Murder on Music Row from The Tennessean

When a jail officer discovered two keys missing from the control room, the new, about-to-open Nashville jail had a big problem. Who would break into a jail? What could that person do with stolen keys? The race was on to catch a man who inmates had given the nickname Einstein. Read the series Part 1: Two keys to an under-construction jail in Nashville went missing. Would it lead to havoc? Part 2: A razor in his shoe. A makeshift ice pick. Nashville criminal 'learned his trade in jail' Part 3: Could Einstein be captured inside the jail without knowing it was a trap? What happened next Part 4: Einstein gives shocking explanation for breaking into new downtown Nashville jail

The man with the nickname Einstein had served almost a decade in prison, where he learned tricks to help him get out of sticky situations. He hid razors in his wall and handcuff keys in his belt. Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall became obsessed with catching this man, who had unleashed a plan to infiltrate Hall's baby — the new Downtown Detention Center. Read the series Part 1: Two keys to an under-construction jail in Nashville went missing. Would it lead to havoc? Part 2: A razor in his shoe. A makeshift ice pick. Nashville criminal 'learned his trade in jail' Part 3: Could Einstein be captured inside the jail without knowing it was a trap? What happened next Part 4: Einstein gives shocking explanation for breaking into new downtown Nashville jail

When they finally found him, the plan was to keep Einstein OUT of the new jail facility. But that's not what happened. In January 2020, Einstein walked into the building carrying bolt cutters, and the jail officer who saw him had a quick decision to make. Read the series Part 1: Two keys to an under-construction jail in Nashville went missing. Would it lead to havoc? Part 2: A razor in his shoe. A makeshift ice pick. Nashville criminal 'learned his trade in jail' Part 3: Could Einstein be captured inside the jail without knowing it was a trap? What happened next Part 4: Einstein gives shocking explanation for breaking into new downtown Nashville jail

What could possibly be the explanation for breaking into a jail? Once Einstein was caught, he faced a potential 40-year prison sentence. Instead of taking the sentencing lightly, Alex Friedmann told the court why he breached the jail security system. His explanation shocked everyone who heard it. Read the series Part 1: Two keys to an under-construction jail in Nashville went missing. Would it lead to havoc? Part 2: A razor in his shoe. A makeshift ice pick. Nashville criminal 'learned his trade in jail' Part 3: Could Einstein be captured inside the jail without knowing it was a trap? What happened next Part 4: Einstein gives shocking explanation for breaking into new downtown Nashville jail

Coming soon: The sheriff called him an evil genius. Fellow inmates called him Einstein. In January 2020, just 10 days before a shiny new Nashville jail was set to house its first inmate, a jail officer noticed two keys missing. What they didn't know is that Einstein had snuck into the jail at least 20 times while it was being built. He had stolen the two keys. If that's all he had accomplished in his stealth jail breaches, then we might never have heard of Einstein. But his plan was so much larger than that. His plan involved deadly weapons. This is Chasing Einstein, a four-part series from The Tennessean.

Thirteen years after the murder, it took an investigative miracle for Nashville detectives to finally get an arrest warrant. And all these years later, the tentacles of the Murder on Music Row are still alive. Recently, a huge country music star released a song on a new album that was written by one of the men who police believe was involved with the murder of Kevin Hughes.

Thanks to a tip from an unexpected source, the Nashville police turned their focus to a shady small-time music promoter. He was a guy from California who had tried, unsuccessfully, to make it as a singer/songwriter. No matter how much the police believed they were looking in the right direction, the case went cold.

After the murder, Sammy Sadler said his singing career was ruined. But was it, really? In the Cash Box magazine country music charts, Sadler was more successful after Kevin Hughes died than he had been when his friend was still alive.

The phone records from the day of the murder offer a clear picture of the movements of the people closest to the crime. Bottom line: A man in ski mask with a gun was waiting for Kevin Hughes and Sammy Sadler as they left Evergreen Records at about 10:25 p.m. on March 9, 1989. How did he know they would be there?

Detectives from the Metro Nashville Police Department developed an alternate theory of the Kevin Hughes murder case. What if his position in the music industry had nothing to do with his death? What if he was killed because he was mistaken for another man with a scraggly beard and a mullet?

Sammy Sadler came to Nashville to become a star like Garth Brooks and Faith Hill. But the path he chose was very different. He didn't play any gigs in town, and he didn't sell any records. He chose to make independent or "custom" singles, 7-inch 45 rpm vinyl records that he hoped would be played on country radio stations.

Kevin Hughes wasn't the only person shot on Music Row on March 9. The other victim, an up-and-coming singer named Sammy Sadler, has made a career out of being the guy who survived the Murder on Music Row. But his story doesn't always match the police account of that night.

On March 9, 1989, Kevin Hughes was shot twice, execution style, in the middle of one of the most famous streets in America, known as Music Row. As the crime was reported by local news outlets, more than a few people thought they knew immediately who the killer was. The police, however, didn't have a clue.

This eight-part deep-dive from The Tennessean focuses on the 1989 murder of country music chart director Kevin Hughes, who tried to operate with integrity in a business full of sharks and criminals. The podcast features never-before published reporting of details of the crime that not only defines Nashville in the 1980s and 1990s, but shines light on a singer and one-time suspect who has demanded an apology from a detective who refuses to give him one. (Contains adult language.) Episode 1 is available now. Episodes 2-8 debut exclusively for Tennessean subscribers. For more on this series, visit Tennessean.com/murderonmusicrow.