A 60-year-old Oliver Springs man allegedly killed a 52-year-old woman with a shotgun Monday morning and, during a police standoff, refused to let officers give her medical aid, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The man, Nathan Newport, 60, has been charged with criminal homicide—first-degree murder. He is alleged to have killed Janice Newport, 52, in a home in Oliver Springs at about 6:30 a.m. Monday.
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A fire on Friday afternoon damaged a home on South Lansing Road, according to the City of Oak Ridge.
The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to the fire at 12:45 p.m. Friday.
“Multiple callers to 911 reported fire was visible through the windows and roof,” the city said in a press release. “ORFD crews arrived within five minutes of the call with 17 personnel. The first unit arrived on scene and found heavy fire from the rear of the structure. A hose line was taken in the home to begin suppression efforts. The Oak Ridge Electric Department also responded to secure power to the affected building. The fire heavily damaged one half of the building, while the other half had smoke and water damage.”
The Oak Ridge Police Department is participating in the National Drug Enforcement Administration Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 29.
On that day, anyone in the community can drop off their expired or unused medications at the Oak Ridge Police Department at 200 South Tulane Avenue. The drug take-back is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 29.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the most common method of obtaining pills is through family and friends, a press release said.
“Prescription drugs could be easily stolen at home when they are left in unlocked cabinets and drawers,” the release said.
A home on Norton Road in Oak Ridge was destroyed in a fire on Sunday, and a resident had injuries that were not life-threatening. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)
A home on Norton Road in Oak Ridge was destroyed by a fire on Sunday, and a resident had injuries that were not life-threatening.
The house fire was reported at about 5 p.m. Sunday, September 4. When Oak Ridge firefighters arrived, they saw a large amount of smoke and fire coming from the home, a press release said.
“The fire was under control within 20 minutes of arrival, but fire crews remained on scene for the next several hours to put out hot spots,” the press release said.
An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
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An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on South Illinois Avenue around Panera Bread on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
Khristoff Deshawn Lee, 29, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court Tuesday afternoon to two counts of attempted carjacking, two counts of reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a weapon, and evading arrest.
An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
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
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. 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!
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a 39-year-old man during an interaction with Oak Ridge police officers in the Hendrix Creek subdivision on Sunday afternoon.
Oak Ridge Police Department officers had made contact with the man, Tyler Jones, after receiving a report of a suspicious person around Heritage Drive, the TBI said. He began showing signs of distress, and medical personnel were called.
“At some point during the encounter, after medical personnel arrived, Jones became unresponsive,” the TBI said. “Officers immediately rendered aid until paramedics arrived. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.”
Three people are safe after a house fire on West Outer Drive on Friday morning, July 15, 2022. (Photo from City of Oak Ridge)
Three people are safe after a house fire on West Outer Drive on Friday morning.
Fire crews arrived on scene of the home, located at 687 West Outer Drive, within three minutes of the call, a press release said. They arrived at 10:06 a.m. to find the home on fire with heavy smoke coming from the roof.
One man suffered injuries that weren’t life-threatening after escaping through a window, the press release said. He was treated on scene and did not need to be taken to the hospital.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.
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 charged 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.
Note: This story was last updated at 6 p.m.
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.
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.
