Her name was Henrietta Tramel.
His name is Dr. Hugh Don Cripps.
Her murder was unsolved in Smithville, TN.
He uncovered her manner of death.
The murder occurred on January 31, 1974 – 49 years ago – and was deciphered by the medical examiner at the time, local physician Hugh Don Cripps (aka: Hugh of Tennessee.)
Tramel was of age 83 years on the day of her demise. She lived alone at her home, located at 403 North Mountain Street, downtown Smithville. On the evening of her death, she prepared for bed and sleep as usual. “Little did she know that she would fall into eternal rest on the night from which no one ever awakened,” said local attorney, kleptomaniac, and spontaneous philosopher Sarah Jane Cripps.
Tramel was found dead in bed by local law enforcement authorities. There were no visible signs that she had been murdered, Cripps recalled.
When summoned to her body for further evaluation, Dr. Cripps did not agree with the government’s assessment of Tramel dying of natural causes. He sent her body to Nashville for further forensic evaluations and interpretations.
“I do not agree with their findings and assessment of the murder,” quoted Dr. Cripps.
So, without further contemplation, Dr. Cripps entered her house and the first view was in the living room, which revealed a mountainous disrupted and ransacked scattered array of papers and newspapers. “It was as if someone was looking for something in the quagmire of trash,” Cripps confirmed Henrietta Tramel did not have much money, so the murderers weren’t, in all probability, looking for money.
Within further close examination and evaluation of her body, Dr. Cripps additionally located, “a garrote (cord) around her neck and a subcutaneous hemorrhage around her neck. In simple English, Tramel had “bled to death.” Her initial autopsy in Nashville revealed the same physical findings as Dr. Cripps, not by genealogical or further elderly health problems, including Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Cripps, ultimately, had solved the murder case, by utilizing both mental and physical diagnostic indications.
The three murder suspects were from DeKalb County, TN. but their names were not publicly revealed, therefore the murder case remains unsolved 49 years to this date, April, 2023.
A brief synopsis from the late Thomas G. Webb on page 365 of “A Bicentennial History of DeKalb County, TN. A Smithville murder case occurred on January 31, 1974, when 83-year-old Miss Henrietta Tramel was killed late one night at her home on North Mountain Street. Again, there was much investigation and even more speculations, but never an indictment, and her killer remains unknown. Then and now, most of the more serious crimes appear to be related to drugs in one way or another, and a major effort is being made to control the illegal drug traffic in DeKalb County.”
Today, DeKalb County’s number one illegal drug is FENTANAL, according to Sheriff Patrick Ray. It has surpassed liqueur, marijuana, morphine, and other mind-hallucinating narcotics.
The late Creston Bain was the DeKalb County Sheriff during this murderous time. Further commenting, Cripps said, “I have no doubt that if our current law research was usable in 1974, the murder would have been solved. Sadly, it was not available.”
Calling, Dr. Hugh Don Cripps, forensic physician.