TN TN - Dawn Shannon Hercutt, 40, Sevier, 3 August 2009

[Sparky]

Here's a clip from Dr. Phil.

http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/2350

 

[SnoopyDawgDawg]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsV1Q-c5IDc

"Dr Phil February 2 2015 Full Episode | A Family Divided over an Unsolved Murder | February 2 2015"

 

[wendybtn]

Anyone see this on Dr. Phil today? Shannon's sister accused her father of murdering Shannon. The sister said, he thought he was in Shannon's will. But, she had cut him out of the will and he didn't know it. Interesting show.

I obviously know nothing of her finances at the time of her murder, but even if a relative did murder someone to inherent a business/investments, etc., was that particular time a wise time to do it? Seems like August 2009 with Mr. Obama coming into office, and the crash about a year before, would not be a time to try to take over a business and deal with death and taxes. No one except your lawyer needs to know what is in your will, unless you are married and/or have minor children. Most of our lives are not that financially complicated.

 

[colette]

The business was sucessful according to the Dr Phil show, also the father thought he would inherit the business. He did not know Shannon had changed her will.

 

[YESorNO]

Her SUV plunged off a cliff. Then her sister went on 'Dr. Phil' to accuse their father of murder

July 31, 2019

"SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – At first glance, it looked like Dawn Shannon Hercutt went for a late-night drive, veered off the road and plummeted 125 feet to her death.

So when authorities found her body inside her crashed SUV at the bottom of a steep slope off Walker Trail – 10 years ago on Saturday – they quickly ruled her death an accident. The Cadillac Escalade was towed to an impound lot, and the 40-year-old businesswoman's body was sent to a funeral home to be prepared for burial.

But subtle clues soon tipped off her loved ones that there was more to the story. Hercutt wouldn't have been out driving that late. She would've worn her seat belt. And she never would have had a window down....

...the family requested an autopsy ...

That autopsy found Hercutt suffered head injuries she couldn't possibly have sustained in the crash. Someone likely killed her at her home, detectives determined, then placed her body in her SUV and sent it tumbling off an embankment near some rental cabins she owned.

The sheriff's office launched a homicide investigation. Rumors swirled. Hercutt's family fell apart as accusations flew. And a decade later, the case remains unsolved.

"Even though an arrest has not been made, it's never been put on a shelf and ignored," said Sevier County Sheriff's Office Chief Detective Jeff McCarter, who worked on the case back in 2009. "We've always kept this case open. We've always constantly tried to do things to try to solve it. And we still are."...

Authorities have always been tight-lipped about the details of the case. McCarter, the chief detective, would not release the initial report a decade after the crash. He would not elaborate on Shannon Hercutt's cause of death, nor would he say what deputies found when they went to her home. The Sevier County medical examiner did not respond to a request that he release the autopsy report. Jimmy Dunn, the district attorney general, declined to comment....

....Ted Hercutt was never charged, and he died in 2017. Investigators never found any evidence that he was involved in the killing, McCarter said.

Indeed, the evidence has pointed to someone outside the family, someone who knew Shannon Hercutt, McCarter said. The 38-year law enforcement veteran believes investigators have nailed down the motive but said, "If I told you what it was, it'd be obvious who I was talking about."

Detectives meet regularly with prosecutors to go over the case, McCarter said, and DNA evidence was recently resubmitted to the state crime lab for testing. The Sevier County Sheriff's Office, he insisted, has not forgotten about the killing."

Her SUV plunged off a cliff. Then her sister went on 'Dr. Phil' to accuse their father of murder
---

A father talks about his daughter's unsolved homicide case

Jul 30, 2010

A Family Divided Over An Unsolved Murder

Feb 2, 2015

Woman Faces Off With Father Over The Unsolved Death Of Her Sister

Feb 1, 2015

"In August 2009, Penny’s 40-year-old sister, Shannon, a successful businesswoman, was found dead in her car, at the bottom of a cliff, in what authorities initially believed was a tragic accident but later ruled a homicide -- a case that remains unsolved. Emotions run high when Penny faces her father, Ted, for the first time in two years and drops a bombshell: She believes he hired a hitman to kill Shannon, an allegation he vehemently denies. .."

 

[YESorNO]

Penny Stephens seeks justice for her sister

Aug 3, 2012

"Penny Stephens held a press conference on Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, regarding her murdered sister Shannon Hercutt. Stephens announced that the reward for her sister's killer had been increased to $25,000. Hercutt was found dead in her Cadillac Escalade on Aug. 3, 2009 and authorities determined the 40-year-old woman had been killed and then placed in the vehicle."

Who killed Shannon Hercutt?

Jul 31, 2019

 

[bykerladi]

Seems to me the police know who did it but they don't have the evidence to make the charges stick. Hence LE saying they knew the motive but if the motive was released we'd know who the suspect was.

Cause of death was blunt force trauma. According to the sister she found blood at Shannon's house. It does beg the question why an autopsy wasn't performed immediately, and why the police never went to Shannon's house. In NJ, anyone who dies outside of a hospital gets an autopsy unless a doctor can certify that the person died of natural causes.