True Crime in the Smokies

Exploring an internet-driven passion while in the Smokies

The truth is that I prefer my crime fiction. Why? Maybe because it’s safer. It could be that after years of working in newspapers, I’ve had enough of the real thing. Or maybe it’s because I have my own True Crime story in my past, and that’s enough for this lifetime. 

The year was 1983, and I lived on Webster Street in Ft Wayne, Indiana. It was 3 days after my 9th birthday. I was in the 3rd grade at Harrison Hill Elementary. I came home from school that Monday to a neighborhood of people standing outside, milling aimlessly. Two blocks over on South Harrison – a more affluent street filled with homes I thought of as fancy – was a long strip of yellow crime tape. There was also, to me, an overwhelming police presence. 

It turns out that the newspaper editor who had recently moved his family from Kansas had been bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. The man, his wife, and 11-year-old son were beaten to death, as was the family dog. It had happened on Friday, my birthday, after the man came home from work. Someone broke into the house and killed them. They also beat the family’s two-year-old daughter, but she survived. He was from out of town and wasn’t due back at work until Monday. So the toddler spent the whole weekend in the house alone with the bodies. 

The man responsible, or – in real True Crime fashion – the man police said was responsible, allegedly confessed. And then, he died in jail. There are people to this day who believe he was innocent. Maybe that was enough True Crime for me. I don’t know. It’s not that I don’t like crime stories; I’m just not passionate about them like some.

Why are people drawn to True Crime stories?

According to an article by Scott Jared written for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the True Crime genre comes from “People are drawn to these sensational stories by curiosity about the motivations of the criminals, concerns about justice and the legal system, and the thrill of solving a real-life whodunnit.”

I don’t judge. In fact, I see the allure. If that’s your thing, there’s plenty to check out in the Smokies.

Where to explore True Crime in the Smokies & beyond

Alcatraz East Museum

Your safest bet is the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge. Their motto is “It’s so much fun, it’s a crime.” I don’t know about all that. But it’s certainly a popular tourist destination with exhibits about famous historical crimes and criminals. 

The Museums’ galleries include:

• A Notorious History of American Crime: This gallery includes information on famous pirates and gunslingers, and more modern white-collar criminals. The infamous getaway cars exhibit features of the famous OJ Simpson Bronco as well as Ted Bundy’s VW Beetle.
• Punishment: The Consequence of Crime: Go through the process of being caught from the line-up to mug shots and fingerprints, even a lie detector test. This gallery presents the consequences of crime. 
• Crime Scene Investigation: The ins and outs – including ballistics and DNA testing – of catching a criminal.
• Crime Fighting: A gallery showcasing local and/or famous lawmen, including Elliott Ness and, for now, Buford Pusser. Considering recent TBI announcements about the famous Walking Tall lawman, he may need to change exhibits. 
• Counterfeit Crimes & Pop Culture: This exhibit was built exclusively for my wife. Once, when we were in New York City, she followed a stranger selling counterfeit purses from a parking lot into a locked basement to see their wider selection. It’s honestly amazing she’s not in another one of these categories. “The illegal traffic and sale of counterfeit goods is a trillion-dollar industry that goes way beyond luxury goods and includes medication and electronics that could affect you and your family’s health and safety. This gallery also features crimes related to entertainment figures and sports stars.”

Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee

As close as you can come to visiting hell on Earth. Brushy Mountain was one of the worst penitentiaries in the country, a place that housed brutal criminals and allowed them to treat each other brutally as well. It’s now a tourist spot where you can go get a nice lunch and explore the prison they called the end of the line. You can even stay at the nearby Parolee’s RV park. They also sell a nice moonshine that is not, I’m assured, made in a prison toilet.

The former prison is closed for tours from December to March. However, they do offer seasonal paranormal tours in case you want to have a chance to interact with the ghost of James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassin, or the spirit of Nicky Sutton. Sutton was executed by the state after killing his own grandmother and disposing of her body in the Nolichucky River.

Other infamous residents of Brushy Mountain include Byron “Low Tax” Looper, who assassinated a state senator he saw as a political rival; serial killer Paul Dennis Reid, known as the “Fast Food Killer”; Harold Wayne Nichols, a serial rapist and murderer; and Jackie Laymon, who we’ll talk about in a minute.

True Crimes in the Smokies

In addition to the museum, several infamous crimes in the Smokies rose to national attention or became local lore. I don’t recommend building your whole Smokies vacation into a True Crime extravaganza, but you may be interested in reading more about these incidents. 

Red Lantern Massacre in Newport, Tennessee

When we moved to the area in the Spring of 1990, we were told -in no uncertain terms – not to stop in Cocke County for any reason. This killing – and a reputation for chop shop activity – was part of the reason why. On Christmas Day in 1975, Laymon burst through the doors of the Red Lantern Inn, which the New York Times described as a nightclub, and started shooting. Laymon was killed in a return of gunfire. Three other men, two local and one from Dublin, Georgia, died in the shootout. Laymon had escaped Brushy – where he was serving a 99-year sentence for rape and murder – that previous August. 

The motive for the shooting wasn’t exactly clear. But then Sheriff Tom O’Dell said, “Well, they’re kind of in the same clan, and it seems there was a disagreement over something.”

The Lillelid Murders – Baileyton

In April of 1997, the Lillelid family was traveling from a religious conference in Johnson City to their home in Knoxville. The father, Vidar, had immigrated from Norway. The mother, Delfina, was a first-generation Honduran American who met her husband in New York City. The family, including a 7-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, stopped at a rest area off of I-81 in Greene County.

At the rest stop, they met a group of six young people from Pikeville, Kentucky, trying to make their way to New Orleans. The group, whose ages ranged from 14 to 20, decided their car wouldn’t make the drive. As a result, they planned to steal or carjack one.

Vidar had approached two members of the group to discuss religion. He was carrying his two-year-old son when one of the group flashed a gun and kidnapped the family. Vidar offered his wallet and keys, but the group refused.

They took the family to a remote road nearby, lined them up next to a ditch, and shot them multiple times. The two-year-old Peter was the only one to survive. Each of the six was convicted of three counts of felony murder. They were sentenced to three life sentences plus 25 years for attempted murder. 

Mellinger Death Ridge – Smokies

Deep in the Tennessee mountains behind Tremont and not too far from the state line is the Mellinger Death Ridge. It is named for a Tennessee man who was hiking to North Carolina in search of work. He was never seen again. 

Jasper Mellinger, who lived in the Roaring Fork area, left home and went missing sometime between 1901 and 1903, but because of his job as a traveling blacksmith, it’s impossible to say exactly when he went from traveling to missing. 

Apparently, he’d been walking between Elkmont and Hazel Creek and stepped on an illegal poacher’s bear trap. Years later, what was left of him was found. His bones had been crushed, and he couldn’t get down the mountain for help. Local lore tells that Mellinger was still alive when the hunters found him. Left with the decision to help him and risk being arrested or leave him to die, they chose option 3 and put him out of his misery.

It’s unclear whether he was buried in a shallow grave or chucked off a cliff to appear he died by accident. Identification was possible because Mellinger’s pocket watch, rifle, and other effects were left by the body. 

How do we know all this? Well, according to one version of the lore, one of the killers made what he thought was going to be a deathbed confession before getting better. Another version is a similar story featuring another alleged pair of killers. 

You can visit Mellinger’s grave, which is at an old homestead not far off the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

Trenny Gibson – Kuwohi

Trenny Gibson was 16 in 1976 when she went missing in the Smokies while on a school field trip. Her disappearance came only seven years after Dennis Martin disappeared in the high mountains. But of the two, I think Trenny’s case is more likely to be a crime.

Gibson was on a trip with about 40 other students on a trip to Kuwohi, then known as Clingman’s Dome. Trenny and some others were on their way back from a hike to Andrew’s Bald Trail to the parking lot when she went missing. The group she was with stopped to rest. However, Trenny seemed to be in a hurry to get back.

There was speculation that she tried to cut across country, but maybe she missed a turn and ended up on the Appalachian Trail above the observation tower. Search dogs picked up her scent on the AT and followed it to Clingmans Dome Road. 

The theories abound. Maybe she fell. Or maybe she got lost. Maybe a classmate on the trip did something to her. She could have been abducted on the road. Maybe she planned to meet someone on the road and ran off.

This case has caught the attention of the True Crime community. If you’re interested, there is a lot of thought and a lot more speculation available online. 

Do you follow True Crime stories? If so, let us know in the comments and on the socials!