Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
Who Killed Shannon Hercutt?
Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 2:03 pm
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| Shannon Hercutt |
At first it looked like the sort of tragedy you read about every day: Dawn Shannon Hercutt, a pretty, 40-year-old businesswoman from Gatlinburg, TN was driving late at night when she misjudged a curve and slammed on the brakes in her 2007 Escalade. Her
luxury SUV careened off Walker Trail near Pigeon Forge and crashed into boulders 125 feet or so from the road. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt.
Sevier County authorities believed Shannon's death was a traffic fatality. They didn't think drugs or alcohol were involved.
Investigators have changed their minds about what happened to Shannon Hercutt. Based on tips they've received, authorities now believe she was murdered.
According to her obituary, Shannon Hercutt "was the owner of Auntie Belhams Realty and Nightly Rentals Inc. in Gatlinburg and was instrumental in the building of the Mount Ton of Fun at the Sevierville City Park." Auntie Belham's specializes in renting out moutain cabins, chalets and cottages. Shannon first incorporated Auntie Belham's in 1998 and in Gatlinburg, which is located in the heart of the Smoky Mountains, her business would have been excellent, at least until early 2008.
According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Shannon's own father, Ted Hercutt, is a suspect in her murder. Hercutt told the paper that he wasn't surprised; their relationship was "strained" due to some kind of litigation. Ted Hercutt also said that his daughter may have had 'enemies' related to her business.
Hercutt added another odd detail to the story regarding the speed of Shannon's Escalade when it went off the road. From the Knoxville paper: "[Electronics] in the Cadillac indicate the vehicle was traveling 7 mph when it went off the cliff, missing a nearby guardrail by several feet."
Shannon Hercutt's father says he was actually the person who pushed for further investigation into his daughter's demise. When he learned that she wasn't wearing a seatbelt and her windows were down, he became suspicious and requested an autopsy.
And father and daughter were getting along well enough 4 years ago, or at least one might infer they were - when the domain registration information for AuntieBelhams.com changed in 2005, Shannon Hercutt gave the 115 N. Mountain Trail Gatlinburg address of her father's candy store, Fudge N Stuff, as the registrant's physical location.
When you go to the Smoky Mountains to play in Gatlinburg, stay in a chalet, visit all the kitschy attractions, you probably don't stop to muse much about the year-round residents who run all the hustling, bustling businesses there. It may be that no matter who actually caused the death of Shannon Hercutt, she was caught up in some cut-throat circumstances there among the pines and peaks.
Tags: Auntie Belham's, D. Shannon Hercutt, Dawn Shannon Hercutt, Fudge N Stuff, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Shannon Hercutt, Ted Hercutt, unsolved homicide
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