With nothing holding him in Barnwell, Wallace joined U.S. In March 1993, Hawk's mother, Dee Sumpter, and her godmother Judy Williams founded Mothers of Murdered Offspring, a Charlotte-based support group for parents of murdered children. For the first time in the 25 years since his conviction, we look inside the mind of a cold-blooded killer. Her sister and Wallace's sister became friends as Winthrop University students, and he introduced himself to her at a Food Lion supermarket where she worked as a . 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. In January 1997, he was found guilty of nine counts of first-degree murder in addition to other charges like rape, assault with a deadly weapon, and robbery. They tell me she was a great person, they say she wanted the best for me, Woods said. You have permission to edit this article. He also strangled her son, but the boy survived. Furthermore, he confessed to murdering Tashanda Bethea in Barnwell in March 1990. After high school, he worked off and on for 1 1/2 years at WBAW-FM in Barnwell as a deejay. Henry Louis Wallace, shown in a undated file photo, was convicted in Charlotte, N.C., on Jan. 7, 1997, of raping and killing nine women over a 20-month period. It's just that we were overwhelmed with the cases, he later added. Henry Wallace began his life as a model student. Vanessa was murdered at her apartment in February 1994. But within several years of joining the Navy, Wallace began experimenting with drugs. But despite his home life and without a familiar father figure in his childhood, Wallace was well-liked in high school. The police beefed up patrols in east Charlotte after two bodies of young Black women were found at The Lake apartment complex. His mother, Brandi Henderson, was in the same bedroom, murdered -- strangled to death. His other victims followed a similar pattern. Henry Louis Wallace Biography - Wiki. Wallace's mother provided for him and his older sister the best she could, but her low-paying job at a local textile mill didn't yield much income. He said it was something that happened in his head and he couldnt explain it, Ms. Wallace said. Burrell is Tyreces uncle and Hendersons cousin. What Is Torso Killer Richard Cottinghams Life Like Today? He was fired after he was caught stealing CDs. Within this shell there are two people, Wallace had said. If somebody could show me evidence of a pattern of discrimination, Id certainly do something to fix that, Boger said. After he killed her, he and her sister filed a missing person's report at the police station. He also had one victim in his hometown in South Carolina. Woods is now 29 years old with a family of his own. Henry Louis Wallace preyed on women known to him, and the next life he took was a friend of his sister's,Valencia M. Jumper, in August 1993. In January 1997 Henry Louis Wallace was convicted in North Carolina of nine counts of first-degree murder, eight counts of first-degree rape, one count of second-degree rape, . Wallace found his way back to South Carolina after a divorce from his wife that almost immediately followed his discharge. He would rather have died than for me to find out. He worked at the plant from May 1989 to October 1990. When one woman died a year ago, Stradford said Mack was especially saddened. Im still here, its like Im a survivor, Woods said. The medical examiner wrongly ruled Jumpers death as due to carbon monoxide poisoning after a fire at her home. . On August 10, 1993, Wallace raped and strangled Valencia M. Jumpera friend of his sisterthen set her on fire to cover up his crime. Henry Louis Wallace: A Calamity Waiting to Happen . He was on the student council and. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/serial-killer-henry-louis-wallace-973140. Henry Louis Wallace is a serial killer who earned the monikers "The Charlotte Strangler" or "The Taco Bell Strangler" following the murders of 10 Black women in Charlotte, North Carolina between 1990 and 1994. From 1992 to 1994, Wallace killed 10 women. His appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied in 2001, and in 2005, Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm rejected a further appeal to overturn Wallaces convictions and nine death sentences. Some credence is also given to Wallace's methodical ways of covering up his crimes. It would be almost two years (March 1994) before her body was discovered. 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. (ABCs 20/20). Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). Her body was discovered floating on a pond in March of that year. Crime Magazine reports that Henry Louis Wallace's life unraveled after his stint in the Navy. Prosecutors said Wallace, 31, a former fast-food worker, was a calculating, coldblooded killer who preyed on friends and co-workers and hid his crimes by meticulously cleaning up murder scenes. Montaldo, Charles. I thank our higher power for the determination to keep keeping on.. I just lost it because I just could not comprehend that I had just talked to her and now she's dead.. Were sorry that we didnt get him identified earlier, he said. Ms. Wallace said her son told her he felt relieved after he was taken into custody. Henry Louis Wallace. Charles Montaldo is a writer and former licensed private detective who worked with law enforcement and insurance firms investigating crime and fraud. The single mother took care of Henry and his older sister by working at a textile mill. Additionally, the typical serial killer takes the lives of strangers and has a "type" that they work to eliminate. Working primarily in the fast-food industry at this time, Wallace claimed the lives of his co-workers as well as the friends of his girlfriend. Wallace made at least one of his victims shower to wash off DNA evidence. In fact, many of these women had known him so well that they gave him a certain level of trust. And he was just getting started. On Feb. 20 and 21, 1991, police in Allendale and Barnwell counties in South Carolina charged him with larceny and third-degree burglary after he was convicted of breaking into Barnwell High School and WDOG radio station. She was such a great mother, she would have done anything at all for him, Burrell said. The victims were strangleda manner of death that accounts for well under 10 percent of murdersthe crime scenes were all neat and there were no signs of forced entry, pointing to the fact that the women likely knew their murderer. Woods was found with a ligature wrapped around his neck. Several days after the murder, Wallace and his sister attended Jumper's funeral. McFadden said he reflects on the investigation. Baucom and Wallace's girlfriend were co-workers. Burrell declined, but he wonders if that would have saved her life. Henry was born in November 1965 in Barnwell, South Carolina, to Lottie Mae Wallace. Records indicate that he awaits execution at the Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. His breathing was labored and he barely survived. Henry Louis Wallace's first victim was Sharon Nance, a prostitute he killed and dumped by the railroad tracks in May 1992. Im so sorry,' Sumpter recalls. Sumpter says she found out about his arrest from the TV news. In January 1988, he was arrested for breaking into a hardware store, and later plead guilty to a charge of second-degree burglary. Ten Charlotte women had been killed by the man known as "The Charlotte Strangler" before police realized what the victims had in common, aside from being young, poor, and black. by Jason Lapeyre When he was arrested on Feb. 4, 1994, in Charlotte, N.C., Henry Louis Wallace had already raped and strangled to death five young black women. After his eventual arrest in March 1994, he confessed to murdering 11 people. Despite the crime, Wallace was able to apply for and receive an honorable discharge in 1992. She wouldn't say who he was, only that he died years ago. Data generally indicate that most serial killers are white, with 13 percent to 20 percent who are Black, according to the study. Wallace was the manager of a Taco Bell restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Early on, investigators didn't recognize that they were dealing with a dangerous serial killer. Their mothers worked together in the same factory. Once I touched them, it was over, there was no way I could stop, Wallace said in his jailhouse interview. He killed his 11th victim shortly after, and finally was caught and arrested on March 12, 1994. Heres a list. ET. (2021, July 30). They did nothing to me that warranted their death, he said as relatives of his victims sobbed. Dee Sumpter and two others started Mothers of Murdered Offspring. From May 1992 to March 1994, nine African-American women were raped and murdered throughout the Charlotte area, causing mass panic in the community.. Henry Louis Wallace was born Nov. 4, 1965, in Barnwell, S.C., a town of 6,000 residents about 60 miles southwest of Columbia. After he got out of the hospital, his father took him to Chicago and when Tyrece was five, his father passed away, said George Burrell. The judge sentenced him to two years of supervisedprobation but according to his probation officer, Wallace blew off most of the mandatory meetings. Not long after he was married, Wallace began using drugsand his drug of choice was crack cocaine. Sumpters 20-year-old daughter, Shawna Hawk, was murdered by Wallace in 1993. After graduating in 1983, he attended one semester at South Carolina State College and one semester at a technical college. Furthermore, security footage from a bank showed a man with a distinct earring trying to use Vanessa Macks bank card. On Friday, a special episode of ABCs 20/20 examined a jailhouse interview with the killer. A special episode of ABCs 20/20 examines a never-before-broadcasted jailhouse interview with the killer. While Henry didnt seem to pose any trouble at work, he also began using crack cocaine extensively. Wallace eventually got sloppy and police caught him. Police in Barnwell questioned Wallace in April 1990 about the disappearance of 18-year-old Tashanda Bethea, who was strangled and found in a pond outside Barnwell. On the night of her murder, Henderson asked him to come over. Once I touched them, it was over, there was no way I could stop, Wallace said in his jailhouse interview. What his family and authorities did not know was that Wallace had already committed one murder just a year before his discharge. Henry Louis Wallace (born November 4, 1965) is an American serial killer who killed 10 women in Charlotte, North Carolina and is awaiting execution at Central Prison in Raleigh. Friends said he dated a woman in 1993 and this year who also worked in local fast-food restaurants, including the Bojangles', where three of the murder victims worked. One of those women was Brandi Henderson. A few weeks ago, 20/20 was there as Woods returned to the apartments for the first time since his mothers murder. I dont believe hes sorry. Navy officials wouldn't immediately disclose Wallace's service record. In June 1992, he raped and strangled Caroline Love at her apartment, then dumped her body in a wooded area. (Watch the video below: Interview: Sister of last known victim killed by Charlotte serial killer Henry Wallace) . (Watch the video above: There was no way I could stop: Wallace confesses to murders in jailhouse interviews). Who would want to kill this beautiful, innocent, sweet, kind, loving person, my best friend, my daughter? Sumpter told 20/20 in 2022. Wallace had been Hawk's manager at Taco Bell.After her murder, Wallace attended her wake. Anguished, she collapsed to the floor with such force that she hit her head and started bleeding, she recalls. 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. 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