[ applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ -- captions by vitac -- >> david: tonight, a wave of terror and murder in one american down. >> deborah: nearly all the killings have one very unexpected thing in common, a supposed good friend. "20/20" starts right now. the first body came out after midnight, but it was only the first. >> when the murders started, for the most part they were just another murder. >> shawna hawk. >> debra slaughter.

>> each one seen individually. >> here's another homicide. >> two murders in two days. >> who is african american. >> caroline love. >> michelle stinson. >> another victim to roll out. >> a lot of women are in fear. >> i just talked to her, and now she's dead? >> the patterns of women being killed didn't add up. >> brandi henderson and nine others. >> these ten murders -- >> a murder count possibly totaling 13. >> why didn't police see it sooner? >> all victims of an unknown suspect. >> whoever did this was a ghost. >> danger disguised as a friend. his victims never saw it coming. >> why did it take so long to see a pattern? >> we feel bad that we did not know that sooner. >> it wasn't just police. it was those of the us in the media and i think the community. >> it was right there. >> this young mother killed in the same manner. >> all had been strangled. >> he looked at me and said, we think we have a serial killer. >> we know if you don't get him off the streets fast, he would do it again. >> i was not going stop until i found out who did this. >> if we only had the little pieces, had we only known what we know now.

>> she was one of his victims, too. >> so, this was shawna's first prom. oh, man. i remember the day she found the dress. purple was her favorite color. >> shawna hawk was a very beautiful young woman. she went to central piedmont community college. >> all i can tell you about shawna is an incredible human being. >> raised by her mother, single mom at the time. she was industrious, ambitious, worked, wanted to make something out of herself. >> she was the apple of her mother's eye. >> shawna was born on december 2nd. i was all of 18 years old. the minute they laid her on my chest, eyes locked and she calmed down. >> she was younger than me, but bossy.

that's the word, she was bossy. every time i hear "sunshine of my life" by stevie wonder, it takes me to her. i remember one day we were talking about how much we loved that song. ♪ you are the sunshine of my life ♪ ♪ that's why i'll always stay around ♪ >> shawna is working her way through college. she's serving fried chicken at bojangles but gets a better job at taco bell. >> the one reason i allowed her to even get the job, was because it was the most money she'd ever made, and she always worked fast food. and she said, mom, i can do it. >> still, her mom's a little worried. she's worried about the long hours and whether she's going to be able to keep up with her schoolwork. she actually talks with the taco bell manager, a guy named henry wallace. >> i went and met him once.

he said, nice to meet you, ms. sumpter. i've hired your daughter, and i think she's going to be great on our team. >> that year, february 19th was on a friday. >> dee sumpter refers to that day as horrible friday, but it started out as just any other day at their home on elon street. >> she said, well, i'm gone. i love you. i said, i love you more. and she stuck her head back in the door and said, mom, i love you. i said, baby, i love you more. and then she took off. >> that afternoon, dee gets a call at work. >> her godson's mother called and said, have you heard from shawna? and i said, no. she said, ms. dee, i'm not trying to say anything, but something's wrong. i don't know what, but something is not right. >> she noticed some unusual things around the house when she

came home. her daughter's car was not there. that wasn't unusual, but what was unusual is it was a cold day in february, and shawna's purse was in the house and her winter coat was in the house. >> she's wondering, well, what's going on? where is she? >> i called her boyfriend and i said, darrell, get over to my house please, now. he's just shaking his head, he's saying, this is baffling. i said, more than baffling. something is definitely wrong. >> they decided to call the police and report her as missing. as they were waiting for the police to respond, darrell decided to go looking through the house and just check. >> i hear his footsteps. he walks into the bathroom. >> he pulled back the shower curtain and found shawna in the bathtub in a small amount of

water, fully clothed, and she was dead. >> the next sound i heard was him, blood-curdling scream. he runs back down the hall. ms. dee, ms. dee, dial 911. she's in the bathtub. last thing i remember is seeing them push her out on a gurney doing cpr. >> it was obviously too late at that point. >> subsequently, we find out that she was raped and then strangled inside of her bathtub. >> and that was kind of unusual for us at the time. we did not have a lot of strangulations during that time with the homicide investigations. >> strangulation is rare. it's more commonly seen in domestic cases or cases where

people have a relationship. >> murder? i couldn't hardly even spell the word murder before shawna was murdered. >> we didn't have any damage to the doors, we didn't have any damage to the windows, so we believe she allowed the assailant to come inside the residence. >> the killer was also meticulous in terms of going into the house, making sure he wiped down anything he may have touched. so they had no dna, they had no fingerprints. in effect, whoever this did was a ghost. >> who would want to kill this beautiful, innocent, sweet, kind, loving person? my best friend, my daughter. >> we didn't find anything significant that would draw us to, point us to a spectacular suspect at the time. >> she couldn't have had an enemy. she wasn't that kind of person.

>> so after she was found murdered at a home, police tried to locate her car. it was not discovered for weeks, and when it was discovered, it was found at a parking lot at central piedmont community college. >> the front seat was pushed back, and shawna was short, so i think the only thing they took away from that is it had to be somebody that was taller than shawna. >> in the course of their investigation, police actually are missing something rather important. eight months earlier, a young woman by the name of caroline love disappeared, and it turns out that caroline and shawna were friends. >> something ain't right. they need to go back and look at what happened to caroline, because caroline's missing and now here shawna is dead. what's coming is an incredibly rude awakening. >> there's some decomposition on the body. >> for the charlotte police

department. >> what soon followed was a wave of death and grief unlike anything this town has ever seen. (claire): mitch and cam switched phones and now the family chat's gone green, and the photos are blurry... (phil) so the kids stopped replying. they barely even visit anymore. [knock at the door] (phil) kids! kids! (postal worker) problem reaching your kids? i see it a lot. try whatsapp. it's great for any phone. and it's private. (claire) the kids are responding again. (phil) what does iykyk mean? (claire) if you know you know. (phil) well if i knew, i wouldn't be asking. ya know. got another one! i got another one! protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain.

arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots. rsv? make it arexvy. now at kohl's, freshen up your summer look arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots. and save on the latest styles for men and women during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off when you use your kohl's card. no card? you still save 20%. and earn kohl's cash. kohl's. swiffer duster traps 4x more dust for a clean even mom approves of. that reach! ♪ making hard to reach. so easy! swiffer, [wow!] the mother of all cleans! ♪ depend keeps you drier than ever... so you can say yes to more than ever. yes

yes yes no. depend, the only thing stronger than us, is you. (♪) this season on metro's nada yada island, castmates are thrilled that at metro new and existing customers are finally treated the same, with metro flex. free 5g phone when you join, our best deals when you stay. only at metro. [♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's healing formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond.

♪ the best way to describe charlotte in the early '90s would be is that it was growing extremely fast. >> charlotte was at the beginning of its banking boom. >> johnson from 20. >> after the charlotte hornets got here, i think that's when

everyone started using the term "world-class city." the skyline seemed like it changed every three to four months. >> charlotte was booming. a lot of steel and glass and a lot of looking upward. maybe not enough looking down. >> police are pointing out the drug dealers. >> at what was happening on the ground. >> drugs are a problem in every large city in america. >> in the neighborhoods and in communities. >> police say that this is what they call a crack house. >> we were headed towards one of our highest murder rates in the city's history. >> on the legitimate side, banking was the growth industry. on the criminal side, drugs was the growth industry. >> gun was found behind the dresser along with the crack bags. >> it was a very, very violent period of time. in fact, i would say it was the most violent period in charlotte's history. >> members of the violent mustang gang were arrested. >> in the '90s, we were not equipped to handle the murder rate. we had maybe eight homicide

detectives, but only six were actively working. >> it was almost like they were having to work homicides like car accidents. >> it's the '90s in charlotte, north carolina. skyscrapers are going up, but at the same time, a series of crimes are unfolding. 20-year-old shawna hawk is found strangled in her bathtub, and her friend and coworker caroline love has vanished. >> caroline love went missing in june of 1992. >> caroline lived in east charlotte. i lived in west charlotte. and we all worked together at bojangles. >> the love sisters, kathy and caroline, worked at bojangles with henry wallace, who was shawna hawk's boss at taco bell. >> she was a really fun person. she always had, like, a really cute boyfriend. >> she didn't show up for work. >> this don't sound like her. you know, something's definitely wrong. >> i know my mom, i remember her calling, like, everybody. she called everybody in our family.

like, have you seen her? is she over here? >> it was like she just disappeared off the face of the earth. >> she was living with this young lady by the name of sadie mcknight. >> sadie mcknight and her boyfriend, henry wallace, helped file the report for the missing person of caroline love. >> kathy, henry, and sadie are the ones who went to the police station to file the police report. >> shawna had the news on, and she said, mommy, caroline is missing. something is wrong. it's not like her just not to come to work and not call me or call work or say something. >> when shawna hawk is murdered, police don't immediately tie that to the disappearance of caroline love, but there is a connection. >> before taco bell, shawna had worked at bojangles with caroline. >> she and shawna were close friends. they were in high school together. they worked together. they were buddies. they hung out together. >> my mom was on it.

she was like, there's no way that within a year that caroline's missing and then now one of her good friends is dead. >> they always remained hopeful that she would be found alive and okay. >> i thought so many times that she was going to come back. i remember even when searching for her, i had these two little dresses, and i wore them because i wanted to look nice, you know -- she showed up. >> four months after shawna hawk was murdered, another young lady, audrey spain, turns up murdered as well. >> i think this is one of my favorites. >> audrey was, um, a free spirit. she lived life on her terms. >> spirited. adventurous, positive, a hard worker.

>> audrey spain was another young, attractive, black female who also worked at taco bell. >> i do remember receiving a call from audrey's manager telling me that she had missed going to work that particular day and that he was concerned. >> so they actually sent the manager or the maintenance people to her apartment complex, and when they entered the apartment complex, in her apartment, they found her deceased on the bed. >> i don't know how much information they actually gave us at that time. i just remember that she had been murdered. she had been strangled. there was a rape also. >> it was devastating. it's just not something that you ever expect to have to deal with. audrey was my younger sister,

and we grew up together, so it -- it was very difficult. >> what did i miss? how did this happen? and you're totally blindsided. yeah. totally. >> the interesting thing about that crime scene was that the thermostat had been -- it was the summer months -- had been turned way down. >> the crime scene techs, when they got there, were shivering. >> that's because the air conditioning had been cranked to slow down the decomposition process. >> apparently, her body had been there for at least two days. >> in the first six months of 1993, shawna hawk and audrey spain have been strangled to death. >> before shawna was murdered, a friend of hers, caroline love, had vanished. even so, the detectives have no clue that these cases are connected.

>> i just don't feel like they knew. maybe she was random, maybe not. >> these cases never came together because there were other detectives working it, and not just one. and so we had very little information to go on at the time to try to link it with any of the other homicides. >> we just knew that we had another young black woman who was found murdered. >> we have a possible serial killer working in the shadows, but do we know that? we have no idea. >> in the months ahead, more charlotte women will fall victim to strangulation and murder. but the killer will make a mistake, giving police a glimpse as to who he is. (man) every time i needed a new phone, i had to switch carriers... (roommate) i told him... at verizon, everyone can get the best deals, like that iphone 15 on them. (man) switching all the time... it wasn't easy. (lady) 35. (store customer) you're gonna be here forever. (man) i know. (employee) here is your wireless contract.

(man) do i need a lawyer for this? those were hard days. representative. switch! now that i got a huge storage and battery upgrade... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone, any condition. guaranteed. (man) i really wished you told me sooner. (roommate) i did. hey miss miller, so, to show their appreciation, target is giving teachers 20% off storewide with target circle. and to show mine, i'll... grade my own homework. so, you can just relax. a plus plus plus plus plus! zyrtec allergy relief works fast and lasts a full 24 hours so dave can be the... deliverer of dance. ok, dave! let's be more than our allergies. zeize the day with zyrtec. looking for a reason to try the new $5 meal deal at mcdonalds? here's one, two, three, four and the price makes 5. that's everything you get with the new $5 meal deal at mcdonald's.

you are bountiful. your skeleton can support two times your weight. it's in your nature to stand strong. supplement your bones with high-absorption magnesium. nature's bounty. it's in your nature. pain means pause on the things you love, but... green... means... go! ♪ cool the pain with biofreeze. and keep on going. biofreeze. green means go. now at kohl's, freshen up your summer look a and save on the. latest styles for men and women during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off when you use your kohl's card. no card? you still save 20%. and earn kohl's cash.

kohl's.

it's piled high with tender beef that's slow cooked and smothered in tangy memphis style barbecue sauce. it's no fuss, no muss. just tons of flavor. the best barbecue beef is only a togo's. try one today. ♪ 1993 is the year of living dangerously in charlotte. >> caroline love, shawna hawk, audrey spain. >> peak murder rates, and somebody is killing young black women. >> it was earlier this afternoon when a family friend found the body of the woman. >> it was september of '93.

we were called out to a home where a woman's body had been found. >> when police got to this apartment off of marvin road, they found two very frightened children. >> michelle, yeah, i was there. vividly remember michelle stinson. here's a young woman who had been murdered inside of her own home with her children present. michelle stinson was killed in front of her two children. >> a friend drops by to visit michelle. >> he looked in the windows and saw one of her little boys playing. and, you know, was banging on the window. >> where's your mommy? you know, where is she? and they tell him, well, mommy's asleep on the floor. >> and he was getting ready to leave when the little boy opened the door, and he went in. >> he finds her dead on the

kitchen floor. >> there were signs of strangulation. but her cause of death was four stab wounds. >> as michelle stinson's bloodied body was taken away, those who knew her said goodbye with tears and tried to make sense of it all. >> my goodness, what person, what monster, could take the life of a mother in front of their children? >> police say that there is no sign of forced entry. and that indicates that perhaps michelle knew her killer and invited him in. despite that, they fail to find any viable leads or suspects. >> michelle stinson's case, like shawna hawk and audrey spain, and the still-missing caroline love, goes unsolved. >> you can't even stay at home and be safe anymore. >> for some unknown reason, they just couldn't connect the dots.

>> dee sumpter's a remarkable woman. yes, her heart broke, but her will didn't. >> dee sumpter went on a public campaign to call attention to her daughter's death. >> it's better knowing. >> and she turned what was the worst possible situation into something extremely positive for this community when she, along with shawna's godmother, judy williams, started an organization called mothers of murdered offspring, which is still here. >> i just knew i had a daughter who was murdered and it wasn't being investigated properly. i was appalled by that, angered by it, and i was not going to stop until i found out who did this. >> they felt that the police department or the city didn't care enough because they were young black women. >> dee sumpter, whose daughter shawna was on that list of victims, still wonders, what if some of the faces were white instead?

>> every time another youngster was murdered, there was dee calling the press, going after the police, saying, what are you going to do to help us? >> she was turning up the heat on the police. >> they particularly attacked the police each and every day about what we were doing and what we were not doing. because they thought that we should be doing more, and we were telling them that we couldn't do any more than what we had. we were overworked and we were understaffed, but we were doing the best that we could. >> dear killer, i am the mother of shawna denise hawk. >> she wrote a letter to the editor calling out the person who took her daughter's life. >> something in me said, he's got to have some type of a -- a heart. it might be a dark heart, but it's a heart. please, please, please come

forward and turn yourself in to the authorities so justice can be served and so you can get the help you need and so forgiveness can be given. for without this, you are eternally doomed. can i have a moment, please? >> dee sumpter's letter appears in "the charlotte observer." and in the same day's paper, a brief article -- a woman in charlotte found dead in her apartment. here we go again, another victim. >> in the mornings, when vanessa mack had to go to work, her babysitter would come here to her house to pick up her 4-month-old daughter. >> a young lady by the name of vanessa little mack was murdered in her home. >> i said, vanessa, i said, get up. you know, like that. and then she didn't move and she didn't say anything. so i turned the bedroom light on, and i said, oh, god.

>> vanessa mack was killed in february of 1994, almost to the day that shawna hawk had been killed a year earlier. >> blood was on her face, and a towel was around her neck. >> her baby daughter, just yards away, was okay. police believe the infant was in the home when her mother was killed. >> vanessa mack was a hospital worker. >> just an honest, hardworking young lady doing the best that she can to provide for her family. >> i don't know why they would have did it, because she was a good girl. she didn't bother nobody. >> vanessa little mack's cause of death was once again ligature strangulation. >> there is a link to previous killings, but police don't seem to notice it at the time. >> vanessa mack had a sister who worked at taco bell.

so, again, the correlation of another person working with somebody at a taco bell. >> we started looking for financial card records and discovered that a bank card was missing from the scene. >> they got her banking history and found that her teller card had been used unsuccessfully. >> in her final moments, vanessa mack tricks her killer, giving him the wrong pin to her atm card. >> she had made it up. it wasn't the correct password, so that's why he couldn't get into her account. she still fought back. she didn't give him everything he wanted. >> there were security cameras on the atm. >> so we looked at the security camera footage, and we could possibly say that it was a male of dark-skinned complexion. >> but it wasn't a great picture. there wasn't a lot to go on. >> the only thing you could see in the photograph was his ear.

>> and we did see an earring in the figure of a cross at that time. >> a hoop cross earring. only thing the photograph showed. >> but that killer wearing a gold cross earring is about to make another mistake, revealing his identity. ♪ jardiance! -it's a little pill with a ♪ ♪ big story to tell. ♪ ♪ i take once-daily jardiance ♪ ♪ at each day's staaart. ♪ ♪ as time went on it was easy to seeee, ♪ ♪ i'm lowering my a1c! ♪ jardiance works twenty-four seven in your body to flush out some sugar. and for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too. serious side effects may include ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration that can lead to sudden worsening of kidney function, and genital yeast or urinary tract infections.

a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction. you may have an increased risk for lower limb loss. call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of infection in your legs or feet. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. ♪ jardiance is really swell ♪ ♪ the little pill with a big story to tell! ♪ go back to school at kohl's ♪ jardiance is really swell ♪ with everyday must haves they'll love! save on some of their faves during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off with a kohl's card. no card? you still save 20% and earn kohl's cash. kohl's. ♪ yo, can i kick it? (yes, you can!) can i kick it? (yes, you can!) can i kick it? (yes, you can!) can i kick it? ¿qué? (what?) can i play? ¡ah, sí tú puedes! (yes, you can!) can i kick it? (¡sí tú puedes!) can i kick it? can i kick it? can i try? (yes, you can!)

♪ can i kick it? (yes, you can!) ♪ can i kick it? (yes, you can!) ♪ behr behr behr behrrr behr behr behr ♪ ♪ behrrr behr behr behr behr ♪ ♪ behr behr behr behr behrrrrr ♪ right now, get america's most trusted paint brand at an everyday low price. ♪ behr behr behr behrrrr ♪ no, no. starting at $29.98. times may change, but somethings remain timeless. i've been using dove beauty bar more than 25 years. dove is 1/4 moisturizing cream. ♪ i feel silky smooth. ♪ now at kohl's, freshen up your summer look and save on the latest styles for men and women during kohl's exclusive cardholder event.

take up to 30% off when you use your kohl's card. no card? you still save 20%. and earn kohl's cash. kohl's.

♪ like a beast sitting, waiting for a prey, just waiting to go and hurt someone. >> it's march 1994 in the city of charlotte, and someone has gotten away with murdering four women in a year's time. >> my goddaughter was one of the victims, shawna. shawna hawk. she was one of his victims, too. >> shawna hawk found strangled

in her home last february, and then two weeks ago, vanessa little mack also strangled. >> all black women in their 20s, all strangled to death in their own home. >> something's not right here, you know? something is not right. >> i mean, it's one question i want to have for the police department. why hadn't they shown a real interest? and i really felt that we'd been neglected. >> all being investigated as seemingly unconnected. that is about to change in one single deadly day at the same apartment complex. >> the lake apartments. and i would refer to them as the infamous lake apartments, because if there is any location in this town that's affiliated with these cases, that's the location. >> the next victim is in march 9th of '94, 18 year-old

brandi henderson, a young mom. >> she was funny. she loved to joke around. she sang off-key, but she thought that she could sing, and we just let her do it. >> brandi lives with her boyfriend, lamar woods, and their 10-month-old son, tyrece. >> brandi told me that when she had tyrece that she felt like her life was complete. she felt like she had made a masterpiece. >> one night in march, brandi calls her cousin george asking him to come over and hang out. >> she was like, well, i've got some chinese food that i ordered in from takeout. why don't you just come over? come on over. you know, come see me. and i said, well, it's already 8:00. i'm tired. i've been working all day. i got to get up early tomorrow. she said, oh, come on, come on, come on. >> they're talking on the phone. then there's a knock on the door. the phone call was interrupted, and she said someone was at the door. >> and i heard her in the background saying, just make

sure you lock the door behind you. i didn't worry about who was there because she said "lock the door behind you." so she trusted him. >> late that night, brandi's boyfriend comes home from work. >> the first thing he notices that sort of catches his eye is that -- kind of like the lights are off, which is a little bit unusual because he knows brandi is home. >> he turns on the light. the apartment's been trashed. >> his stereo is missing. the place has been robbed. >> so he starts checking around, and he finds his kid and notices the kid is not really breathing normally. so then he's like, what's going on here? >> someone has tied a pair of shorts around 10-month-old tyrece's neck. this child is struggling to breathe. >> he runs to help him. he unties the things around his

neck and then finds brandi. >> brandi was in the bedroom lying on the bed with a ligature around her neck. >> you're watching as this woman's body is being carried downstairs, knowing her child has been injured, possibly gravely. and luckily, he survived. >> the next morning, as soon as i turned the news on -- >> we don't have a significant break anywhere in the case. we're still hoping somebody may come forward with information. >> they had a stretcher rolling across the sidewalk in front of her apartment. and i knew at that time that it was real, and i just lost it. because i just could not comprehend that i had just talked to her, and now she's dead? >> the killer stole not only the stereo, but a pringles can of coins that brandi had been saving up.

>> however this suspect got in here, apparently he was let in or had access to get in on his own. >> right at this moment, detectives get an urgent radio call. they're needed back at the lake apartments. >> another woman is found strangled. >> i could not believe that the next day, we're back at the same apartment complex where another woman is found dead in her apartment. and this woman is betty jean baucom. she's 24 years old. she has a 3-year-old daughter. >> betty baucum, who lived somewhere in those same apartments, worked at bojangles. >> betty never did anything wrong to anybody. she always tried to help people. i mean, it just really hit us hard here. >> the stuff hit the fan. it was crazytown, man. everybody was over there. it seemed like there was 10,000 police, cops over there. >> i was interviewing people who

were racing into the apartment complex. >> we came here to make sure that my girlfriend was safe, because her husband is at work and her and her daughter is home alone. >> did this concern you when you heard this? >> yes, it did. i mean, it's unbelievable. >> the fear that it stoked was just insane. >> i grew up in new york and i thought this was going to be, like, you know, a safe haven out here. and apparently there is no safe haven anymore. >> so, now we have a major problem. now we have two young ladies in the same apartment complex have been found murdered. and there's a lot of conversation. >> i was in court and saw one of the homicide detectives. and i asked him, you know, what's going on? and that was the first i heard. he looked at me and he said, we think we have a serial killer. >> police worry this could be a serial strangler. >> betty jean baucum's car has been stolen. >> we're looking for a vehicle

now of the latest victim, and we believe the suspect has probably fled in it. >> so during this time, you know, we have an apb out for betty baucum's car. and we're looking city-wide for the car. >> police found the car in this parking lot, and actually it's right across the street from the apartment complex where the women were found murdered. >> on the floor of betty's car is a pringles can stolen from brandi henderson. >> so that connects the two murders at the lake apartments. whoever killed betty and stole her car must have also killed brandi and stolen her coins. >> tonight police aren't taking any chances at all. they're setting up perimeters all around the lake apartments. >> investigators say they need more information quickly. >> you know if you don't get him off the streets fast, he could do it again. >> use caution, be careful, and think before you open the door. >> the killer is out there somewhere, and they feel certain

if given the chance, he could strike again. ♪ring jingle♪ whasssssup. greetings happen. the best night of the week happens. dance parties happen. hey, hey. yeah, that's not good happens. big moments happen. home happens. woo hoo! be there with ring. uuuf! ♪ learn more at ring.com. at olive garden, we think you should get more for less— especially when it comes to your favorites. so, with create your own pasta, you pick the pasta and homemade sauce.

and it comes with our never-ending soup, or salad and breadsticks. starting at $12.99. when you smell the amazing scent of gain flings... time stops. (♪) and you realize you're in love... steve? with a laundry detergent. (♪) gain flings. seriously good scent. now at kohl's, freshen up your summer look and save on the latest styles for men and women during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off when you use your kohl's card. no card? you still save 20%. and earn kohl's cash. kohl's. icy hot. ice works fast. ♪ heat makes it last. feel the power of contrast therapy. ♪ so you can rise from pain. icy hot.

dave's company just scored the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. high five! high five... -i'm on a call. it's 5 years of reliable, gig speed internet... five years of advanced security... five years of a great rate that won't change. yep, dave's feeling it.

yes. but it's only for a limited time. five years? -five years. introducing the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering 5 years of savings. powering possibilities.

wednesday. tonight of a serial killer in charlotte, north carolina. >> it's the shock of recognition that comes when a community realizes there's been a killer in its midst. >> so, now we have a major problem. now we have two young ladies in the same apartment complex have been found murdered. the media has now been involved. >> be careful letting them into your house. if there's some doubt at all, you feel nervous with the person that may be coming to your door, don't hesitate. call 911.

>> everybody's in an uproar, everybody in a panic. >> the city was on edge, you know, just fear all over the whole city. >> it was scary. it was scary. i can remember calling some friends that i know on that side of town and say, hey, be careful. >> investigators say they need more information quickly. the young women were murdered in the same apartment complex, and their killer is still out there somewhere. >> minutes before brandi henderson was murdered at the lake apartments, she had been on the phone with her cousin, george burrell. >> she said, hold on, hold on. somebody's at the door. and i heard her in the background saying, just make sure you lock the door behind you. >> the day after the murder, george says he stops over at a neighbor's apartment. >> as i walked in, to my left sat henry wallace, watching the tv.

i had seen henry wallace at brandi and her boyfriend's house. i had met him one time. >> by daylight, detectives were back at the lake apartments with another murder on their hands. >> the news came on. so, we started watching the news, and it was about brandi's murder. >> investigators say whoever killed these women was cold-bloodedly calm, spending a lot of time in each of their apartments. >> i felt this on my shoulder. i felt a pat, like, you know, i'm so sorry. and he was looking at the tv and watching the gurney go across the sidewalk with her body, and his eyes just glow -- he was just glowing, just, you know, like, amazed. like he was excited. and i could just see that in his eyes, like, he was just fixed on the tv. >> brandi henderson's 10-month-old baby was also attacked and left for dead.

>> and he's like, i'm so sorry, what happened to your cousin. and henry said, she was, she was always there with her baby by herself. when somebody would come in, she would say, lock the door behind them. i had that flashback to when i was speaking to her and she said, "just make sure you lock the door behind you." and i knew at that moment that it was him. i said, "oh, my word, he killed her." >> george says he immediately told a police officer about his suspicion, but he says the officer blew him off. >> by then, they knew that they had a serial killer on their hands. and they needed to find him quickly. but they didn't find him quickly enough. >> as they're processing all of this with betty jean and brandi henderson being murdered at the lakes apartments, one more person is found murdered about a mile away, and her name is debra ann slaughter. >> she loved to laugh.

she had a very contagious laugh. she also had a beautiful voice. she and i both grew up singing in church together. ♪ i remember boyz ii men came on the radio, singing "the end of the road." ♪ >> i just remember us going, you know -- ♪ to the end of the road ♪ ♪ and i can't let go ♪ that was the last time we sung together. >> debra slaughter lived in the glen hollow apartments, which were the same apartments that audrey spain lived in. >> henry wallace had also lived at glen hollow at one time, and

debra worked at the bojangles, same place where henry wallace worked. >> and my mother did give us warnings. her exact words is, you know there's this serial killer in charlotte, and i need y'all to be careful. and i would say to debra all the time, you know, be careful. i always told her to be careful. but debra was a tough person, and she just wasn't scared of anything. >> it was this last thursday, the bodies of brandi henderson and betty jean baucum were discovered. two days later, deborah slaughter was found just a mile away. >> at some point after letting this man into her home, debra slaughter comes to a horrifying realization. >> once his attack was on, deborah slaughter made the connection between the recent murders. at that point she said, "you're him." so deborah did fight, because deborah knew that she was going to die. >> debra slaughter's case was

much more violent than any other victims, and you could tell that there was a big struggle inside the home. she fought for her life. >> lovey slaughter sees it every time she closes her eyes, her daughter's body lying on the dining room floor of her apartment. >> when she knocked on the door, the door just kind of pushed open, and she walked in. >> and when i opened the door and saw her lay on that floor -- >> next thing i know, i look up and i see, um, two firefighters bringing my mother down the stairs, and she's crying. and -- the first thing she said is, "debra's gone." she said, "she's gone." >> you've got, oh, this person was strangled here. this person was strangled here. this person was strangled here. huh.

>> tonight police aren't taking any chances at all. >> looking back -- >> the killer is out there somewhere. >> for myself as a reporter, i keep thinking, why didn't we start putting two and two together? then you have the police who are trained to do these kind of things. why didn't they do it? >> look closely. police say this is the face of a serial killer. >> who is this man who has confessed to the murders? >> once i touched them, it was over. it was out of my control. it was out of my hands. i couldn't stop it. there was no way i could stop. ♪ ♪ have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off? same. discover the power of wegovy®. ♪ ♪ with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds.

♪ ♪ and i'm keeping the weight off. wegovy® helps you lose weight and keep it off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only fda-approved weight-management medicine that's proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight. wegovy® shouldn't be used with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines. don't take wegovy® if you or your family had medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop wegovy® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis and gallbladder problems. wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. tell your provider about vision problems or changes, or if you feel your heart racing while at rest. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. call your provider right away if you have any mental changes. common side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight,

i'm keeping it off. and i'm lowering my cv risk. that's the power of we. ♪ ♪ check your cost and coverage before talking to your health care professional about wegovy®. frustrated by skin tags? dr. scholl's has the breakthrough you've been waiting for. now there's an easier-to-use at home skin tag remover, clinically proven to remove skin tags safely in as little as one treatment. with all these hilton honors points, i can stay for free? mmmhmm. at the waldorf astoria in the maldives? what about the canopy in paris? mmmhmm. hilton honors, babe! when you want points that can take you anywhere, it matters where you stay. hilton. for the stay. mom, dad. the new school year is a chance

it matters where to show off what i'm into. you know how i love dinos? how i talk about dinos all the time? like at all three meals, in the car, through the bathroom door, blah blah blah, dinos dinos dinos? well, i've evolved! and it's all about sharks now. so, for back to school, let's just focus on sharks and only sharks and if it's not sharks, it's not for me. on chewy, save 35% off your first order with selection for any pet, with any diet, at prices you'll love. delivered fast, right to your door. for low prices and fast shipping. for life with pets, there's chewy with everything. skin craving next level hydration? neutrogena hydro boost water cream. a vital boost of 9x more hydration that's clinically proven to boost your skin's barrier for quenched, dewy skin that's full of life. neutrogena hydro boost.

we have a possible serial killer working in the shadows. >> and somebody is killing young black women. all black women in their 20s, all strangled to death in their own home. >> some kind of a bold demon here, one like never before. >> he's hiding in plain sight,

and he's doing it very cleverly. he fools everybody. >> he portrayed himself as the big brother, as the good friend. >> and i remember him telling me, "it's going to be okay, she's going to come back." >> he hugged me. he knew he had killed her. >> he kind of walked into their life knowing at some point he's going take their lives. >> i didn't want to, but something or somebody was taking over my body. >> he writes a name, then a second name, then a third name. but he keeps going. >> he was talking about killing women like you're in some sort of boring book club. >> the general tone in charlotte was, why didn't you guys figure this out earlier? >> saying that they didn't prioritize these murders because the victims were black women. >> you guys blew it. how could you miss this?

it was this last thursday the bodies of brandi henderson and betty jean baucum were discovered. two days later, debra slaughter was found just a mile away. >> investigators have now contacted the fbi, trying to set up a profile of the killer. >> use caution, be careful, and think before you open the door. >> we don't have a significant break anywhere in the case. we're still hoping that somebody may come forward with some information. >> charlotte police are desperate to find this killer. they do get something to work with from brandi henderson's boyfriend, lamar. >> we asked him, who would brandi allow into the home without any problem? and he said henry wallace. >> once the detective on brandi henderson's case got the names of who she would have let into the apartment, he went to see if any of them had any

criminal history. henry wallace did. he had a misdemeanor larceny charge. and there was a mug shot of henry wallace. >> that's when detective james stansberry, who's been investigating the vanessa mack case, walks into the room. >> he comes in, and he sees the photograph of henry wallace. in that mug shot, henry wallace is wearing a hoop cross earring in his ear. >> i looked at the photograph, and something hit me. >> the detective remembers that from the atm on vanessa mack's case. >> i saw the earring with the cross. >> and that's similar to the same earring that we saw on the picture of henry wallace arrest photo. >> i see this and say, we may have something here.

>> investigators hope this car stolen from baucum spawns new leads. >> betty jean's car is found across the street from the crime scene. nissan pulsar. and that was the biggest break that they've had to date, which was inevitably what led them to their suspect. >> they hit a jackpot. near the trunk area of that car, where they found a palm print. that palm print matched someone who was already in the system. >> that palm print came back to henry louis wallace. >> so now we're going to look for the person, henry louis wallace. >> march 12th, 1994, around 2:00 in the afternoon, debra slaughter's body is found. three hours later, police locate henry wallace and place him under arrest.

>> and when the cops came in, he was -- had the bathroom door shut, had the bathroom door shut. >> hiding in there? >> hiding in there. >> initially, he is not giving up the goods. >> the police sent in literally teams of detectives trying to get him to talk. he was like, "i don't know what you're talking about." they sent in two more. "i don't know what you're talking about." enter detective tony rice. >> tony rice goes into the room and started to talk to henry. >> and he said, "henry, you mind if we just say a little prayer together?" and he actually held henry's hand and said a prayer. >> after the prayer, then tony said, "well, now, can you tell me about what happened? ." >> henry said, "give me a piece of paper." and he started writing down all the names of the women. >> he writes a name, then a second name, then a third name, and these are victims that

police had already suspected him of murdering. but henry wallace keeps going. another name, another name, another name. a total of ten victims. charlotte police are stunned. >> that was the first the police knew of the depth of how many people he had killed. >> henry, if you would, go ahead and just talk up for me and state your full name. >> henry louis wallace. >> the police decided to record his confessions. >> shawna hawk, i really didn't have any intentions of doing what i did to shawna. i stopped by to see shawna one day, and she gave me a hug. and when she gave me a hug, i had her real close. and i said, "i want you to have sex with me." she said, "you're joking, right?" i said, "no, i'm not, this is not a joke."

>> he gave a full confession. that's very unusual. many of them deny it to their dying day, so to speak, but henry wallace didn't. >> i told her to get dressed. i took her to the bathroom. that's where i maneuvered the chokehold on her and -- until she passed out. and then i filled the bathtub with water and placed her in it. >> coldest thing i ever heard in my life. he was talking about killing women like you're in some sort of boring book club. >> henry wallace admits he raped each of his victims before killing them and usually robbed them. >> but what's really unusual is that henry wallace knew his victims. and they knew him. >> that's what's different -- he knew them, and he had to know them. he couldn't kill a stranger, he said. >> i would always hear the voices of the people i killed. i would always see them. i would always see a shadow of them. i would always hear their voices. i would always hear that, like,

laughter from them. >> shawna hawk's mother, dee sumpter, says that henry wallace actually showed up at shawna's wake. >> i'm thinking this is some kind of a bold demon here, one like never before. had the literal gall to show up at a service for someone that he knew he personally killed. >> the thing that makes my blood run cold and sends shock -- shivers up and down my spine was the fact that i saw him after shawna was murdered, and he expressed his condolences. and he hugged me, told me how sorry he was. and he knew he had killed her. >> i wanted to tell her so bad, "dee, i killed your daughter." but i was so scared. i was so scared. i just -- i couldn't -- i couldn't do it.

>> i mean, to be hugged by your child's murderer, showing up and sending his sympathies? that is some cold, calculated stuff going on right there. >> we begin to get a bit of a portrait of henry wallace emerging from the photos shown in court. >> he had many strengths in growing up. people liked him, and he was social. >> henry was a great person, very nice guy. got along well with everyone. >> yearbook photos and schoolmates who spent time with him. >> but he also had some obviously very lethal problems. >> he would have had every opportunity in the world with any of us. he could have easily gotten any of us, but he didn't. driving the nissan rogue with google built-in is like hey, google. turn on rocky's food.

it's like the ultimate connection. see why it's been awarded a consumer guide best buy. and recommended by consumer reports. drive the nissan rogue today. now, get two point nine percent a-p-r financing for 60 months on rogue. one of 6 vehicles starting under 30 thousand dollars. i was born with a fire inside. but psoriasis doused my flame. until i got clearer skin with bimzelx. most people got 100% clear skin. some after the first dose. (♪) serious side effects, including suicidal thoughts and behavior, infections and lowered ability to fight them, liver problems, and inflammatory bowel disease, have occurred. tell your doctor if these happen or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. start to get yourself back, with bimzelx.

ask your dermatologist about bimzelx today. right now at panera, enjoy a free half sandwich or salad. come try one of our new flavor packed items or one of our mouthwatering classics. taste the new era at panera today with a free half sandwich or salad. [♪] there's a way to cut your dishwashing time by 50%. try dawn powerwash dish spray. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time.

it cleans so well, you can replace multiple cleaning products. try dawn powerwash. now at kohl's, freshen up your summer look and save on the latest styles for men and women during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off when you use your kohl's card. no card? you still save 20%. and earn kohl's cash. kohl's. this is a cottonelle toilet paper service announcement. is your toilet paper leaving you with an unclean feeling you can't shake? you deserve cottonelle ultra clean and flushable wipes. together, cottonelle ripples clean even better so you feel clean as a- *whistle blows* you got the right to a better wipe. ♪

♪ was there satisfaction in that for you? >> i didn't want to, but something or somebody was taking over my body and i couldn't stop, even when i tried to stop. >> police say this is the face of a serial killer, a man who choked the life out of neighbors and coworkers. his name is henry louis wallace. >> henry wallace was born and raised in barnwell, south carolina, a small town about three hours south of charlotte. >> before he became a serial

killer, henry wallace was a fast-food manager who had served in the navy, had been married and then divorced. >> the news of his arrest shocked his hometown. >> i still have a hard time believing now that -- that it was -- >> me too. >> -- our henry. >> former classmates and the high school yearbook seem to portray a completely different image than that of a cold-blooded killer. >> henry was a great person, very nice guy. >> he was a good guy. he was fun. he had the biggest smile, the biggest personality. always happy. >> you know, he was the first male cheerleader we ever had. i would've never guessed in a million years that henry had any kind of issues where he would do what he's done, never in a million years. >> he would be the person who's responsible for more deaths in mecklenburg -- charlotte, mecklenburg than any other

person that we came in contact with. >> i think the community was truly stunned. those kinds of cases didn't happen here. charlotte wasn't the kind of place where we would have a serial killer. >> after henry confessed to all of the murders that we believe he did in north carolina, we began to formulate, how are we going to tell the public? >> information indicates that this person was responsible for the murder of ten women in charlotte. >> when we made the announcement, the city ate us alive. the media ate us alive. >> i do remember the police coming out and saying, we have a serial killer, but, you know what? our officers did a great job. >> the investigators worked tremendously hard and did an excellent job on the investigation of all of these ten cases. we're sorry that we did not get him identified earlier. had we done that, then we maybe could have saved the lives of some of these women.

>> the general tone in charlotte was, why didn't you guys figure this out earlier? >> the community became outraged. >> the police was well aware of this a long time ago. >> there were some in the community who criticized the charlotte police, saying that they didn't prioritize these murders because the victims were black women. >> i sat and just cried in my heart and outside, because i wanted that same energy and effort to be extended to my child. there was not a level of caring. this is where the racial disparity comes in. >> we covered dee. we covered her press conferences. one of the things that she made everyone think about and talk about was, if these had been white women who were dying in south charlotte, each killing would have been a huge story. >> race is always a factor in criminal investigations. until america sees that it is not a factor, or we have to mention it during an interview, race is always going to be a factor. >> all these cases were professionally and competently handled.

the -- there was nothing given short shrift. >> one of the other stunning aspects of this case was how well henry wallace knew most of his victims. >> and it seems that fast food restaurants are the common thread that bind wallace to most of his alleged victims. >> everything was right here all along. it's been right here, and they've done everything except look right here. obvious, obvious connections. there's that word again. connecting the dots. in my humble opinion, blatantly ignored. >> it was like, you guys blew it. how could you miss this? >> it's not that we missed this. it's just that we were overwhelmed with the cases. >> during that two-year period that he was killing people, there were approximately 300 people murdered. >> all of those cases were on desks of six homicide detectives in the '90s. we didn't have the technology. we definitely didn't have the

manpower, and we definitely didn't have the resources. >> when henry wallace confessed to police, he listed names of people that investigators didn't even know had been murdered. >> well, there is one name in particular on that list that i am certain wasn't on their radar at all, and that is valencia jumper. >> investigators say valencia jumper died in her third floor apartment. they say this also appears to be the unit where the fire started. >> valencia jumper came to charlotte. she was a student at johnson c. smith university. >> henry wallace knew valencia's sister. that was their connection. >> she was found in a house that had caught fire. that didn't fit any patterns before or after. >> it was ruled that maybe she was out drinking with her friends and had too much to

drink, put a pot of beans on the stove to eat, and the fire engulfed the apartment. >> investigators say they suspect valencia jumper was sleeping when the fire in her third floor apartment broke out. they say a pot left on her stove started the fire. >> i went into the kitchen and i opened a can of pork and beans or something. i put it in a pot, put it on the stove, and i turned the stove on high. >> he set the whole scene up that it looked like she fell asleep while she was cooking. >> and i went to her kitchen. i noticed there was a bottle of rum, 151, and i poured the rum all over her body. >> he considered her to be his little sister. >> there were so many things in this case that were missed by various people. the only people who didn't miss the signs were her family. and her family fought tooth and nail to say, this was not an accidental fire.

>> after henry confessed, the medical examiner started re-examining the facts in that case, and one of the things that stood out was there was no soot or ash or anything in her throat where she breathed in smoke. >> it should've been ruled that she was dead before the fire started. >> this case haunts me probably the most because of mistakes that were made that, had they not been made, henry wallace would've been charged then. and she was victim number five, we wouldn't have had five more. >> henry wallace's confession leaves veteran law enforcement shocked and almost caught off guard. but the next thing he does is remarkable. he takes the police on a field trip. “the darkness of bipolar depression made me feel like

i was losing interest in the things i love. then i found a chance to let in the lyte.” discover caplyta. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta is proven to deliver significant symptom relief from both bipolar i & ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. caplyta can cause serious side effects. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts right away. anti-depressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. caplyta is not approved for dementia-related psychosis. report fever, confusion, or stiff muscles, which may be life threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. common side effects include sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, and dry mouth. these aren't all the side effects. in the darkness of bipolar i & ii depression, caplyta can help you let in the lyte. ask your doctor about caplyta. find savings and support at caplyta.com. oh-ho-ho, look at that jet stream. [ whistles ]

ask your doctor about caplyta. weather. oh, boy. yep, they're calling it an atmospheric river. it is coming down. [ cellphone buzzes, chimes ] oh, flood warning in louisiana. are they obsessed? oh, yeah. the stuff they do on the green screen, unbelievable. they said 10% chance of rain. -seems more like 40% to me. -no. it has nothing to do with the dew point. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. what are those, cumulus clouds? [♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's healing formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond. go back to school at kohl's formu with everyday mustrizers haves they'll love! save on some of their faves during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off with a kohl's card. no card? you still save 20% and earn kohl's cash. kohl's.

(vo) at dog chow we believe helping dogs live their best life... should be simple. that's why dog chow is made with high-quality protein and no fillers. purina dog chow. keep life simple (speaker 1) what can i see with a telescope from cedar lake? (speaker 2) this is your old neighborhood, right? (speaker 3) this is where i grew up. (speaker 4) check this out. imagine little italy in 1954. (speaker 5) summarized this. (narrator) it starts with an empty prompt. (speaker 6) oh, there it is. (narrator) and the most advanced ai at your fingertips. want a next level clean? swish with the whoa of listerine. it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean... ahhhhh with listerine. feel the whoa! pain means pause on the things you love,

but... green... means... go! ♪ cool the pain with biofreeze. and keep on going. biofreeze. green means go.

♪ i knew this day was coming. i mean, i knew, and i wanted it to come, and there have been several times doing the actual crime that i was committing that i wanted to die. i ruined everything, man. >> henry louis wallace knew all of his victims, and they felt comfortable with him because he portrayed himself as the big brother, as the good friend. >> always very polite. >> it's the only neighbor -- male neighbor that i would even let in when my boyfriend wasn't at home. i mean, he was a friend. i trusted him. >> henry was like the perfect human predator. >> so, he kind of walked into their life knowing that, at some point, he's going to take their lives. >> you never realize what henry was all about, and by the time you did, it was too late. >> if you would, go ahead and start with the first name that you put on your list there.

caroline love, is it? >> caroline love. >> where did you meet caroline? >> caroline, i met her through my girlfriend, sadie. >> and so we go to the board, and we're looking for certain names. and caroline love's name is not on the homicide board. so why is this name on the list? >> caroline love was a woman that went missing in june of '92. she was a friend of wallace's girlfriend at the time. >> remember, shawna hawk and caroline love were friends and they were coworkers. >> we talked to henry, and he was very forthcoming. and he gave us a lot of information. >> i dumped her body on the left side near where a little ditch, kind of, led from the highway back into the woods. >> you think you could find it again? >> i know i could. >> and so we decided to find caroline love. we put henry in the back of the

van, and he directed us out to this remote area of the county, to a field. >> investigators were told exactly where to look for another victim in this bizarre case. >> and it was the skeletal remains of caroline love. >> that tells the cops that this guy is for real. he's the killer because he's the only person who's going to know this. >> we have to tell the public that this case was not a missing person. it's now a homicide. >> painful. i cried all yesterday. i cried all last night. >> caroline's family is even more devastated. this is the same man that went with caroline's sister, kathy, to file a missing person's report. >> caroline's niece sarah was only 8 years old when her aunt went missing? and who comforted her during that time? henry wallace. >> i remember being in her room with him and sitting on his lap, and i remember being sad and

crying. and i remember him telling me, "it's going to be okay, she's going to come back." >> the same day that henry is consoling sara, the police arrive to speak with caroline's family. they have no idea the killer's in their midst listening to every word. >> and in talking to him, he remembered us talking to caroline love's family about her having an orange jumpsuit from bojangles. he said after hearing that conversation, he decided to go back and remove that orange jumpsuit from her, because if we were looking for it, it would be easily seen by an aerial helicopter or somebody walking by. >> he returned to her body disposal site, which was outside, numerous times.

>> i went back a couple of times since then so i would remember where the body was. >> caroline's family, who had held out hope for so long about the fate of their loved one, now have to face the cruel reality that her remains have been found. >> you told me she would come back, but you didn't tell me she would come back like that. i mean, we didn't have anything to go back to. her body was bones. >> back in the interrogation room, detectives ask one final question. >> anything else you can remember, henry? >> that's it. >> anybody else that you can think of in charlotte or anywhere else that anything like this has ever happened to you before? you lived in south carolina with your mom. anything there that you remember? >> one person. >> can you tell us about her?

>> her name was, um, shan -- shan -- tashanda bethea. they called her shan. >> henry wallace confesses to police that he killed 18-year-old tashanda bethea in 1990 in his hometown of barnwell, south carolina. it's believed that tashanda was his first victim. >> she left home about 5:00 on the 19th, and they reported her missing on the 20th, 'cause she didn't return home. >> she was walking one day. i picked her up, and i told her that we were going out to get some pot. i pulled off to the side of the road into a little ravine area. >> tashanda's body was found two weeks later by people fishing in a local pond. >> the autopsy results show that she was strangled. >> a few days later, henry wallace is brought in for questioning. >> he was a very strong suspect, but we had nothing on him. he covered his alibis good.

>> i was questioned about her death, but i denied it. >> after literally getting away with murder, henry wallace moved to north carolina, where he would kill again and again and again. >> it's absolutely devastating. you're sitting there thinking the worst, hoping for the best. and that's exactly what these relatives were doing. and unfortunately, it was not a good ending. >> henry wallace, dubbed by some in the media as "the taco bell strangler," confesses to killing 11 women. but the question remains, why? >> two of the fbi's most respected mindhunters want to know what's inside henry wallace's mind. >> he had some, obviously, very lethal problems. >> they sit him down for interviews and put it all on videotape. >> it was -- it was out of my control. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50.

it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. now at kohl's, freshen up your summer look if you're over 50, talk to your and save on thecist latest styles for men and women during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off when you use your kohl's card. no card? you still save 20%. and earn kohl's cash. kohl's. finally yasso! a ridiculously creamy, dipped, chipped, sandwiched, ice cream-like experience that's super snackable and made with greek yogurt. so ice cream, get the whoop out of our freezer! yasso. love it or it's free. (woman) i'm so excited. i'm finally here in the city. get the whoop out of our what.er!

(man) ahhhhh! (man) have you seen my ph- ahhh! (man) woah, woah, woah! (woman) no, no, no, no, no! (woman) great. (man) ughhh. (man) dude. (vo) you break it. we take it. trade in any phone, in any condition guaranteed and get a new iphone 15 with tons of storage on us. (woman) oh yeah. (vo) only on verizon. looking for a reason to try the new $5 meal deal at mcdonalds? here's one, two, three, four and the price makes 5. that's everything you get with the new $5 meal deal at mcdonald's. ♪ behr behr behr behrrr behr behr behr ♪ ♪ behrrr behr behr behr behr ♪ ♪ behr behr behr behr behrrrrr ♪ right now, get america's most trusted paint brand at an everyday low price. ♪ behr behr behr behrrrr ♪ no, no. starting at $29.98.

and cash in at cache creek casino resort. to rock and to roll. to go all out or go all in with four stars and rising stars. northern california's premier casino resort is the perfect place to do as much... or as little as you want. make your getaway now and cache in at cache creek casino resort. ok, 500 deluxe garden gnomes. wow. i only meant to order five. there's not enough money in my account for these. i'm gonna get charged. two things i just can't deal with. overdraft charges. and garden gnomes. but your bmo smart advantage checking account gives you an extra day to avoid an overdraft fee. nice to see a bank cutting people some slack.

mistakes happen. and we give you time to correct them. so, you don't like gnomes huh? what about that one? that one i like. a lot. ♪ bmo ♪

for years, the fbi has been developing behavioral profiling techniques, and there's a woman named ann burgess, a professor and author from boston college, who has helped them. >> until we understand what's going on in the mind of the criminal, we're going to have more and more victims. >> she was one of the few women in the fbi at the time doing that work, and i thought it was time to get her story out there. so after a little bit of convincing, she agreed to write this book, "a killer by design." wallace is featured in the book because he was a really interesting case. >> henry wallace was not that we would call him "atypical," but certainly very different from some of the others. people liked him, and he was social. >> burgess was tapped by henry wallace's defense team to do an analysis on his mind. >> the jury was to decide whether he deserved death or whether he deserved life.

they just asked us to do a background and present what we thought. >> she and retired fbi agent robert ressler visited wallace inside the jail and conducted interviews. all of it was put on videotape. >> the footage was provided exclusively to abc news "20/20." >> henry wallace was quite open in what he talked about. he had many strengths in growing up, but he also had some obviously very lethal problems. do you understand any of this any better since you've had a chance to kind of reflect on it? >> within this shell, there are two people. one person being a -- a chameleon. he will adapt to anything, any environment, any situation.

and he's a very well-respected, very well-liked person. he almost lures the women in for the other person. >> so, he had good henry and bad henry. good henry was a friendly person that made friends very easily, dated women very easily. >> but then he said the bad henry would come out. the monster, so to speak. he came out, he was angry, he had to kill them. why he couldn't stay good henry for a long time, we don't know. but he just couldn't. but what's generating the anger? >> experiences in the past. >> one of the reasons that wallace points to for committing his crimes is he did have a really tough upbringing. >> henry tells them that when he was a child he was molested. he also reveals that he and his mother, when he was growing up, had an extremely volatile relationship. >> i was terrified of my mother.

terrified. >> from? >> the beatings. >> henry also described being constantly teased about being a cheerleader and other things. >> he was teased about his size, he was teased about his color. >> wallace was trying to reshape this really terrible childhood that he had by taking out his aggressions on people that he knew, as if that was a replacement for the bad situations of his past. >> he married his high school sweetheart. this prom photo capturing them in happier times. >> but the marriage didn't last long and ended right before he moved to charlotte. >> it all starts collapsing after the wife left him. >> i grew to -- to hate her very much. and there's still a lot of hatred inside for her. and i think that had i lived in

south carolina and not charlotte, that she would probably be one of the victims. >> wallace did think about killing his wife, but he was not able to actually go through with it. >> i think that the majority of the victims reminded me of her in some way. or when the murder and rape was taking place, who i was seeing was her and not the victim. >> after his marriage dissolved, then henry had to move back in with his mother. >> that really kind of was the straw that broke it all down. and that's when he started into his murderous behavior. >> my mom was very violent, and i think more than -- other than a mate in these women, i was looking for a mother as well. or traits of my mother.

and -- they were there in all of them. >> henry wallace was danger disguised as a friend, and his victims never saw him coming. >> they felt comfortable with him because he portrayed himself as the big brother, as the good friend. >> i think that was one of his motivations in a lot of these killings was they were women he liked who didn't like him that way. >> that's a more classic kind of a type of motive, if you will, for a serial killer. >> one of the biggest questions for burgess and ressler was, how did henry wallace evade police for so long? >> the only time that they -- that the police were concerned, when the two murders occurred on the same day. >> and that's with who? >> um, baucum and henderson. >> same day? >> yeah. that's when all of a sudden they started seeing connections and

things that had happened 20 months ago. >> you've got to do the victimology first. because they would have realized that they knew each other in some capacity, and that would have been a way to then zero in on henry. >> burgess testified for the defense, and she told the jury that wallace, while he was committing these murders, was in an alternate mental state. >> i did feel that he was not in total control of his thoughts, that he was being controlled, if you will, by the obsession. >> henry wallace was convicted of the rape and murder of nine women. >> i think we all knew what the verdict was going to be -- guilty. so, the real question was, does he live, does he die? >> the jury recommended death. and again, i don't think anyone was terribly surprised. >> it's such a sad case.

it's not like you celebrate. >> i just want people to not forget, you know, what happened to these girls in charlotte, north carolina. we don't want people to go around and hear the name henry wallace and not know who he is, you know. because, you know, he was a black serial killer that killed a lot of black women. i want the world to know what happened and that these girls' lives mattered. >> finally, there's justice, but there's one more victim of henry wallace's rampage. the sole survivor is now all grown up. ♪ i have type 2 diabetes, but i manage it well ♪ ♪ it's a little pill with a big story to tell ♪ ♪ i take once-daily jardiance ♪

♪ at each day's staaart ♪ ♪ as time went on, it was easy to seeee ♪ ♪ i'm lowering my a1c ♪ jardiance works 24/7 in your body to flush out some sugar. and for adults with type two diabetes and known heart disease, jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too. serious side effects may include ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration that can lead to sudden worsening of kidney function, and genital, yeast, or urinary tract infections. a rare, life threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop jardiance and call your doctor right away. if you have symptoms of this infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction. you may have an increased risk for lower limb loss. call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of infection in your legs or feet. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. ♪ jardiance is really swell ♪ ♪ the little pill with a big story to tell ♪

(♪) this season on metro's nada yada island, castmates are thrilled that at metro new and existing customers are finally treated the same, with metro flex. free 5g phone when you join, our best deals when you stay. only at metro. go back to school at kohl's our best deals when you stay. with everyday must haves they'll love! save on some of their faves during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off with a kohl's card. no card? you still save 20% and earn kohl's cash. kohl's. depend keeps you drier than ever... so you can say yes to more than ever. yes yes yes no. depend, the only thing stronger than us, is you.

it's piled high with tender beef that's slow cooked and smothered in tangy memphis style barbecue sauce. it's no fuss, no muss. just tons of flavor. the best barbecue beef is only a togo's. try one today. (vo) with fargo, the new virtual assistant from wells fargo, you can pick up the tab even when you forget your wallet. (kaz) i got this. (ben) fargo, send kaz $145 dollars with zelle®. (kaz) smooth. (vo) want faster, easier banking? you can, with wells fargo. what else can fargo do? (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card! i found it! i found my card! (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card! (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo.

♪ 18-year-old brandi henderson strangled to death. brandi henderson's 10-month-old baby was also attacked and left for dead. >> henry said he got mad and said, "you got to do something with this baby, you got to shut this baby up." 'cause tyrece was sitting right there beside her.

he was pulling on his mom, on brandi. so he took a pair of shorts and tied it around his neck until he got quiet. >> i think about brandi's child often. how do you go on with your life? how does any loved one go on with their life when something this horrible happens? >> the picture that we took of him at the hospital, it's like i still see that picture in my mind every day. >> after he got out of the hospital, his father took him to chicago. and when tyrece was 5, his father passed away. >> i'm still here. if it wasn't me reading these stories, i would have thought that i had died, so i'm, like, reading some -- boy, i know this baby died. he survived? are you freaking serious? he's well? he has a family? he's married? he's doing something with hisself? >> you know those pop rock candies? that's like him. that's exactly what i can describe him as.

he's a ball of energy. >> i'm a father. i'm a husband. i'm an entrepreneur. i try and be a great role model, because i do have three sons. >> he's been through a lot of things. he's had it rough. >> he realized he never grieved for his mother, and he grew up without his mother's love. >> i went through a whole grieving class. i wrote my mama a letter. i told her i was mad. i told her i was angry. i told her how much -- i told her how much i missed her. i told her how sorry i was, because i know that i wasn't doing the right things. >> when i heard about his mother, inside i was crying. outside, i was strong. i'm finding out more and more about the situation with his mother every day. i went and searched for it, just to know, you know, what type of

woman she was and how it's instilled in him. >> she was such a great mother. she would have done anything -- anything at all for him. brandi told me that when she had tyrece that she felt like her life was complete. >> they tell me that she was a great person. they say that she wanted the best for me. they're like, i was her masterpiece. it's like, i'm somebody's masterpiece. like, that's a huge compliment for me. >> i saw tyrece when he was, like, 9 years old. we went to chicago and visited him, but since then, since that time, i lost track. i feel guilty about it. but i just could not stay in contact with him because i knew he would have all these questions, and i wasn't ready. >> after 20 years, brandi's cousin and close friend, george burrell, is now reuniting with brandi's son, tyrece.

>> whoo! what's up, dog? >> oh, man. >> what's up, man? >> oh, my god. wow, wow, wow, wow. yes. and hello. >> liz, george. george, liz. >> finally! >> man, it's good to see you. >> you too. you're getting old. you got gray hair? you got a great beard. >> see that? the guilt. you know, when she told me, come over and see me that night, and i didn't go -- >> come on, man. >> he came and killed her. >> come on, man. hey, look, as brandi's son -- check me out, as her son, you're not responsible for anything that happened to her. also remember her life isn't the only life. there was also other victims and there's other family members who feel the same pain. >> you heal, but you still got them scars.

>> look at my neck, dog. >> i remember that, looking at you through the hospital door. i'm shaking. wow. that's how close. look at that, that's how close you came to not being here. oh, my word. wow, your lips are still red from -- >> yup. >> from being strangled. >> yeah. and that was the main part of, like -- that's why i say i'm the only sur -- like, that's a survivor. that little baby right there. >> and that's you now. >> yeah, that's me now. still with the tears and all. >> at trial, henry wallace was found guilty of the assault on tyrece. >> it's like, why didn't i die? truthfully, i wanted to die for a long time. as i started learning more, that'd be too selfish. she fought too hard to keep me alive. and that's why -- that's why i didn't die. there's no timeframe on grieving.

there's no timeframe on how long you can and can't miss somebody. but it's like, i'm a survivor. >> wallace was sentenced to death, but now he's asking the judge for a new trial. >> for him to be here pleading for his life is not fair. it's not justice. >> and i just believe it's time. it's time for us to finally see that end. yo, can i kick it? (yes, you can!) can i kick it? (yes, you can!) can i kick it? (yes, you can!) can i kick it? ¿qué? (what?) can i play? ¡ah, sí tú puedes! (yes, you can!) can i kick it?

(¡sí tú puedes!) can i kick it? can i kick it? can i try? (yes, you can!) ♪ can i kick it? (yes, you can!) ♪ can i kick it? (yes, you can!) mom, my goals for the first day are: can i kick it? stand out in this cool shirt. and, get away with winging my summer book report. little women is a story about... very short girls. looking for a smarter way to mop? try the swiffer powermop. ♪ an all-in-one cleaning tool, with a 360-degree swivel head that goes places a regular mop just can't. ♪ mop smarter with the swiffer powermop.

now at kohl's, freshen up your summer look and save on the latest styles for men and women during kohl's exclusive cardholder event. take up to 30% off when you use your kohl's card. no card? you still save 20%. and earn kohl's cash. kohl's. (♪) greatness hurts. but with care... ...you can keep chasing it. that's tylenol. that's care without limits.

♪ it's 25 years this year that he was sentenced to death, and i'm ready for him to be executed. >> i think he got an appropriate sentence, but north carolina has not executed anyone in a very long time. >> my goal now is to start a petition and let people sign that so that we can get an execution date and finally get this resolved. >> i was determined that i wasn't going to hate him. you kind of have to let it go. otherwise, it will consume you. >> i don't feel hate for him now. i started journaling, and it really did help.

>> i forgave henry years ago for the madness of what he did. >> i don't harbor that hate for him, but i do think that justice should be served. >> audrey is buried in south carolina. my dad donated an acre of land for a new cemetery, and audrey was the first one buried in that cemetery. >> she has a niece named audrey lynette franklin. part of her legacy will definitely continue, so we're excited about that. >> she does have a son. his name is eric slaughter. he reminds me of debra a lot. i think she would be very proud of him and the progress that he has made in his life. >> i just wanted mothers to come together and join our forces and our hearts. momo, mothers of murdered

offspring. >> the whole point in momo being created was to make sure that shawna's memory lived on. >> should have never happened, but it made us better detectives and it -- it made charlotte police department a better homicide unit. >> in a statement to "20/20," about the wallace investigation, the charlotte-mecklenburg police department says, the detectives worked the cases as diligently as they would have any homicide case, with the race of the victim being irrelevant. in the aftermath of the murders, the department says it added staffing to the homicide unit and implemented regular mandatory meetings to better identify related cases. >> you know, the guys in the homicide unit, i know them all from that time. it's just that they were put in a situation where you just couldn't win. >> listen to the families, because they are the voices of the victims. >> i fight for my own breath sometimes. i fight to be here. if i had a dollar for every time

that i've been told, ms. sumpter, i know i'm gonna make it, because you're making it. >> none of these young african-american ladies deserved to die. they were young ladies who deserved to have a bright future, and so you know, my hope and prayer is that even though as tragic as this was, something positive will come out of it. >> david: we should point out tonight that "20/20" did reach out to henry lewis wallace for comment. he declined to be interviewed. >> deborah: dee sumpter who started mothers of murdered offspring has retired, but the group continues to help families of murder victims. that's our program tonight. i'm deborah roberts. >> david: i'm david muir. from all of us here at "20/20"

and abc news, good night. the aftermath of a global outage is being felt in the bay area tonight, particularly by those who are trying to travel. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. boy, you talk about a mess. here's the latest on the crowdstrike chaos caused by a software issue that had a worldwide ripple effect and is still unfolding right now. the company said the problem was with an update for windows computers, and it identified and fixed it with