TX TX - Tommy Lynn Sells

Jeana (DP) said:

Here's one that has to do with Julie Rae Harper and her acquittal. It was later determined that Sells murdered her son, Joel:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6119&highlight=Tommy+Sells

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santos1014 said:

Jeana (DP) said:

Here's one that has to do with Julie Rae Harper and her acquittal. It was later determined that Sells murdered her son, Joel:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6119&highlight=Tommy+Sells[/QUOTE]

Thanks. Wow. Do you know if the DNA on the hair was ever completed? I noticed in several of your posts that you felt you were undecided in this case. Do you still feel the same or are you convinced now that Sells did it?
I also saw some people comparing this case to Darlie.

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You're welcome!! I don't remember about the DNA. I know on Crimelibrary.com there is an article about Sells' crimes. He's committed far more than he's been charged with, I believe. I think Darlie's camp is interested in the Sells crimes because they're trying to get people to believe something like this happened there too. Unfortunately, there's too much that points to Darlie, whereas in Julie's case, there was nothing that pointed to her. I guess that answers your other question. I do believe that Sells murdered Joel. It was unfortunate that his mother had to go through so much hell after losing her son. If I can find any other info on him, I'll let you know.

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Jeana (DP) said:

You're welcome!! I don't remember about the DNA. I know on Crimelibrary.com there is an article about Sells' crimes. He's committed far more than he's been charged with, I believe. I think Darlie's camp is interested in the Sells crimes because they're trying to get people to believe something like this happened there too. Unfortunately, there's too much that points to Darlie, whereas in Julie's case, there was nothing that pointed to her. I guess that answers your other question. I do believe that Sells murdered Joel. It was unfortunate that his mother had to go through so much hell after losing her son. If I can find any other info on him, I'll let you know.

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santos1014 said:

Oh I am sure Darlie's camp jumped on this one. It does sound familiar, but, once again, the evidence points only one direction..right back at Darlie.
Thanks again for the info. I am trying to get out of the JonBenet mode, as it is becoming a bit of an obsession to me.

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Still looking in MS said:

Has anyone got any information on Tommy Lynn Sells and possible involvement in other unsolved / cold cases BESIDES the ones listed / described in the books authored by Diane Fanning, Donna Hughes, or "Tori Rivers" (and the Radford U. Timeline) / Tru Crime Library web article? I am trying to find out information about his time in Mississippi, especially in 1979 and in connection with the murder of John Cade. I am trying to compile as much information on Sells as I can, so if anyone knows who, if anyone, he is currently communicating with, please advise. Other than the above-described resources, I am also aware of the documentaries of Stephane Bourgoin and the several episodes of "Most Evil"
which comment on and/or feature TLS with Dr. Michael Stone. I have not seen the double episode of "48 Hours" on Sells which aired in 2001, but I have seen the transcript. Inasmuch as it aired in 2001, of course, it mostly concentrates on the Del Rio events which (thankfully) proved to be his last murder and attempted murder. If I may be of any help whatsoever to anyone wondering about whether TLS was possibly involved in a cold case, I am glad to share whatever information I have managed to obtain. Many thanks in advance!

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AP | by MICHAEL GRACZYK
Posted: 04/02/2014 1:12 pm EDT Updated: 04/03/2014 8:59 pm EDT

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out a ruling requiring the Texas prison system to disclose more information about where it gets lethal-injection drugs, reversing a judge who had halted an upcoming execution.

Only hours before the appellate decision, a lower-court judge issued a temporary injunction halting the execution of Tommy Lynn Sells, a convicted serial killer who was set to die Thursday.

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Sells, 49, was convicted of killing a 13-year-old South Texas girl asleep at her home in 1999. Kaylene Harris was stabbed nearly two dozen times and had her throat slashed. A 10-year-old friend also was attacked but survived. Sells confessed to the slaying and has been tied to more than 20 others around the nation. He has claimed responsibility for as many as 70 murders.

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Posted: 04/03/2014 7:48 pm EDT Updated: 04/04/2014 12:07 am EDT

As the drug began flowing into his arms inside the death chamber in Huntsville, Sells took a few breaths, his eyes closed and he began to snore. After less than a minute, he stopped moving. He was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m. CDT - 13 minutes after being given the pentobarbital.

Terry Harris, whose 13-year-old daughter, Kaylene Harris, was fatally stabbed by Sells in 1999 in South Texas, watched as Sells was executed, saying the injection was "way more gentle than what he gave out."

"Basically, the dude just took a nap," the father told reporters later outside the prison.

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Jan 13, 2000
AUSTIN, Texas -- A former carnival worker and drifter has confessed to using guns, knives, a bat, a shovel, an ice pick, and his bare hands in killing 13 people around the country, ivestigators said Friday.

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March 4, 2000

Sells confessed to shooting Russell Dardeen of Ina, IL. He also confessed to beating Dardeen's pregnant wife,Ruby -- who gave birth during the attack -- their 3-year-old son, Peter, and the newborn, a girl, Vinger said.

Sells' confession Thursday brings to nine the total number of killings...

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By Patrick E. Gauen
Of The Post-Dispatch Staff
INA, Ill. - A baby girl born during a brutal attack on her mother and brother in their home in Ina, Ill., was beaten to death along with them, a source confirmed Saturday. Police have given no clue to whether they have an explanation for the killings. The baby's father was also killed, but unlike the rest of his family, he was
murdered with gunshots and apparently dumped in a field about a mile and a half from their mobile home. Meanwhile, the Jefferson County coroner, Dr. Richard Garretson, said it appeared likely that labor had been induced by fear or the beating suffered by the mother, who was expected to give birth about Jan. 11.
''There are some indications the family was probably terrorized for some time before the deaths occurred,'' he said. ''Whether it was for 15 minutes or two hours, I couldn't begin to tell you.''

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Jan 6, 2000
A drifter charged with murder in Texas has talked about how he allegedly killed a 13-year-old girl in Lexington last May. Tommy Lynn Sells said he got the idea for raping and killing haley McHone as he watched her play on a swing set...

[snipped]
The throats of both Kaylene Harris and Krystal Surles were slashed as the two lay sleeping. Krystal survived...

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Jan 14, 2000

[snipped]
But from her hospital bed the next day, 10-year-old Krystal, unable to speak because of damage to her vocal cords, would use notes and gestures to help investigators draw a sketch of the slayer.

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Stephanie Mahaney


POSTED: 02:17 PM CDT Apr 03, 2014 UPDATED: 07:30 PM CDT Apr 03, 2014

Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott said Thursday that he is reopening the investigation of the murder of 13-year-old Stephanie Mahaney in 1997. Arnott wouldn't say exactly that he doesn't believe serial killer Tommy Sells didn't commit the murder, but said he has some doubts after recently re-interviewing Sells in the Texas prison where he was awaiting execution. Sells told detectives at least twice in 2002 that he killed Stephanie.

[snipped]
A Greene County grand jury indicted Sells in 2003 for Stephanie's murder. The case never went to trial, however, because Sells was sentenced to death in Texas and Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Moore wasn't sure he could get a death penalty here. He didn't see the need to incur the expenses of bringing Sells from Texas to Missouri, housing him here, and trying him here, or risk the chance that Sells might try to escape.

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Nancy Simpson
April 3, 2014

Choking back the words, "I am Stephanie's voice", Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott made a surprise announcement today.

He says he's re-opening the Stephanie Mahaney murder case from October 1997, even as the man who was indicted by a grand jury in Greene County is set to die in Texas.

Arnott says he just needs to be sure, so he's re-opening the case Monday...

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Joanna Small Picture Joanna Small, Reporter
POSTED: 10:58 PM CDT Apr 03, 2014

[snipped]

"Moved on? I can't move on from that, that is my baby. Her and I grew up together. I had her when I was 16... no... no it won't happen."

But this will: it's 6 O'clock. Time did move. Suzette [Martin] wants to know if Sells is gone. She searches the internet, watches the news, and waits. Suzette knows how to wait.

And then Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott calls. Suzette hangs up the phone and says "he's dead."

It's 6:55. It's been 82 minutes... and 17 years.

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