Real Name: William Troy Snell, Scott Myers, Bryan Speight
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Smyrna, Tennessee
Date: July 12, 2000
Case[]
Details: In July 2000, three fast food workers were found dead at a Captain D's in Smyrna, Tennessee, as the result of an apparent robbery. William Snell was discovered first - he had been shot through the window of his blue Mazda that was parked behind the K-mart nearby. Scott Myers and Bryan Speight had been shot and murdered in the restaurant's cooler. It is believed that the murders were committed during a robbery of the restaurant after closing time.
One clue to solve the crime may come in locating Speight's key chain with a plastic locket on it reading, "All I want is peace and quiet; Give me a piece and I'll be quiet."
Suspects: One witness reported seeing a black male in his twenties lurking behind the restaurant. Another person saw a black female with a knapsack loitering inside. One theory is that the murders could be linked to three cold-blooded Nashville restaurant murder-robberies from 1997 involving the deaths of seven people, two of which were at another Captain D's. Those murders ended with the capture of Paul Reid, a dismissed Shoney's cook who subsequently received seven death sentences, the most ever received in Tennessee.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on America’s Most Wanted on May 19, 2001. One reference erroneously confuses it as airing on Unsolved Mysteries.
Results: Solved. Two suspects have been located and charged.
In July 2001, LaTonya Taylor was arrested in Nashville on an unrelated charge. She was indicted and found guilty of three counts of first-degree premeditated murder, three counts of felony murder, two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, and one count of especially aggravated robbery. She will serve three life terms without the possibility of parole.
Percy Palmer was arrested on August 2, 2001 in Aurora, Colorado. He plead guilty to the killings of three Smyrna Captain D's employees and will serve three concurrent life terms.
Links:
- The Captain D's Murders on the AMW website
- 3 Fast Food Workers Killed in Tenn. - July 12, 2000
- No Motive, Suspect in Tenn. Slayings - July 13, 2000
- Trial begins in Captain D's triple-murder case - September 20, 2004
- Bulletin: Conviction upheld in murders of Captain D's employees - January 31, 2007
- Woman convicted in Captain D's murders loses appeal - October 5, 2009
- The Detective Who Helped Solve the Smyrna Captain D's Triple Murder Case from Year 2000 Talks About the Details of that Past Case - January 3, 2014
- William Snell at Find a Grave
- Scott Myers at Find a Grave