Mary E. Hankins

Mary Elizabeth Tabler Hankins, grew up in Corryton, TN. Meeting her Husband in school. Charles Fredrick Hankins (Fred), The Two would wed in 1946 and move into a home in Fountain City, TN. A brand-new brick home, in a quiet neighborhood off of Harrill Hills. In just 4 and a half should years Mary would be murdered in that same home. 

On Saturday March 31, 1951, Mary and Fred had worked in the yard till lunch, around lunch Mary went inside to start dinner preparations. Mary was a 27-year-old woman living the American dream with her husband, the couple had no children and unfortunately would never have any. 

At 1pm Fred left the home and took his car to Hensley's Garage off Broadway to be serviced. An Employee at Hensley's brought Fred home shortly after. Around 3pm the same employee picked Fred up to take him back to the garage to get his car. The employee reported seeing Mary in the window of the couple's home. He would stop at his father's furniture store for a visit not returning home till 5pm. 

When Fred arrived home, he found his wife laying in the hallway leading to the basement, with blood coming from a head wound. Fred ran out of the Hankins' home, to the house of C.L Holts home, next door. He asked C.L to call for help and both men ran back to the Hankins' home. 

When investigators arrived, several friends and relatives were already inside the home. Investigators reported more than a dozen people were in and out of the home. They had issues collecting evidence and did not dust for fingerprints, due to all the chaos in the home.  

No forced entry and no signs of a struggle, suggesting that she more than likely knew her attacker. Mary was known to be a very cautious woman who would not willingly let a stranger in her home. 

The autopsy of Mary revealed that she had been shot in the head with a .32 Caliber slug. Noting that it was at a downward angle going through her brain on the left side finally stopping behind her right eye, speculated the fatal shot must have come as she lay on the floor because of the peculiar downward angle. They found no signs of sexual assault. 

Sheriff Clarence Walter "Buddy" Jones was reported to have said " I will not sleep till we catch the killer". Locals would coin the nickname "sleepless jones" till he left the state, due to no arrests ever being made in the case. 

Not a single neighbor reported hearing a gunshot. Police speculated the killer used a dishcloth, found lying near the body, as a silencer. Another neighbor of the Hankins' Jess Schumacher, who lived directly across the street from the home, told investigators that she had seen a stranger drive up to the house in a 1950/1951 black ford. This man was dressed in a powder blue men's summer suit and a brown hat. This man went inside the home, staying around 30 minutes and leaving in a semi hurried manner. This was shortly after Mr. Hankins had left to pick up his car. 

Investigators quickly ruled out the husband as a suspect. Officers questioned more than 100 other people in the days that followed. With no leads, a Blessing was sent about 3 months later, when a farmer (John C. Johnson) and his son were walking along a creek in Norris Freeway, they seen an object wedged between two rocks. It turns out it was a .32-caliber pearl-handled Colt revolver held six cartridges, one spent and the others intact.  A chemical reaction with the water had etched fingerprints into the brass casings, an examination by the FBI's crime lab found. The sheriff never found a match to the prints. He tried in vain to trace the gun's owner.

In 1982 Sheriff Jones lost re-election, The new Sheriff Austin Cate took office promising to keep the case open and active, however only one arrest was made, based on the word of a waitress Jessie Waldroup, the man arrested was cleared in the case. No other arrests have been made in the case. 

Rumors swirled around the community for years, but as of 2024 no arrests, no new clues, nothing. Most if not call the investigators once on the case are no longer in this world, and more then likely the killer isn't either.