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Secret City Academy student charged with terrorism after alleged shooting, bomb threats

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A Secret City Academy student was charged with terrorism and other crimes after allegedly threatening to shoot people and use a bomb at the school on Friday, Anderson County’s district attorney general said. This is the fourth student charged with similar crimes in three incidents this school year.

Seventh Judicial District DA Dave Clark said the alleged oral threat by the juvenile briefly caused restrictions on movements within the school. The Secret City Academy is on the Oak Ridge High School campus.

“Nobody was hurt, and no firearm or explosive device was involved,” Clark said in a press release.

The alleged threats were investigated by the Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Schools, Anderson County Juvenile Court, and the DA’s office.

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Police ask for help finding missing man

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Arthur Lee

The Oak Ridge Police Department and several area agencies are searching for a missing Oak Ridge man near Melton Hill Lake.

Arthur Lee, 59, was last seen Sunday and may have been in the area of Melton Lake Drive and Melton Lake Peninsula, a press release said.

ORPD, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office began searching for Lee around 11 a.m. Tuesday, the press release said. The Oak Ridge Fire Department help search with its boat on Melton Hill Lake.

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Woman charged with murder in husband’s death after 7 years

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Samantha Hendley

The wife of Thomas Steven “T.S.” Thrasher has been charged with first-degree murder after his death in 2014, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Samantha Anne Hendley, 35, of Harriman, was indicted last week by the Anderson County Grand Jury, and she was arrested and booked into the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Monday morning, the TBI said. Her bond has been set at $1 million.

The indictment and arrest followed seven years of casework by TBI special agents, the agency said.

Thrasher, 29, was shot and killed inside his home at Rolling Hills Apartments on December 8, 2014.

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ORPD has memorial, reward funds for Baby Wyatt

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The Oak Ridge Police Department and Police Chief Robin Smith offered a $1,000 reward for information about the baby boy found dead near the river bank along Melton Lake Greenway on Thursday, March 26, 2020. The Oak Ridge Police Department has named the baby boy “Wyatt,” which means “little warrior,” the city said. On Thursday, April 2, 2020, ORPD officers and the Oak Ridge Fire Department set up a memorial in baby Wyatt’s name near the parking area on Melton Lake at Edgemoor Road. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Police Department currently has two funds for Baby Wyatt, the unidentified newborn boy found dead in Melton Hill Lake almost two years ago.

The two funds are a memorial fund ($950) and a reward fund ($1,000).

Separate from those two funds, the ORPD has received a $5,246 grant for genetic testing to identify Baby Wyatt. That money will be used specifically for the Baby Wyatt investigation, and any funds left from that grant will be returned to the grant provider, Season of Justice, of Indianapolis, Indiana, the City of Oak Ridge said Monday.

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Two face death penalty in murder, kidnapping, rape case

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Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

An Oak Ridge man and woman face the death penalty after allegedly kidnapping, raping, torturing, and murdering a 36-year-old woman, and mutilating her body and putting it into a freezer in December 2019.

Dave Clark, Seventh Judicial District attorney general, announced the death penalty decision on Monday.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that a decision was expected this month in the criminal case against Sean Shannon Finnegan, 54, and Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman, 23. They have both been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the strangling death of Jennifer Gail Paxton and 10 other charges, including aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.

In a press release, Clark said a district attorney general can seek the death penalty only in certain first-degree murder cases “when one or more factors established by state law are alleged to exist.” Then, it is up to the DA to decide whether to ask the court to impose the death penalty. That decision has now been made, Clark said.

Here are the factors in this case that make the death penalty applicable, according to Clark:

  • The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel “in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond what was necessary to produce death.”
  • It was committed to avoid being arrested and prosecuted for aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.
  • It was committed during an aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.
  • Finnegan and Dishman mutilated Paxton’s body after she died.

Since the state is now seeking the death penalty, special procedures will apply in the court case. These include the appointment of an attorney qualified in death-penalty cases and the right to a second attorney for Finnegan and Dishman.

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Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

An Oak Ridge man and woman face the death penalty after allegedly kidnapping, raping, torturing, and murdering a 36-year-old woman, and mutilating her body and putting it into a freezer in December 2019.

Dave Clark, Seventh Judicial District attorney general, announced the death penalty decision on Monday.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that a decision was expected this month in the criminal case against Sean Shannon Finnegan, 54, and Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman, 23. They have both been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the strangling death of Jennifer Gail Paxton and 10 other charges, including aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.

In a press release, Clark said a district attorney general can seek the death penalty only in certain first-degree murder cases “when one or more factors established by state law are alleged to exist.” Then, it is up to the DA to decide whether to ask the court to impose the death penalty. That decision has now been made, Clark said.

Here are the factors in this case that make the death penalty applicable, according to Clark:

  • The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel “in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond what was necessary to produce death.”
  • It was committed to avoid being arrested and prosecuted for aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.
  • It was committed during an aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.
  • Finnegan and Dishman mutilated Paxton’s body after she died.

Since the state is now seeking the death penalty, special procedures will apply in the court case. These include the appointment of an attorney qualified in death-penalty cases and the right to a second attorney for Finnegan and Dishman.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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Oak Ridge Today

P.O. Box 6064

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

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ORPD receives genetic testing grant for Baby Wyatt Doe

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The Oak Ridge Police Department and Police Chief Robin Smith offered a $1,000 reward for information about the baby boy found dead near the river bank along Melton Lake Greenway on Thursday, March 26, 2020. The Oak Ridge Police Department has named the baby boy “Wyatt,” which means “little warrior,” the city said. On Thursday, April 2, 2020, ORPD officers and the Oak Ridge Fire Department set up a memorial in baby Wyatt’s name near the parking area on Melton Lake at Edgemoor Road. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Police Department has received a $5,246 grant for genetic testing to identify Baby Wyatt Doe, the newborn boy found dead in Melton Hill Lake almost two years ago.

The grant is from a nonprofit organization, Season of Justice, of Indianapolis, Indiana. The Oak Ridge City Council could accept the grant for the ORPD during a meeting on Monday.

Wyatt’s body was found near the bank along Melton Lake Greenway, which is along the Clinch River, just north of the Edgemoor Road bridge on Thursday, March 26, 2020.

Oak Ridge Police Chief Robin Smith said that year that the baby boy was being called Wyatt, or “little warrior.”

In 2020, Oak Ridge Today reported that DNA samples had been taken by the medical examiner. Baby Wyatt’s race had not been determined. Police officers were not able to tell from his physical appearance. His umbilical cord was still attached before he was placed in the water, Smith said in a Facebook video. A piece of clothing was with Wyatt, although it hasn’t been described for investigative reasons.

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Death penalty decision expected in January

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Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, rape, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

Rebecca Dishman, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, rape, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

CLINTON—A decision could be announced in January about whether to seek the death penalty for two Oak Ridge defendants charged with three counts of first-degree murder each in the gruesome kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 36-year-old woman.

The victim, Jennifer Gail Paxton, was found during a search of a home on East Fairview Road on August 5, 2020, after the Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a report of a possible homicide. Paxton had allegedly been lured to the home with the promise of a place to stay but, once there, became the victim of a series of gruesome crimes, according to arrest warrants filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Sergeant Marvell Moore. She was allegedly kidnapped, tortured, raped, strangled, and her body stuffed into a freezer, according to the warrants.

The man and woman charged in Paxton’s death are Sean Shannon Finnegan, 54, and Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman, 23. They have both been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and 10 other charges, including aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping. A prosecutor told a judge last year that the two could face the death penalty for the “especially heinous” murder. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Finnegan and Dishman are charged in a separate case with aggravated rape of a child. A conviction in that case would result in an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole, Anthony Craighead, deputy district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County, told Judge Steven Sword.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, rape, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

Rebecca Dishman, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, rape, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

CLINTON—A decision could be announced in January about whether to seek the death penalty for two Oak Ridge defendants charged with three counts of first-degree murder each in the gruesome kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 36-year-old woman.

The victim, Jennifer Gail Paxton, was found during a search of a home on East Fairview Road on August 5, 2020, after the Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a report of a possible homicide. Paxton had allegedly been lured to the home with the promise of a place to stay but, once there, became the victim of a series of gruesome crimes, according to arrest warrants filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Sergeant Marvell Moore. She was allegedly kidnapped, tortured, raped, strangled, and her body stuffed into a freezer, according to the warrants.

The man and woman charged in Paxton’s death are Sean Shannon Finnegan, 54, and Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman, 23. They have both been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and 10 other charges, including aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping. A prosecutor told a judge last year that the two could face the death penalty for the “especially heinous” murder. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Finnegan and Dishman are charged in a separate case with aggravated rape of a child. A conviction in that case would result in an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole, Anthony Craighead, deputy district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County, told Judge Steven Sword.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, rape, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

Rebecca Dishman, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge in December 2019, including murder, rape, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

CLINTON—A decision could be announced in January about whether to seek the death penalty for two Oak Ridge defendants charged with three counts of first-degree murder each in the gruesome kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 36-year-old woman.

The victim, Jennifer Gail Paxton, was found during a search of a home on East Fairview Road on August 5, 2020, after the Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a report of a possible homicide. Paxton had allegedly been lured to the home with the promise of a place to stay but, once there, became the victim of a series of gruesome crimes, according to arrest warrants filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Sergeant Marvell Moore. She was allegedly kidnapped, tortured, raped, strangled, and her body stuffed into a freezer, according to the warrants.

The man and woman charged in Paxton’s death are Sean Shannon Finnegan, 54, and Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman, 23. They have both been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and 10 other charges, including aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping. A prosecutor told a judge last year that the two could face the death penalty for the “especially heinous” murder. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Finnegan and Dishman are charged in a separate case with aggravated rape of a child. A conviction in that case would result in an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole, Anthony Craighead, deputy district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County, told Judge Steven Sword.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Man, two dogs displaced after battery sparks fire

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An Oak Ridge man and his two dogs were displaced following a fire at their Cedar Lane home early Wednesday morning.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to the house at 2:56 a.m. Wednesday after the homeowner said a lithium battery was on fire in his living room.

Firefighters arrived on scene within three minutes of the call and found smoke and fire in the front of the residence, a press release said. Crews were able to contain the fire within 10 minutes, but there was significant smoke and heat damage throughout the home.

The man and his dogs were able to safely evacuate before the fire department arrived, the press release said. He credited his working smoke alarms for alerting him to the fire and allowing a safe exit.

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Students who posted shooting threats charged with terrorism, mass violence threats

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Oak Ridge High School was on lockdown on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, after administrators were made aware of a shooting threat posted on social media. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Police Department has charged three students with terrorism and threats of mass violence after they allegedly made school shooting threats in two separate incidents on social media on Monday and Tuesday.

The charges were filed in Anderson County Juvenile Court on Wednesday afternoon, and the court authorized the detention of the children in the Richard L. Bean Detention Facility in Knox County. The children were taken into custody Wednesday afternoon, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said.

All three juveniles were charged with terrorism, threat of mass violence on school property, and false report. Two of the children were allegedly involved in a shooting threat posted on Snapchat on Monday, and they were also charged with conspiracy. That threat led to a lockdown at Oak Ridge High School on Monday. The third child was allegedly involved in a separate shooting threat that was posted on Snapchat on Tuesday, and that student will face the first three charges.

Clark said the children are required to have a detention hearing quickly under Tennessee law, and that hearing could occur as soon as Thursday afternoon in Anderson County Juvenile Court.

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Student identified, charges pending in new shooting threat

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The Oak Ridge Police Department has identified the student responsible for posting a new shooting threat on Snapchat about Oak Ridge High School, and charges are pending, city and school officials said Wednesday.

“ORHS had another social media shooting threat last night,” the City of Oak Ridge said in a brief statement. “The juvenile suspect was identified overnight, and the threat was determined not viable. Charges are forthcoming. School continued as normal this morning.”

The new Snapchat threats were posted at about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, after two students were identified as being responsible for a previous threat posted Monday, according to information from Oak Ridge Schools.

“We immediately contacted the Oak Ridge Police Department and are pleased to share that they have been successful in identifying the student responsible for posting these threats,” school officials said. “We are appreciative of their expedient action and resolve of this safety concern.”

Families received a phone call about the new threats early Wednesday.

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Shooting threat was a hoax, ORHS principal says

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Oak Ridge High School was on lockdown on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, after administrators were made aware of a shooting threat posted on social media. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 6:10 p.m.

The shooting threat posted on Snapchat on Monday was a hoax, and there was never any malicious intent, Oak Ridge High School Principal Garfield Adams said in an email to families Tuesday evening.

Two students have been identified as being responsible for the threatening statement.

The City of Oak Ridge said the Oak Ridge Police Department has determined no weapons were ever involved, but charges are pending.

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Two juveniles identified in ORHS social media threat

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The Oak Ridge Police Department identified two juveniles Tuesday in connection to the shooting threat posted on social media that prompted a lockdown at Oak Ridge High School on Monday.

“Both juveniles admitted to making the threat,” the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. “Throughout the course of the investigation, it has been determined that no weapon was ever involved. Charges are forthcoming.”

The press release did not identify the juveniles or the specific threat. On Monday, the city said it was a shooting threat.

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