Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1994 was a city overwhelmed by violence and poverty. In the midst of a crack epidemic, murder had reached pandemic levels. And with just nine homicide detectives on the Charlotte police force, officers were overwhelmed. In the midst of this a disturbing pattern emerged: Young, Black women were being found raped and strangled across the city.
In Charlotte, many felt the murders were being ignored by the media and the police because the victims were black women. The mother of one of the murdered women stated that the victims "weren't prominent people with social-economic status. They weren't special. And they were Black."
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It was Detective Garry McFadden who became convinced the murders were the work of a serial killer, even though the crimes were different and scattered in place and time. With a partial print and a grainy photograph, McFadden and his teams worked doggedly to connect the cases and establish a pattern. After two years of terror and the loss of 10 lives, they arrested Henry Louis Wallace in connection with the murders.
While many have felt that this was the case of a serial killer the police and media ignored, Investigation Discovery will now air a two-hour special about Wallace's crimes — the first time the case has been explored at length on television. Featuring interrogation tapes and the stories of the families and friends of the murdered women, Bad Henry will look at the case from all perspectives: the lives of the victims, the devastation of a city plagued by crime and racial tension, the sick tactics of a killer, and the dogged police work that ultimately led to the arrest of a monster.
Bad Henry premieres on Investigation Discovery on July 24. The exclusive trailer is below.
Investigation Discovery.