BAD HENRY: The Murderous Rampage of ‘The Taco Bell Strangler’

Henry Louis Wallace terrorized Charlotte, North Carolina, from May 1992 to March 1994. Wallace preyed on lower economic-class Black women between 17 and 35 years old. He knew most of his victims, some through his job at Taco Bell, and gained their trust with his friendly demeanor and gentle nature-concealing a monster fueled by drug abuse and rage against women. A rarity in that he was an African-American serial killer, his murderous rampage spurred controversy throughout the city.

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, sits down with author Ron Chepesiuk to discuss in depth the serial killings of the infamous Taco Bell strangler. They also discuss possible motives, the killers’ drug use, and similarities of each case that were overlooked.

Show Notes:

[0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum.  

[1:38] Sheryl introduces Ron Chepesiuk to the listeners  

[2:12] BAD HENRY: The Murderous Rampage of ‘The Taco Bell Strangler’

[4:59] “People ask me: ‘What do you need to be a writer?’ I said you got to have perseverance above everything. it's a craft. You may not be able to write like Hemingway, but if you study the craft, you should be able to write well enough to be a qualified professional writer.”

[5:35] Background of serial killings

[9:00] Sheryl and Ron give further details about various murders committed and possible motives as to why

[17:50] Drug use caused the murder streak to become reckless 

[19:09] Similarities of the murders are explained  

[21:24] Question: Well, is it true that the FBI said these murders were not connected?

[26:03] Question: Can you tell the listeners about the project you’re currently working on?

[26:15] Paraiso Blanco 

[27:09] “There's a pattern in every crime. Something that gives the police an edge on the criminal's weakness. And we know he has a weakness, or he wouldn't be a criminal.” -H.N

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

You can connect and learn more about Sheryl’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org

Social Links:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ColdCaseTips

Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

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