Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 27

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

  1. #1
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875

    Michael Lee Cummins Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 TN Multiple Slayings







    7 dead, 1 critically injured in Westmoreland; Suspect shot by police

    By WKRN Web Staff

    WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WKRN) - Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are investigating after a total of seven bodies were found between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon in Westmoreland.

    TBI officials initially said five people were killed and a woman was seriously injured in Sumner County on Saturday night, which is currently under investigation by the TBI and Sumner Co. Sheriff's Office.

    Officials confirmed two more victims were discovered by agents Sunday while processing the scene at Charles Brown Road, where four other people had been found dead Saturday. News 2 has also confirmed that one of the victims at the Charles Brown Road scene was a 12-year-old.

    According to Sumner Co. District Attorney Ray Whitely, another deceased victim was found near a home on Luby Brown Road. Her car was also stolen. Whitely could not confirm if the woman's death was random or if she is also a relative of the other victims.

    Investigators say the scenes are at two sperate residences in Westmoreland and are related.

    According to Sheriff Sonny Weatherford, deputies responded to the scene after a family member of the victims found four people dead at a home in the 1000 block of Charles Brown Road.

    A woman was also found injured at the scene. She was transported to Skyline Medical Center for treatment. According to a family member, the woman was still in critical condition on Sunday morning.

    Through their ongoing investigation, agents identified Michael Cummins, 25, as a suspect in the homicides.

    After a coordinated search with multiple law enforcement agencies and a helicopter, authorities located Cummins in a creek bed approximately one mile from the first scene.

    When more than a dozen SWAT officers approached Cummins to take him into custody, officials say, the situation escalated. According to DeVine, Cummins pulled multiple weapons, causing at least one SWAT team member to shoot him.

    According to the TBI, medics transported Cummins to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries As of Sunday evening, the hospital told News 2 he is in good condition.

    No officers were injured in the incident.

    Cummins has a lengthy criminal background in Sumner County with signs of escalating violence.

    He was first arrested in December 2012 for violation of an order of protection and simple possession of Sch. II drugs. He was released about a month later on time served.

    In August 2013, he was arrested again for domestic assault and sentenced to 150 days in jail.

    A few years later, in 2017, Cummins was arrested in Sumner County three more times.

    In February 2017, he was charged with theft under $1,000 and evading arrest. Police records indicate he posted bond. Later in June, he served nearly two months in jail for robbery, domestic assault and violation of probation (for the theft charge).

    Three months later, in Sept. 2017, Cummins was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, aggravated arson (charge reduced to attempted aggravated arson), escape (reduced to resisting arrest), and violation of probation for domestic assault, evading arrest and theft. He was sentenced to 180 days on each charge day-for-day.

    News 2 has requested Cummins' full criminal background and will update this story with more information after we receive it.

    Both the homicides and the officer-involved shooting remain under active investigation by the TBI, whose forensic scientists are currently gathering evidence and interviews to determine the suspect's relationship to the victims and a possible motive.

    TBI officials will officially release the identities of the victims once their next-of-kin has been notified.

    According to the TBI, releasing the name of the officer who shot Cummins will be determined by the Sumner Co. Sheriff's Office.

    https://www.wkrn.com/amp/news/local-...ody/1959766316
    "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

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Sumner County killings: Law enforcement ID seven victims killed in 'horrific' scene

    By Jason Gonzales
    The Tennessean

    After a string of seven Sumner County homicides was discovered Saturday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed the identities of the victims Monday morning.

    Seven people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in Sumner County. An eighth victim was critically injured but survived and remains hospitalized.

    Multiple victims were relatives of the suspect in the case, Michael Cummins, 25.

    Cummins' parents, Clara Jane Cummins, 44, and David Carl Cummins, 51, were among the dead, along with his uncle, Charles Edward Hosale, 45.

    The TBI was working to clarify the relationship to Cummins of the remaining three victims who were found at the home on Charles Brown Road along with the family members of Michael Cummins.

    They were identified as Rachel Dawn McGlothlin-Pee, 43, her daughter, Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee, 12, and Rachel's mother, Marsha Elizabeth Nuckols, 64.

    A seventh victim found dead at a home on Luby Brown Road was identified as Shirley B. Fehrle, 69. She does not have a known relationship with Michael Cummins.

    The TBI initially said on Saturday there were five deaths in the rural section of northern Sumner County. But the investigation continued to find additional bodies Sunday afternoon.

    Michael Lee Cummins, 25, is named as a suspect in homicides that Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley said are the most violent in the region's history.

    The TBI said at a press conference Monday morning that the deaths may have taken place over more than one day.

    Support has been provided to the family members, TBI Director David Rausch said.

    "I think as you would expect, they are absolutely horrified," he said. "It is certainly one of the most difficult and horrific (scenes)... and certainly at a level that is unprecedented."

    Jennifer Hall, a supervisor in the TBI's crime lab in Nashville, said two bodies were found a day after initial reports because technicians process scenes from the entrance to the interior.

    "It was simply processing all of that evidence, prior to getting back to that area," Hall said. "Unfortunately, it just took us that long to get back to that area."

    An investigation and subsequent search for Cummins

    TBI agents first arrived Saturday evening at the scene on Charles Brown Road after a family member called 911. Six bodies were ultimately discovered at that scene.

    During the investigation, agents also found another body at a home less than a mile away on Luby Brown Road.

    The crime scenes are located in a northeastern section of Sumner County between the Westmoreland and Oak Grove communities, near the Kentucky state line.

    Investigators said the crimes were linked and said that Cummins was a person of interest.

    A TBI helicopter located Cummins in a Sumner County creek bed and officers took him into custody late Saturday. He was named a suspect after he was arrested.

    Cummins was shot by law enforcement while being captured, but he was in good condition at a local hospital Sunday.

    Whitley said Sunday, criminal charges were being finalized. In addition to the homicides, Whitley said, there was evidence that Cummins stole a car.

    Work on the case continued throughout the day Sunday, including agents and forensic scientists working to piece together a timeline for the killings late Sunday, a TBI spokesman said.

    Suspect's criminal history

    Cummins had an extensive criminal record in Sumner County, according to court records confirmed by Sheriff Sonny Weatherford.

    He pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated arson and aggravated assault in Sumner County on July 19. A family friend said Cummins had tried to set a neighbor's home on fire.

    Other guilty pleas included domestic assault in August 2017, evading arrest in April 2017, theft in April 2017 and probation violations, Weatherford confirmed.

    https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...es/3615421002/
    "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. #3
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    7 killed in Tennessee had multiple blunt force injuries

    By Travis Loller
    Associated Press

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A medical examiner in Nashville said Tuesday the cause of death for seven people found dead at two rural Tennessee homes included multiple blunt force injuries and some sharp force injuries.

    Michael Cummins, the suspect in the killings, had been within days of being arrested for probation violations when the bodies were discovered over the weekend at two Sumner County homes.

    Davidson County Medical Examiner Dr. Feng Li said in a phone interview Tuesday that all seven were homicide victims. There was no evidence of bullet wounds, although Cummins hinted to acquaintances before his capture that he was armed with a gun.

    According to an affidavit, Cummins was wearing a blood-stained shirt when he told them, "if anything goes down, he would get blamed for it and was saving a bullet for himself."

    Cummins, 25, had been on probation after serving just 16 months of a 10-year sentence for attempting to burn down a neighbor's house in September 2017 and assaulting her when she tried to put out the fire.

    Cummins was released on probation in January, but his probation officer had been preparing an arrest warrant Friday for probation violations, Sumner District Attorney Ray Whitley said in a Tuesday phone interview.

    Cummins was arrested on Saturday about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from one of the two crime scenes. He was shot and wounded while being taken into custody after authorities spotted him in a creek bed.

    An affidavit filed with an arrest warrant Monday says Cummins violated a no-contact order with the neighbor whose home he tried to burn and failed to get a required mental health evaluation.

    Whitley said the probation officer wasn't able to get a judge's signature on the warrant Friday, but, even if he had, it is unlikely Cummins would have been arrested immediately.

    "It's just a coincidence," Whitley said.

    He added that Cummins still has not been served with an arrest warrant for the killings because he was still undergoing hospital treatment after being shot.

    Court records show Cummins faced a string of charges beginning in February 2017 with the theft of a neighbor's turkey and game camera. In April, he was sentenced to probation and ordered to seek mental health treatment, but less than a month later he assaulted his grandmother while stealing his mother's purse, the records show.

    Back in court in August, he was again given probation and this time ordered to attend a domestic violence classes. It was just the next month that he tried to burn down his neighbor's mobile home by stuffing garbage between the insulation and the floorboards and setting it on fire.

    According to court records, when the neighbor walked outside to extinguish the flames, Cummins "shoved her to the ground and started pulling her hair." She also said he had a revolver in his hand. He told officers, "when I get out, I'll finish the job," according to court records. The neighbor was not listed among the victims this weekend.

    Whitley said he could not comment on the previous decisions to give Cummins probation despite repeated violations.

    Another neighbor of Cummins said "a lot of people were scared of him" and wondered why he kept getting released. She asked to remain anonymous, saying she was afraid Cummins would come after her if he were to be released again.

    "He's been to my house before, and he's kind of a spooky character," she said. "I never liked having him around anywhere."

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has identified those killed as Cummins' parents, 51-year-old David Cummins and 44-year-old Clara Cummins; and 45-year-old uncle Charles Hosale. Also killed were 43-year-old Rachel McGlothlin-Pee, whose relationship to Cummins wasn't clear; her 12-year-old daughter, Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee; and her mother, 64-year-old Marsha Nuckols.

    Another victim, 69-year-old Shirley Fehrle, was found in a separate home and has no known relationship to Cummins. But witnesses told investigators Cummins had been driving a car that was later found abandoned and was traced to Fehrle.

    An eighth victim, who authorities have said is a relative, was wounded and taken to the hospital.

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/7-killed-...force-injuries
    "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. #4
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Michael Cummins: Sumner County homicide suspect charged with 8th killing, victim found headless

    By Brett Kelman
    The Tennessean

    Michael Cummins, a Tennessee suspect accused of seven homicides in the small town of Westmoreland, is now being prosecuted for allegedly killing an eighth person whose headless body was discovered by authorities last month.

    Cummins will be charged in the death of James Fox Dunn Jr., a Nashville-area man who was found dead on April 17, said Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley.

    Whitley said Dunn's headless body was discovered at a burned cabin outside of Westmoreland, adding that it is unknown if Dunn was decapitated during the killing or if his head was separated by decomposition or another method.

    The Dunn killing is being investigated separately and independently from the other homicides. It is unclear how authorities have implicated Cummins in Dunn's death

    Dunn, 63, was born in Starkville, Mississippi, but grew up in Nashville, where he lived most of his life, according to an obituary published by Austin Funeral & Cremation Services in Brentwood. The obituary states that Dunn “loved animals and the outdoors which is where he felt most at home.”

    When asked if Dunn's death was linked to the other killings, Whitley said he could only confirm the homicides were connected by the suspect. Other Sumner County law enforcement officials did not respond to requests for comment on the case.

    Cummins was arrested late last month after authorities found seven bodies at two homes on the outskirts of Westmoreland, a town of about 2,000 people in Sumner County. The bodies were discovered on the weekend of April 27, a full 10 days after Cummins allegedly killed Dunn.

    The victims included several of Cummins' family members and a 12-year-old girl. Authorities have called the case one of the worst mass killings in state history.

    https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...de/1169644001/
    "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

  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    'He heard the screams and ran': Sheriff gives new details in Michael Cummins homicide cases

    By Natalie Neysa Alund and Amy Nixon
    The Tennessean

    WESTMORELAND — Michael Cummins heard the piercing screams from several hundred yards away, authorities said, as he tried to dig out a stolen black Kia stuck in gravel along Middle Forks Drake Creek in a heavily wooded area 50 miles north of Nashville.


    His family members had found the bodies.


    So he took off into the woods, just behind the crime scene, according to Sumner County Sheriff Sonny Weatherford.


    A small, narrow mobile home with white siding on Charles Brown Road in rural Westmoreland was where Cummins, 25, sometimes stayed in a cramped living space with his parents, grandmother, uncle and three other family friends.


    About 5 p.m. on April 27, family members approached the residence and opened the front door to find all but one of them dead.


    The discovery would lead more than 100 local and state law enforcement agents on an hourslong manhunt through the backwoods near the Kentucky border in an effort to capture Cummins, later arrested in connection to the killings, two other deaths and one attempted slaying in a twisted case authorities called the deadliest mass killing in Tennessee history.


    At the center of it all, Weatherford said he knew the killings would put the county of just over 160,000 residents on the map — and for the worst of reasons. As the body count rose, he grew more and more disheartened.


    "When they said four bodies I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is terrible,'" he said. "When they found six I'm like, 'We're going to make the record books.'


    "When they said they had seven, I was like, 'Now we've made the record books.' And then, because I already knew about (the eighth victim), I thought, 'When this comes out, we won't even be close to anybody.'"

    The family home

    As his grandmother, Mary Sue Hosale, lay left to die among six corpses, suffering from blunt force trauma to the head, Cummins was just down the road — not hiding, but in plain sight, a witness reported.

    His biggest concern: getting the 2017 black Kia Forte authorities said he stole from neighbor Shirley B. Fehrle out of the gravel near the creek off Keen Hollow Road.

    "It was on a dry spot, where you can drive into the creek," Weatherford said. "He got it stuck in the gravel down there."


    Sometime during the late afternoon hours, Cummins' cousin Duwayne Robinson reported he got a call for help.


    "He was supposedly with him trying to get the car out is what he (Robinson) reported to us when we got to the scene," Weatherford said.


    Robinson also told authorities that Cummins showed up at his uncle's Keen Hollow Road trailer the day before wearing a pair of girls shoes. The tread pattern on those shoes, court documents show, is consistent with shoe impressions found in what "appears to be blood" inside the crime scene.


    Robinson was not a suspect, nor had he been charged in connection with the case as of May 20, Weatherford said. He added that Robinson had been interviewed several times and was cooperative with the investigation.


    As the young men tried to free the vehicle, Cummins heard the screams, abandoned his cousin and fled into the woods, Robinson reported.


    Back at his family home, one of the relatives dialed 911.


    When a Sumner County deputy arrived on the scene with EMS personnel, they opened the door and saw four bodies — one of them, Cummins' grandmother, was still alive.


    Pulling her out of the trailer, EMS personnel began working to save her life.


    A search warrant was required to re-enter the home, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was called in to take over the scene.


    It wasn't until the next day, April 28, that investigators discovered the bodies of two more victims, not immediately visible to the deputy who first arrived on scene.


    Among the dead on Charles Brown Road were Cummins' parents, David and Clara Cummins, his uncle Charles Hosale, Hosale's girlfriend, Rachel McGlothlin-Pee, her mother, Marsha Nuckols, and her 12-year-old daughter, Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee.


    Cummins didn't have time to get far on foot before the TBI responded at 5:30 p.m. April 27 and began to shut down the country roads surrounding the gruesome scene.


    Almost three hours before his capture, the TBI named Cummins as a person of interest in the case. At 7:21 p.m., they reported he was believed to be armed and in the woods near the crime scenes.


    Authorities found the Kia down the road and ran its VIN number, discovering it was stolen.That led them to Fehrle's home, where they discovered her body that same day.


    They also found a .30-30 level action rifle at the mobile home, which authorities said eventually connected Cummins to the homicide of James Fox Dunn - a man described by the sheriff as a hermit - who was found dead outside of his remote cabin home 10 days earlier.

    <atoms-inline-cta-container></atoms-inline-cta-container>
    The neighbor

    Fehrle, 69, lived alone, Weatherford said, less than a mile away in a red brick home on Luby Brown Road.

    The TBI reported finding her dead before 7:15 p.m. that night.


    Like the other victims, Dr. Feng Li, chief medical examiner for Davidson County, said she died from multiple blunt force trauma to her head — mainly her face. She also suffered other injuries to her extremities, an arrest affidavit shows.


    Fehrle was a widow and had worked as a nurse, said Randy Andrews, who lived next door to her for several years.


    Andrews said Fehrle kept to herself, but he got to know her while helping her re-do her porch, which sat covered in furniture, boxes and debris and was adorned with several private property warnings.


    A "keep out" sign was placed prominently in the windshield of an old red pickup truck on the property, and a sign on her mailbox warned of video surveillance.


    The cabin


    When Dunn's body was discovered April 17 — 10 days before the other bodies were found — there was nothing to connect Cummins to the crime, Weatherford said. It was only after Dunn's missing .30-30 rifle was found at the crime scene on Charles Brown Road that authorities could place Cummins at Dunn's cabin.

    Sheriff's Office Detective Lance Hampton wrote in an arrest affidavit that Cummins was seen on April 27 carrying a rifle matching the description of the one stolen from Dunn's cabin.


    The cabin, which Weatherford described as a small shack, sat deep in the woods along Ransom Mandrell Road, among rusted out cars and trucks. It was not visible from the street, and Weatherford said Dunn lived there quietly and kept to himself.


    Lacking even the most basic amenities — Weatherford said he wasn't sure it even had running water — Dunn surrounded himself with chickens and dogs, and was often referred to as "the chicken man" or "the dog man."


    On April 17, authorities were called to investigate a fire at the cabin. Dunn was missing.


    They discovered Dunn's body some 75 yards outside of the cabin. His head was found another 25 yards from there, according to court documents.


    Weatherford said investigators never thought Dunn was decapitated by a person.


    "We think animals might have done that, but we can't openly talk about that right now," he said. "There were signs a coyote had been there."


    Weatherford said Dunn had likely died a day or so before the fire started. And the fire, he said, may have been accidental — the result of some combustible materials found at the scene.


    Authorities began investigating, and the autopsy report indicated Dunn died from blunt force trauma to the head, court records show.

    Under a dark sky, just before 10 p.m. on April 27, an agent in a state-of-the art TBI single-engine turboprob plane, flying at some 7,000 feet, narrowed in on Cummins limping through the creek.


    Weatherford, who said he was standing behind another agent near the scene listening to his radio, said the TBI spotted him using FLIR night-vision technology from the Pilatus PC-12 aircraft.


    Cummins was found just 600 yards or so from his family home.


    "He was a microdot on the screen when the agent saw him," Weatherford said. “Supposedly they can read a license plate at that altitude.”


    The county's joint SWAT team on the ground moved in.


    A member of the team shot Cummins once in the leg after he brandished a hatchet, according to Weatherford and an arrest affidavit.


    A nearby TBI helicopter landed in an adjacent open field shortly after the shot was fired, and Cummins was taken into custody and transported to TriStar Skyline Medical Center, where he spent close to two weeks before he was released into TBI custody.


    He was later charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, one count of criminal homicide, one count of attempt to commit first-degree murder and one count of theft.

    'I'm afraid somebody will kill him'

    Weatherford would not suggest a motive or say if additional charges are pending against Cummins. But he did say more information would likely be revealed during testimony at Cummins' upcoming preliminary hearing on the homicide charges.

    Cummins' grandmother, the sole-surviving victim, remained hospitalized this week in Nashville in stable condition with now non life-threatening injuries, Weatherford said.


    During his time in the hospital, Cummins underwent surgery to his leg, but Weatherford could not release more details about his injury due to privacy laws.


    After being released from the hospital, Cummins was transported to the Sumner County Jail to be booked.


    He was then moved to a Tennessee Department of Corrections Special Needs Unit in Davidson County where he will remain until his May 29 court hearing.


    For his own safety.


    "We don't want him up here," Weatherford said, then slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid somebody will kill him."

    https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...ls/3706296002/
    "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

  6. #6
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    'I hope he gets the death penalty' Family emotional seeing massacre suspect in court

    By Alex Apple
    WZTV News

    WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WZTV) — Police believe that Rachel and Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee died in 1177 Charles Brown Road in April after Michael Cummins beat them with a baseball bat and hatchet. Marsha Nuckols also died in the Cummins home.

    Wednesday marked the first time anyone has seen Michael Cummins since police shot him in the woods not far from his house. He rocked back and forth in a Sumner County court room as two judges terminated his probation and bound his seven first degree murder charges over to an August grand jury.

    Members of the McGlothlin and Nuckols family were overcome with emotion as one TBI investigator described the state of their loved one’s bodies.

    "I wish that everyone else would know what I’m going through,” said Virgil Nuckols who lost his wife, daughter and granddaughter in the massacre. “I’m just barely holding up and I hope that he gets the penalty. I got to sit down cause I’m shaking all over.”

    Nuckols left the court room after Sapphire’s uncle was removed for shouting out as Cummins sat and rocked to the testimony.

    “I don’t feel the man deserves to draw another breath on this earth,” he said. “The moment they wheeled him into this room, I had wished for him to die. A little hard to take. It’s bad enough the description of everything else. I just couldn’t keep quiet no longer.”

    Cummins also killed his parents, uncle and two other people according to police. They described all of the fatal injuries as head wounds inflicted by a baseball bat or hatchet.

    The judge sent all seven first degree murder charges to the grand jury, but in talking to the media afterwards, he admitted that a lot of evidence is still being processed and investigated.

    “It’s very grisly. We have so many victims,” said district attorney Ray Whitley. “I’ve never seen a case personally, and I’ve been around a long time where we have this many victims and everyone of them are brutally murdered. This is the United States of America. Everyone is presumed innocent and deserves due process.”

    The McGlothlin and Nuckle family expressed frustration at Sumner County because Cummins was allowed out on probation after serving 16 months on an aggravated arson and aggravated assault charge. He tried to burn down his neighbors home the year before his alleged rampage.

    https://fox17.com/news/local/i-hope-...spect-in-court
    "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. #7
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Inside the Michael Cummins case: A bloody crime scene was just the beginning

    <section id="module-position-R0-5eKsfuVc"></section><section id="module-position-R0-5eKtUc8w">NEW INFORMATION HAS ONLY AMPLIFIED CONCERNS THAT STATE AND COUNTY AGENCIES MISSED CRITICAL OPPORTUNITIES TO STOP THE CARNAGE
    </section>
    By Adam Tamburin

    The Tennessean

    A bloody footprint had dried on the front porch of the home on Charles Brown Road by the time the investigators arrived.


    The first body was visible through the open doorway.


    It was immediately clear something horrible had happened inside. But it would take weeks to come to grips with the unprecedented scale of the tragedy.


    More than a month later, the work is far from done.


    Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents are still analyzing the wave of Sumner County homicides that left eight people dead.


    At the same time, fractured families are struggling to follow the emerging strand of disturbing details about the crimes.


    For them, and for many others in the rural stretch of Middle Tennessee, new information has only amplified concerns that state and county agencies missed critical opportunities to stop the carnage.


    "Why wasn't something done?" Steve McGlothlin asked outside the Sumner County courthouse this week after hearing investigators describe finding the bodies of his mother, sister and 12-year-old niece. "I'm the last one of my immediate family left."


    A series of discoveries


    Investigators were called to the first crime scene in rural Westmoreland on April 27, a Saturday afternoon. But it took hours for them to begin scouring the scene for evidence.

    First they needed a search warrant. And they had to wait for animal control workers to clear out several cats and dogs inside the mobile home shared by the sprawling Cummins family.


    When they finally walked in, they found chaos — and a steadily growing body count.


    Marsha Nuckols was dead on the living room couch, her oxygen machine still running behind her.


    Her 12-year-old granddaughter Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee was lying facedown under a love seat, with only her foot exposed. A serrated knife was near her body.


    To the right, the door to a bedroom was blocked by two more bodies, intertwined on the floor: Charles Hosale and Sapphire's mother, Rachel McGlothlin-Pee. First responders had already found a survivor, Mary Sue Hosale, in the bed and rushed her to the hospital.


    To the left, another bedroom door was blocked by furniture and debris. Investigators weren't able to get inside right away, but once they did, they saw David Cummins' body in bed under a comforter. It took longer for them to find Claire Cummins. Her body was hidden under an overturned recliner.


    The victims had been hit in the head and face. Many of them were covered with so much blood it was hard to tell how they died.


    Before authorities had counted all the bodies, they identified a suspect behind the brutality: Michael Lee Cummins.


    Investigators say Michael Cummins, 25, killed his mother, his father, his uncle, his uncle's girlfriend and two members of the girlfriend's family at the home on Charles Brown Road.


    His grandmother, the sole survivor of the attack, was badly injured. When authorities questioned her at the hospital, she told investigators she didn't remember anything.


    Michael Cummins ran from the area around the family home after his screaming relatives found the bodies, investigators said. He was taken into custody later that evening.


    Investigators at the nearby crime scene recalled hearing a cacophony of gunfire when law enforcement found him. He was shot in the leg and remains in a wheelchair.


    As the TBI continued its work, Michael Cummins was linked with even more bloodshed. Each new discovery, announced sporadically in the weeks after the investigation launched, hit the rural pocket of Sumner County like an earthquake.


    A stolen 2017 black Kia Forte in the nearby creek bed where Michael Cummins was known to hang out led detectives to Shirley Fehrle's home on Luby Brown Road, less than a mile away.


    Fehrle was inside with "obvious trauma to the head and face," according to Sumner County detective Lance Hampton. Her arm looked "as if it had been 360-degree spun around."


    Broken pieces of a stolen rifle, found around the victims at the first crime scene, were linked to another gruesome death Sumner County deputies had discovered on April 17, 10 days before the other victims.


    When authorities responded to a fire at James Fox Dunn Jr.'s Westmoreland cabin that day, they found his headless body in the dense brush outside the smoldering building.


    Dunn's 30-30 rifle, which he bought in Brentwood in 1980, was missing. It ultimately linked him with what authorities count as one of the most deadly rampages in Tennessee's history.


    Law enforcement officials didn't widely announce the death, or their search for an unknown suspect, until after Michael Cummins had been charged in the case in May, once again rocking a battered community.


    Michael Cummins faces multiple counts of first-degree murder, along with several other charges in the deaths, including criminal homicide.


    A history of violence


    As authorities continued to piece together evidence against Michael Cummins, details about his personal and criminal history raised troubling questions about warning signs that could have predicted or prevented tragedy.

    He had a lengthy criminal history in Sumner County, including previous convictions for aggravated assault, domestic assault and attempted aggravated arson.

    His pregnant girlfriend accused him of stalking six years ago. In a Facebook post from 2017, she explained why Michael Cummins, her child’s father, was not part of her life.

    “It’s not a secret he's dangerous,” she posted. “He needs to be stopped. Enough is enough already before he ends up getting someone killed.”

    He pledged to “finish the job" after he was arrested and charged with attacking a neighbor and setting fire to her house in 2017, according to documents.

    He repeatedly violated the terms of his probation in that case in the days leading up to the killings. He hadn't gotten a required mental health evaluation and had contacted the victim in the 2017 attack.

    On April 10, during an attempted home visit by a probation officer at the family home on Charles Brown Road, he ran out the back door and into the woods to evade them.

    He still stayed out of prison.

    Days later, authorities finally decided to move to arrest Michael Cummins based on the repeated probation violations. They didn’t get to him before he was charged with murder.

    At a hearing this week, a judge asked Michael Cummins if he wanted to plead guilty to the probation violation.

    “Sure,” he answered.

    Outside of court, it was that detail that stuck in Steve McGlothlin’s mind. If authorities had acted faster, he said, his family might still be alive.

    "This man shouldn't have been out," Steve McGlothlin said. "Absolutely it could have been prevented. Had someone done their job, this man would not have been out to do any of this."

    https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...tn/1278152001/
    "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

  8. #8
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    7,316
    I'm hoping he gets the death penalty but considering this is Tennessee, I have doubts

  9. #9
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Sumner Co. DA: Waiting on evidence, psych. eval. before seeking death penalty for Cummins

    Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley is still awaiting more evidence processing from the TBI and a mental health examination for Michael Cummins before deciding he will seek the death penalty for Cummins who is accused of killing 8 people.

    "We have to wait until we determine what his mental state is, determine what the evidence is, fit that into the law and make a decision," Whitley said after Cummins preliminary hearing.

    Whitley has taken criticism from the family of victims who think Sumner County was too lenient on Cummins after a conviction for aggravated arson and aggravated assault.

    Steve McGlothlin, brother and uncle to 2 of Cummins' alleged victims, said, "I feel Sumner County dropped the ball. This man shouldn't have been out."

    Whitley responded, "All the facts represented to the judge, we did not drop the ball. We did what we should have done, and it turned out bad. Sometimes that happens. You cannot predict human behavior 100%."

    Whitley does not want to make a decision on the death penalty until he is sure that Cummins is fit to stand trial. Prematurely calling for the death penalty only to reverse that decision could create false hope for heartbroken people like Virgil Nuckols.

    "I just want him to get the penalty where he won't be able to come out of jail," Nuckols said. "He's took the most important thing away from me. My wife, my daughter and granddaughter, and I'm really hurt."

    Testimony in the Wednesday preliminary hearing was too tough for McGlothlin and Nuckols to take; both left midway through the 2 hour hearing that detailed how the bodies were found and beaten.

    Cummins is accused of the deadliest killing spree in Tennessee since Paul Dennis Reid in 1997 when he killed 7 fast food workers.

    (source: WZTV news)
    "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

  10. #10
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Westmoreland mass murder suspect indicted, state seeking death penalty

    By Kaylin Jorge
    WZTV News

    WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WZTV) — The man accused of slaying eight people in Westmoreland has been indicted on charges and Tennessee attorneys are seeking the death penalty.

    Michael Cummins was indicted by a Sumner County Grand Jury for the first-degree murder of eight people, attempted murder of one person, theft of a rifle and motor vehicle.

    All eight victims died of blunt force head injuries, an arrest report said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the April 27 incident was the deadliest homicide event in 20 years.

    A lone survivor of the attacks, Cummins' grandmother, was previously released from the hospital. The youngest victim was just 12 years old.

    TBI identified the victims as:

    • David Carl Cummins, the father of Michael Cummins
    • Clara Jane Cummins, the mother of Michael Cummins
    • Charles Edward Hosale, the uncle of Michael Cummins
    • Rachel Dawn McGlothlin-Pee, efforts by the TBI to clarify her relationship to Cummins remain ongoing
    • Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee, Rachel’s 12-year-old daughter
    • Marsha Elizabeth Nuckols, Rachel’s mother
    • Shirley B. Fehrle, no known relationship to Cummins
    • Jim Dunn, whose head was found 25 yards from his body

    https://fox17.com/news/local/accused...-death-penalty
    "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

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •