Appalachian Unsolved

At first, it appeared real estate entrepreneur Shannon Hercutt died after her Cadillac plunged in August 2009 over a Sevier County, Tennessee cliff. Several days later, police realized she’d actually been killed and the crash made to look like an accident. Hercutt’s sister accused their father of hiring someone to kill Shannon. Authorities, however, don’t think that’s true. Thousands of dollars in reward money remains available for the tip that breaks the case. The killer, however, still walks free.

Bradford Bishop aspired to be a U.S. ambassador. Tormented by doubt, depression and money troubles, investigators believe he ended up killing his own family in a murder mystery that wound up in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Bradford Bishop aspired to be a U.S. ambassador. Tormented by doubt, depression and money troubles, investigators believe he ended up killing his own family in a murder mystery that wound up in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Early Feb. 8, 1990, Dr. Hyram Kitchen left his North Knox County home to meet colleagues for breakfast, but he never made it out of his driveway. He pushed the boundaries in veterinary medicine, but did his intense demeanor get the former dean killed? Almost 3 decades after he was gunned down in his own driveway, investigators are still trying to find out who is responsible for his death.

Widow Frances Worthington, 77, lived a quiet life in her South Knoxville home. Then a killer busted in on New Year’s Eve 1995. What that person did was horrendous – wrecking her home, bludgeoning her, sprinkling coins and mini chocolates around her body, violating her with a wine bottle. How her family responded was remarkable. They forgive whoever committed this still-unsolved murder.

The bodies of four women turn up at a notorious lover’s lane. The main suspect – a man on the street nicknamed “The Zoo Man.” His lawyers said one of his multiple personalities really did it. The prosecution insists that was a farce. The story of one of East Tennessee’s first serial killers – who authorities say got away with murder.

Popular radio host Gus Gossert once had thousands of music fans who listened to his broadcasts of the golden oldies. Then a gunman shot him to death off a remote road in West Knox County. Was it drugs? Money? Revenge over a woman? More than 40 years later it’s still an unsolved killing.

J.T. Lutz was spending a quiet night at home with his young family when a shotgun blast shattered the window. The Greene County man had vowed to help authorities catch a thief. Somebody else thought differently. Lutz’s murder shortly before Christmas 1949 so angered leaders they pushed for the creation of a statewide police agency.

Patricia Williams liked to go out and meet men. Older sister Suzanne was happy to stay home. One night in 1987, somebody decided they both should die. A closer look at this West Knox County case.

Wealthy Knoxvillian Rose Busch was home alone icing a cake when a killer knocked on her back door. Fifty years later, the murderer remains free. Bizarre clues left in the neighborhood included a gun silencer and a policeman’s uniform. Why the case likely never will be solved.