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Thread: Michael Lee Cummins Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 TN Multiple Slayings

  1. #21
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    Michael Cummins deemed fit to stand trial in 2019 Westmoreland murders

    By Nick Beres
    WTVF

    WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WTVF) — Michael Cummins, an accused mass murderer in Sumner County, has now been cleared to stand trial.

    Cummins is charged with the murders of eight people in April of 2019. Six bodies were found in a Westmoreland home and two more were at another location.

    "It's not only complex, but horrific," said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rauch at the time.

    Those dead included Cummins' own parents, an uncle and a child. His grandmother Mary Hosale survived the attack.

    "It's not every day the prosecution gets a witness who can point out the person who committed the crime or assault that person," said NewsChannel 5 legal analyst Nick Leonardo.

    His grandmother has since died, but prosecutors had the forethought to record her testimony, and that video will be used at trial.

    The physical evidence against him is overwhelming: Cummins' footprints were found at the scene and he was caught with a victim's car.

    "Based on all the information we have, we will see that justice is done," said District Attorney Ray Whitley in 2019.

    Cummins' trials have been rescheduled over the years as he underwent mental evaluations to determine his fitness for trial. They also faced delays due to COVID-19.

    NewsChannel 5 has learned his latest mental evaluation is complete and he is considered fit to stand trial. He's set for two separate trials, with this first not scheduled until April of next year.

    Cummins' defense team asked for three separate trials, while the district attorney wanted to try the cases altogether. Judge Dee Gay ruled that seven victims are connected, and one other is not.

    Whitley said he will seek the death penalty. However, it may not be an option.

    Prosecutors in Sumner County say this is a capital case, but there will be a hearing to determine whether Cummins — if convicted — can even be executed.

    Yes, it's possible he's competent to stand trial, but that he is so profoundly disturbed with a low IQ that he can't be legally put to death for his crimes in Tennessee. In which case, Cummins would face life in prison without parole.

    A hearing to determine whether it can be a death penalty case is set for this fall.

    Legal experts have said his best and only option will be to seek the insanity defense.

    https://www.newschannel5.com/news/mi...reland-murders

  2. #22
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    Prosecutors may seek the death penalty against Michael Cummins in 2019 Westmoreland murders

    By Kelly Broderick
    WTVF News

    WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WTVF) — A judge has ruled that prosecutors can seek the death penalty for Michael Cummins, who is charged with the murders of eight people in April of 2019.

    Six bodies were found in a Westmoreland home and two more were at another location.

    Cummins was cleared to stand trial in June of last year.

    Cummins' trials have been rescheduled over the years as he underwent mental evaluations to determine his fitness for trial. They also faced delays due to COVID-19.

    https://www.newschannel5.com/news/pr...reland-murders
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #23
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    Jury being chosen in Knox County to hear Sumner County mass murder case

    Michael Lee Cummins, 29, is accused of killing eight people in 2019

    By John North
    KCSO News

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knox Countians are being screened this week for jury duty in one of the worst mass murder cases in Tennessee history.

    Sumner County authorities are picking jurors here because of notoriety about the case back home against Michael Lee Cummins, 29. The trial is set to start April 12.

    Cummins is charged with murdering eight people in April 2019. Many of the victims were family members including his parents.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Cummins.

    The killings took place in several locations in the Westmoreland area of Sumner County, which is northeast of Nashville. Six people were found dead in one home.

    Judge Dee David Gay is presiding over the case. He decided two years ago that it would be best for a jury outside the county to be brought in to hear the case, according to previous news reports.

    Lawyers and court officials from Sumner County began work Monday in Knox County.

    Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond's office previously sent out notices to a thousand residents alerting them they faced potential service, Hammond said. Now candidates are being questioned individually before final selection to a small group that will make the trip to Sumner County.

    The process is expected to go on all week.

    Potential jurors in such circumstances typically are asked about their knowledge of a criminal case as well as their thoughts about the prospect of choosing death for a defendant.

    This is the second time in recent years that Knox Countians have been called on to consider an outside death penalty case.

    In 2021, Dickson County authorities came here to pick a jury to hear the case of a man accused of murdering a Dickson County law enforcement officer. Jurors in that case found Steven Wiggins guilty and voted for him to get the death penalty.

    https://www.wbir.com/article/news/cr...7-61d4659a7b7b
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #24
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    Trial postponed for man accused of committing mass murder in Sumner Co.

    By Caleb Wethington

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The trial for the man accused of committing mass murder in Sumner County has been postponed.

    WSMV4 confirmed the Michael Cummins murder trial has been postponed for unknown reasons. Cummins is accused of killing more than half a dozen people in Westmoreland in 2019, including his parents and a 12-year-old.

    The trial was set to begin Wednesday, April 12 as a jury was supposed to be selected this week.

    Throughout the years previous trial dates have been rescheduled as he underwent mental evaluations to determine if he was deemed fit for trial.

    A new trial date has yet to be set.

    https://www.wsmv.com/2023/04/10/tria...outputType=amp
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  5. #25
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    Trial for accused mass murderer Michael Cummins set for January

    By: Kelly Broderick

    WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WTVF) — A trial date has been set for Michael Cummins, the man accused of killing eight people in April 2019.

    The case is known as one of the worst mass murders in Tennessee history. Six bodies were found in a Westmoreland home and two more were at another location.

    Cummins was cleared to stand trial in June of last year.

    On Thursday, it was announced that the trial would begin on January 18.

    https://www.newschannel5.com/news/tr...et-for-january
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  6. #26
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    Michael Cummins pleads guilty in one of Tennessee's worst mass murders, will get life in prison

    Michael Cummins, 30, was set to face trial for killing eight people in Westmoreland in 2019

    By Kelly Puente
    The Tennessean

    A Sumner County man who killed eight people in one of Tennessee’s worst mass murders will not face the death penalty after pleading guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder.

    As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Michael Cummins will face life in prison without the chance for parole.

    Cummins, 30, was set to face trial this year for bludgeoning to death multiple people, including a 12-year-old girl, who were found across three crime scenes in a gruesome mass killing that shocked the tiny town of Westmoreland in 2019.

    Among the victims were his mother, father and uncle, along with his uncle's girlfriend and her mother and 12-year-old daughter. Their bodies were all found in a home on a wooded country road near the Kentucky border.

    Police found the body of a neighbor in another home nearby, and later linked Cummins to the death of an eighth person — a man whose headless body was found outside a burned cabin.

    Prosecutors had originally sought the death penalty. They changed course during jury selection in April when new evidence from a brain scan showed that Cummins has significant mental impairment, said Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley.

    Whitley, speaking after the hearing, said he likely still had a good case for the death penalty but opted to take the punishment off the table after the victims’ families all agreed to life without parole.

    Whitley said he feels justice has been served in Sumner County.

    “The families were very much in favor of ending it here,” he said.

    The eight victims were:

    • David Carl Cummins, 51
    • Clara Jane Cummins, 44
    • Charles Edward Hosale, 45
    • Rachel Dawn McGlothlin-Pee, 43
    • Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee, 12
    • Marsha Elizabeth Nuckols, 64
    • Shirley B. Fehrle, 69
    • John Fox Dunn, 63

    Speaking before the court, Steven McGothlin, the brother of Rachel McGlothlin and uncle to Sapphire, said he was at a loss for words for the horrific crimes.

    “It’s one thing to lose someone in a natural occurrence, but it’s something totally different to deal with something as heinous as this,” he said.

    “I hope God forgives you,” he said, turning to Cummins. “Because he is the only one.”

    Connor Dunn, the nephew of John Dunn, who was found outside the cabin, said his uncle was so much more than a tragic headline.

    A forestry major in college, John Dunn was a solitary man who loved nature, tennis and signing Bob Dylan lyrics to his nephew.

    “The woods were when he felt most at home,” he said.

    Cummins had a lengthy criminal record and a history of violent mental health issues. Years earlier he had tried to commit suicide multiple times while in custody.

    Pale and thin, he nodded quietly and said “yes” to the judge as he agreed to the guilty pleas.

    Cummins' grandmother, Mary Sue Hosale, was the sole survivor of the attack but was badly injured. She died last year due to multiple health issues.

    In addition to the consecutive life sentences, he was also sentenced to 25 years for the attempted murder of his grandmother.

    After the slayings in April 2019, Cummins ran from the family home in Westmoreland and was captured after an hours-long manhunt in which he was shot by police during his arrest.

    Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials at the time called it the state's deadliest homicide event in at least 20 years. They brought in additional mental health support for the first responders who saw the carnage at the crime scenes.

    Presiding over the hearing, Judge Dee David Gay said the guilty pleas can hopefully bring some closure to the families, and for a painful time in Westmoreland.

    “Mr. Cummins will never see life outside of Tennessee state penitentiary,” he said. “You can rest easy with that.”

    https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...e/70597133007/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #27
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Enough with the plea deals!
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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