.wikipedia derivative work:…Public domainSource
SOLVED AudioMurder of Lorenzen WrightCollierville, Tennessee, United States · 2010 · 1 thing to watch or hear
File:Marcia Trimble 1965 1975 TennesseeA.jpg — Credit: School portrait, c. 1974.Public domainSource
SOLVED AudioMurder of Marcia TrimbleGreen Hills, Nashville, Tennessee · 1975 · 1 thing to watch or hear
UNSOLVED AudioDisappearance of Marsha BrantleyCleveland, Tennessee · 2009 · 1 thing to watch or hear
SOLVED AudioKilling of Jocques ClemmonsJames A. Cayce Homes, East Nashville, Tennessee · 2017
SOLVED AudioMurders of Joel and Lisa GuyKnoxville, Tennessee · 2016 · 1 thing to watch or hear
SOLVED Audio2005 Campbell County High School shootingCampbell County Comprehensive High School, Jacksboro, Tennessee · 2005
SOLVED AudioMurder of Emma WalkerSterchi Hills, Knoxville, Tennessee · 2016 · 1 thing to watch or hear
UNSOLVED AudioPeople's Grocery lynchingsThe Curve neighborhood, near Memphis, Tennessee · 1892
SOLVED AudioLillelid murdersPayne Hollow Lane, near Baileyton, Greene County, Tennessee · 1997
SOLVED AudioSignal Mountain murdersSignal Mountain area near Suck Creek, Chattanooga, Tennessee · 2001
Williamson county tennessee courthouse 2009 — Credit: IchabodCC BY-SA 3.0 Source
UNSOLVED AudioLynching of Amos MillerWilliamson County Courthouse, Franklin, Tennessee · 1888
SOLVED Audio2001 Greyhound bus attackInterstate 24 near Manchester, Tennessee · 2001
UNSOLVED AudioLynching of David JonesPublic Square, Nashville, Tennessee · 1872
UNSOLVED AudioLynching of Alfred BlountWalnut Street Bridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee · 1906