Zoo Man / Thomas Dee Huskey

In February of 1992 a woman went into the Knoxville Police station, claiming she had been raped, tied up and robbed. The woman was a sex worker, and she said the night before she had met a john, and he took her into his Buick Le Sabre to a secluded area of Cahaba Lane which runs parrel with I-40. The secluded area was used by sex workers and johns. There was trash everywhere, old mattresses and used condoms all over the ground. The police officer asked the woman to take him there and when they arrived the blue Buick was sitting there. She said, “that’s him, that’s his car.” Looking into the car she even saw some of her belongings. The officer walked back into the woods and found a young girl, naked on her knees with Thomas Huskey. Thomas was taken into custody but was later released because the girl involved was of legal age and didn’t want to press charges. 

The summer and early fall of 1992 Thomas “Zoo Man” Huskey killed four women. Thomas is responsible for the deaths of Patricia Rose Anderson, Patricia Johnson, Darlene Smith and Susan Stone. All four women were known as sex workers. Some women feared Huskey because he could be mean. Some stayed away from him for that reason; others went with him because they needed the money. It was a hazard of the profession. He got away with his abusive treatment for a while. A hunter found the first body off Cahaba Lane on Oct. 20, 1992. The victim's name was Patricia Rose Anderson. She'd been strangled, bound and left under an old mattress. She was pregnant. In the coming days, Knox County investigators discovered the remains of another woman, and then another in the nearby brush. The bones of a fourth woman also were found. All told there were four women, several of whom had records for prostitution. There were no witnesses to the killings. But Pressley, the KPD detective, remembered that day months back when he'd caught Huskey in the act on Cahaba. He alerted the Sheriff's Office. 

Thomas tried to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, saying he had multiple personalities. In an interview with police, officer Davenport stepped out and when he returned Thomas had turned into “Kyle” the dark personality. Kyle was demanding and mean. Kyle said, “Give me a cigarette and I’ll tell you everything.” Kyle admitted to all four kidnappings, rapes and strangulations of Patricia, Patricia, Darlene and Susan. Officer Davenport claimed, “It was all an act.” Other personalities would emerge: an Englishman who called himself Daxx and an effeminate character named Timothy. For the men who would defend Huskey in court, it was a crucial development -- evidence that somebody with multiple personalities might have committed a series of horrible crimes. If he were mentally ill, he could avoid conviction. If you live in or around Knoxville, many streets are named Kyle. His favorite soap opera character’s name was Daxx.  

The trial would be the most expensive trial in history at the time. Jurors agreed he probably killed those women, but they couldn’t agree on his mental state. By day five of deliberation, they were deadlocked. It ended in a mistrial. By 2005 Thomas had two of the best attorneys in the state, it would equate to the prosecutors OJ Simpson had. The lawyers were doing it for free! They said the murder charges had no evidence behind them and the confession was coerced. Thomas was never charged with the murders of the women. He was charged with the kidnappings and rapes. Thomas Huskey sits in the South-Central Correctional Facility in Clifton, Tennessee. He received a 64-year sentence. He will not be eligible for parole until 2056 when he will be 117 years old.  

Thank you @julesferncreativeco for the flowers