0:00

Welcome back True Crime Army. I am

0:02

your host Margot and this is Military

0:04

Murder, a show where I focus on

0:06

crimes committed by military members and veterans.

0:08

But don't worry, you don't have to know anything about

0:10

the military to listen I promise. You

0:13

just have to be a True Crime enthusiast and

0:15

if that's you, welcome home. Well,

0:17

well, well True Crime Army we meet again.

0:20

I must say that I am appalled

0:22

at the amount of podcast fans who

0:25

had never heard the Steven Shapp Gregory

0:27

Glover episode of my podcast. I'm

0:29

talking long time listeners actually reached out

0:31

to me last week to tell me

0:33

how crazy they thought that case was

0:36

and my immediate response was excuse

0:38

me what? You hadn't gone

0:40

back to listen to the show from episode 1

0:42

through 100 and whatever we're

0:44

at now? I mean, but listen,

0:46

at the same time I was a

0:48

little bit relieved that I didn't get

0:51

hate for redoing my very first episode.

0:53

For those of you who had listened before

0:55

and then listened again, kudos to

0:58

you, the addition of the closed

1:00

listener encounter was an added bonus.

1:03

That being said, I'm not sure if you

1:05

know but I do listen to stories called

1:07

Tales from the Trenches where you

1:09

write in your story either crime related

1:11

or spooky related, it has to be

1:13

real life and I read them during

1:15

the episode. I'd like to get another one

1:17

of those episodes done soon so if you

1:19

have a really good story, please check the show

1:22

notes for the link to submit your case

1:24

or your story. Hopefully I

1:26

can get one of these episodes out

1:28

this summer. Okay, I just want to

1:30

tell everyone that this next week I will not

1:32

be releasing a new episode since I

1:34

have decided to take each and every

1:37

one of my children on a one-on-one

1:39

mommy daughter date this week. So seeing

1:41

as I have three kids, I am

1:43

going to be fully booked for three

1:46

full days so I will not have

1:48

a Mother's Day episode. With that, happy

1:50

Mother's Day to all my mamas out

1:52

there. Alright, let's get on to today's episode.

1:55

Today's case is out of Fort Campbell and it is

1:57

one of the most senseless crimes I have ever had.

2:00

have ever heard of and to

2:02

think that the crime was committed

2:04

by an active-duty soldier will make

2:06

your stomach turn. But then again

2:08

don't all these cases make you sick?

2:11

Join me today as I tell you the tragic story of

2:13

the 1994 Taco Bell Massacre.

2:17

Now let's dig in. Military

2:19

murder is an independent project and is

2:21

not endorsed by the Department of Defense

2:23

or any military component. The views

2:25

expressed are those of the host. The

2:28

content of this podcast is not meant to be

2:30

legal or medical advice. Warning, this

2:32

episode contains graphic details of

2:34

murder and is not suitable

2:36

for young listeners. Listener discretion

2:38

is advised. Taco

2:53

Bell is a staple for a lot

2:55

of fast food lovers promising crunchiness and

2:57

every bite and quick service at affordable

3:00

prices. While Taco Bell has

3:02

never been my go-to fast food joints

3:04

it is popular especially due to its

3:07

marketing campaigns and partnerships with brands like

3:09

Pepsi and Doritos. Well it's

3:11

the Taco Bell in Clarksville Tennessee right

3:13

outside of Fort Campbell Kentucky where

3:16

our case is set today. Taco

3:18

Bell is a good place to work as

3:20

a teen or in your early 20s or

3:22

even part-time as a young soldier. It offers

3:25

great and diverse hours and decent pay

3:27

and let's not forget the free or

3:30

discounted food. John Arthur

3:32

Ballard was a shift manager at

3:34

Taco Bell located at Riverside. In

3:36

the wee morning hours of January 30th 1994 John

3:38

wasn't scheduled to

3:42

work but like most good employees he

3:44

swung by the drive-through of the Taco

3:46

Bell to check on the closing manager.

3:48

Her name was Marcia Klopp and it

3:50

was only her second time as closing

3:52

manager. Even though John had to

3:54

open up the Taco Bell in just a few

3:56

short hours he made the pit stop anyway. window,

4:00

Marcia spoke with John and told him that

4:02

everything was good but that the closing crew

4:04

was running a bit behind schedule. She

4:07

told John that they probably wouldn't be out until 3.30

4:09

or 4am. John

4:12

looked right past Marcia and he saw

4:14

one of the other employees, Patricia Price,

4:16

cleaning up. John wished Marcia

4:18

luck and left, realizing he'd have to be back

4:20

in a few short hours to open the store.

4:24

John Ballard returned to Taco Bell to open

4:26

up shop and immediately he sensed something was

4:28

off. Maybe not wrong but

4:30

definitely off. All of the

4:33

employees' cars from earlier in the morning to

4:35

a.m. to be exact, they were still in

4:37

the parking lot and it was now 7.25

4:39

a.m. and that was when John saw a cardboard box

4:43

in the drive-through window. As

4:45

he walked into the Taco Bell, it was

4:47

eerily quiet and as he walked towards the

4:49

back, he spotted a body on the floor

4:52

near an employee door. John

4:54

immediately ran out of the store locking the

4:56

door behind him to call 911. The

5:00

Clochville PD were the first to respond

5:02

and the scene was grisly. While

5:04

John had only spotted one deceased

5:07

employee, the police discovered four total

5:09

bodies. It was the bodies of

5:11

the entire closing night crew. The

5:14

victims were 39-year-old Patricia Price,

5:16

two victims were 22-years-old, they

5:18

were Kevin Campbell and Angela

5:20

Wyatt and Marcia Clop was

5:22

24-years-old. The

5:25

victims' autopsies would reveal that they all

5:27

died from gunshot wounds. Kevin

5:30

had defensive wounds on his arms and

5:32

hands and while he had gunshot wounds

5:34

to the jaw, chest, upper arm and

5:36

hand, it was the close

5:38

contact gunshot wound just above the right

5:40

ear that went straight through his brain

5:42

and that was the wound that would

5:45

have caused immediate loss of consciousness and

5:47

instant death. Angela

5:49

had similar injuries as Kevin and her

5:51

fatal shot was fired between 4 and

5:53

6 inches away and went

5:55

directly into her brain. Patricia

5:58

was shot twice in the head and

6:00

the medical examiner described these shots as

6:02

the muzzle being right up on her

6:04

skin so she was definitely

6:06

executed as were some of the

6:09

others. But Patricia's other injuries

6:11

would have caused a lot of damage and

6:13

death as well. One gunshot

6:15

struck her forearm but that pass

6:17

through the arm, entered her chest,

6:20

passed through her lungs and exited

6:22

at the shoulder blade. Had

6:24

she not been executed, this defensive

6:26

wound would have likely killed her within

6:28

5 minutes. Marsha

6:31

was the only victim not shot in

6:33

the head but she suffered many gunshot

6:35

wounds to the chest, most

6:37

of which would have caused death within 5

6:40

minutes. Due to the

6:42

magnitude of investigating a quadruple murder, the

6:45

case was handed over to the Tennessee

6:47

Bureau of Investigation, TBI for short

6:49

and of the crime scene, a TBI Special Agent

6:52

by the name of Jim Taylor would go on

6:54

to say I've seen

6:56

some terrible things in my

6:58

28 years but nothing this brutal

7:02

and brutal was an understatement. During

7:05

the investigation, they learned that all four of

7:07

the victims had been shot to death and

7:09

they had all been found in an employee-only

7:11

area of the Taco Bell. The

7:13

restaurant safe and office had been ransacked

7:16

and it was clear that whoever murdered

7:18

the victims took money from the restaurant

7:20

safe. Investigators considered the

7:22

motive for murder to be robbery.

7:25

Some other evidence police discovered was that

7:27

in the women's restroom, there was a

7:29

hanging and broken ceiling fan and in

7:32

the men's restroom, one of the ceiling

7:34

tiles was opened like someone moved it

7:36

and placed it above the other ceiling

7:38

tiles to reveal an opening in the

7:40

ceiling. Additionally, there was

7:42

a misplaced vent in the men's

7:45

bathroom. That vent was

7:47

sent in for testing. At this

7:49

point, without a suspect, they were

7:51

trying to find fingerprints or DNA.

7:53

The inside of the Taco Bell

7:56

restaurant was littered with bullets. They

7:58

found 24 cartridge Cases. Oh

8:00

fired from a nine millimeter in

8:02

the general employee area. They. Found

8:05

a fired bullets in other areas.

8:07

Investigators determined that the cartridge cases,

8:09

the fired bullets and the bullet

8:12

fragments from the bodies were all

8:14

fired from the same nine millimeter

8:16

weapon. They. Also found a

8:19

twelve gauge shotgun shell case

8:21

and alive twelve gauge shotgun

8:23

shell. Whoever. Robbed. this Taco

8:25

Bell had used both a shotgun and

8:27

a nine millimeter tissue and opened the

8:30

sees. An audit later revealed

8:32

the deceive was missing twenty nine

8:34

hundred dollars. After the massacre,

8:37

a press conference was held, both to

8:39

inform the public of what happened but

8:41

also to ask the public for help

8:44

in finding the perpetrator or perpetrators. It

8:46

was during this press conference that a

8:48

woman was watching television and she became

8:50

suspicious of one of her roommates. The

8:53

woman was Santee Ward and she was

8:55

married to a soldier named Car Award.

8:58

Together. The couple lived in an

9:00

apartment complex and they shared an apartment

9:02

with another for. Campbell soldier by the

9:04

name of Courtney Matthews. And. Nails

9:06

the lived with his girlfriend. Kendra

9:08

Corley. Well. While listening

9:10

to the press conference, Santee learned more

9:12

information about the shooting at a Taco

9:15

Bell. You. See her Roommate Courtney

9:17

who is a guy was employed part

9:19

time at that Taco Bell and ever

9:21

since the murders he had been acting

9:23

super strange. Additionally, he seems to know

9:25

a lot of facts about the massacre.

9:28

Sounds. He remembered the hours before the

9:30

murder that nine pm. Corny. Had

9:33

arrived home after his Taco Bell said he

9:35

went to his room, got dressed in all

9:37

black and packed a bunch of guns and

9:39

left the house. Corny. Didn't

9:41

return to the apartment until the following

9:44

morning at around nine am, which would

9:46

have been ninety minutes after the cops

9:48

discover the crime scene. Courtney.

9:50

Told shanty that his Fort Campbell squad leader

9:52

had just called to inform him about the

9:54

shooting at Taco Bell. And. the squad

9:56

leader was going to check and see if

9:58

a different soldier was alright because that

10:01

person had worked at the Taco Bell.

10:04

When Chauncey heard this, she thought it

10:06

was strange because it was the 90s,

10:08

the era of house phones like plugged

10:10

into the wall and Chauncey had

10:12

not heard the phone ring that morning. Soon

10:15

after this brief chat, Courtney left the house

10:17

and returned 90 minutes later. Courtney

10:20

chatted with Chauncey again and this time

10:22

he apologized for not returning a backpack

10:24

that she had lent him the night

10:26

prior. He went on to

10:28

tell her about how he went to Nashville the

10:30

night before and that the backpack she had lent

10:32

him, also his guns, jacket

10:35

and wallet had all been robbed.

10:38

Chauncey was like damn that sucks. Still

10:40

in shock about a quadruple murder at

10:42

the Taco Bell, the two started talking

10:44

about the Taco Bell Massacre again and

10:46

this time Courtney told Chauncey, well whoever

10:48

did it, they went into Taco Bell

10:51

before it closed and they went to

10:53

the men's restroom and got up in

10:55

the ceiling. Chauncey was

10:57

like man that's crazy, those restaurant ceilings

10:59

can't hold a heavy person? Courtney

11:01

begged to differ, he was like listen, if

11:04

they get real tight to the walls, the

11:06

ceilings will hold. And then

11:08

Courtney continued, he was like damn that sucks

11:10

what happened to them. Two of

11:12

the victims were found in the kitchen, two

11:14

were in a storage area and the robbers

11:16

wanted to steal like $800 but they left

11:18

the money in the drop box. While

11:21

Chauncey listened intently, Courtney had diarrhea of the

11:23

mouth and he was like someone shot open

11:26

the restaurant safe with a shotgun and then

11:28

they ran out of the back door that

11:30

doesn't have a lock, it just latches. He

11:33

continued, yeah, Perp used two types

11:35

of gun, a shotgun and a

11:37

9mm and they shot approximately 30

11:40

rounds inside that restaurant. Now

11:43

if you're tracking, it's like what, like 11am maybe 12pm, 3

11:45

or 4 hours since the discovery

11:48

of the bodies and our boy

11:50

Courtney seems to have a whole

11:53

lot of information considering the investigators

11:55

were still trying to piece everything

11:57

together about what happened inside that

11:59

restaurant. At this point,

12:01

Shanti might have been thinking, this Kourtney

12:03

guy is blowing smoke. But

12:06

then she heard the press conference and the

12:08

hairs on the back of her neck stood

12:10

up. She ain't no fool. She

12:12

confronted Kourtney. She was like, Kourtney, you

12:14

know an awful lot of information about

12:16

the massacre at the place where you

12:18

work. And Kourtney laughed it off.

12:20

Who me? I wasn't involved. If I

12:23

had been involved, I would have taken all the money. I

12:25

wouldn't have left anything. Kourtney

12:28

did point out to Shanti that the panic

12:30

buttons at the restaurant were not functioning properly

12:33

on the night of the massacre. I

12:36

am sure that Shanti shared her concerns

12:38

about her roommate with her husband but

12:41

still she continued to feel out

12:43

the situation. And

12:45

then two days later, Shanti and Kendra,

12:47

Kourtney's girlfriend went to the mall and

12:50

Shanti thought it was so odd that

12:52

Kendra all of a sudden had all

12:54

this cash on her. At

12:56

the mall, Kendra paid off a ton of

12:58

bills and she purchased more things than she

13:01

usually did. But Shanti would

13:03

never get the information she would hope

13:05

for. It was her husband

13:07

who would get a confession he

13:09

didn't expect. Carl

13:12

Ward was having all the same strange

13:14

feelings about Kourtney as his wife was

13:16

having. Carl recalled that

13:19

the night before the murders, Kourtney worked at

13:21

the Taco Bell and returned home between 8.30

13:23

and 9.30 pm. The

13:26

Ward's were hosting a barbecue for a friend

13:28

at their shared apartment but when Kourtney

13:30

got home from work, he didn't want to

13:32

participate. He just made a beeline straight to

13:35

his bedroom. Carl and another

13:37

guy named Cooper went to Kourtney's room to

13:39

check on him. And by the time they

13:41

got there, Kourtney was completely changed out of

13:43

his work clothes and now he

13:45

was dressed in all black. He was

13:47

wearing a black jogging suit and over

13:50

top of his jogging suit, he had

13:52

an entire other outfit. He

13:54

had on black denim pants, a white

13:56

shirt, a tie and a black denim

13:58

three quarter length shirt. jacket. It

14:01

seemed a little odd. As

14:03

Courtney got dressed, he looked over at the guys

14:05

and said, pay attention people, you won't

14:07

be seeing this clothes anymore. Once

14:09

dressed, Courtney packed his 9mm handgun, a

14:12

shotgun and another handgun, it was either

14:14

a .22 or a

14:17

.25 and he also packed some ammo

14:19

all into a black backpack. Carl

14:21

was just watching this and Courtney offered up

14:23

that he was heading to Nashville to sell

14:25

the guns. Okay, strange,

14:28

it's 9pm but even more strange,

14:31

while Courtney handled his guns, he

14:33

wore white surgical gloves and he

14:35

wiped all of his weapons clean

14:37

of fingerprints. Now if

14:40

this doesn't scream, red flag, red

14:42

flag, I don't know what

14:44

does. Before leaving the

14:46

apartment, Courtney grabbed a black bowling ball

14:48

and told Carl that he was taking the

14:50

bowling ball so that he could lie to

14:53

police and tell them that he was going

14:55

bowling if he was to be stopped by

14:57

the cops. Courtney then

14:59

left his apartment with his packed

15:01

items and bags but he strategically

15:03

left behind his driver's license, his

15:05

bank card and other random papers

15:08

he had in his wallet. The

15:11

following morning when Courtney told Carl that there

15:13

was a murder at the Taco Bell, Carl

15:15

recalled that Courtney broke down crying

15:17

and while crying he said, someone

15:19

broke into Taco Bell and hid

15:21

in the ceiling. Again,

15:24

there are a million ways to

15:26

break into a Taco Bell and not

15:28

sure everyone knew that the perp in

15:30

this particular case had actually hid in

15:32

the ceiling. In

15:35

addition to this statement, Courtney told Carl that

15:37

30 shots had been fired inside

15:39

the restaurant. Carl comforted

15:41

Courtney but Carl noted something on

15:43

Carl that he hadn't noted the

15:45

night prior. Courtney had

15:47

scratches on his face and he had

15:49

gasoline and gas stains on his clothing.

15:52

Carl was like, what happened to

15:54

your face? Courtney then told

15:56

Carl that he had lost his guns, jacket

15:58

and wallet during a scuffle the night

16:00

prior with three unknown assailants at a

16:02

gas station. Now

16:05

I presume that Carl and Shanti,

16:07

the married couple, were both talking

16:09

to each other about how strange

16:11

Courtney was acting but

16:14

Courtney's odd behavior came to a

16:16

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Carl arrived home from work on February

18:24

1st, he found Courtney very down and

18:26

depressed. Courtney was so distraught

18:28

that he gave Carl a very emotional

18:31

bear hug. After the

18:33

hug, Courtney went back to his room. A

18:35

short while went by and Carl called out

18:37

to Courtney. Not getting a

18:40

response, Carl knocked on his bedroom door and

18:42

then opened it and that's when he saw

18:44

the blood. Courtney was sitting

18:46

in his room, he had slipped both of his

18:48

wrists with a box cutter. Carl

18:51

immediately went in to stop the bleeding

18:53

mode while Courtney babbled on. Courtney

18:55

said, I don't deserve to live, I ain't

18:58

shit, I hurt four people, I killed four

19:00

people. Courtney Matthews was

19:02

taken to the hospital to be treated

19:04

and before he was released from the

19:07

hospital, he was arrested for the Taco

19:09

Bell Quadruple murder. Courtney

19:13

B Matthews was born on November 24th, 1974 in the Bronx, New

19:15

York. When

19:18

Courtney was a young boy, his parents split up

19:20

and he divided time with both parents. When

19:23

Courtney was 6 years old, his mother died

19:25

of cancer and Courtney moved in permanently with

19:27

his father. At such a

19:29

young age, Courtney didn't understand why his mother

19:31

never came home and he would often ask

19:34

when she was returning. Courtney

19:36

appeared to have grown up in a loving home and

19:38

he wrestled and wait lifted in high school. He

19:41

graduated in 92 but was soon in trouble

19:43

with the law. Courtney

19:45

Matthews was arrested for burglary, possession

19:47

of stolen property and disorderly conduct.

19:50

It was around this same time while still

19:52

living in New York that Courtney's father got

19:55

injured on the job and they relocated to

19:57

Tennessee. Moving from New

19:59

York to Tennessee. wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

20:01

So wanting a way out, Courtney joined the army in

20:04

December of 1992 and lucky for him, he

20:07

was assigned right outside of Tennessee at

20:10

Fort Campbell. I say that sarcastically

20:12

because I always feel bad for people who

20:14

join the military to see the world and

20:16

then they either get stationed in their home

20:18

state or in the middle of nowhere America.

20:21

Anyway, in the army, Courtney was

20:23

assigned as a helicopter mechanic and

20:25

at Campbell, he joined the second

20:27

squadron of the 17th Cavalry Regiment.

20:30

From everything that I read about Courtney, he

20:32

was a friendly guy, likeable and really his

20:35

only problem was that he played his music

20:37

too loudly but if you ever asked

20:39

him to turn down his music, he would do

20:41

so politely. Also kind of

20:43

something I found little to no information

20:45

about but apparently before leaving New York

20:47

or while in New York, Courtney

20:50

got married to a woman named Yesica. Courtney

20:53

was only 19 at the time of the massacre so

20:55

it's unclear when he would have had enough time

20:57

to get married. But as you

20:59

probably imagine, since Courtney was now living

21:01

with a girlfriend named Kendra, the relationship

21:04

between Courtney and his New York

21:06

wife was estranged. In fact, months

21:08

before the quadruple murder during an argument

21:10

at his apartment with his visiting wife

21:13

Yesica, Courtney shot his weapon

21:15

into the floor but thankfully, no

21:17

one was injured. Speaking

21:20

of guns, weeks before the quadruple

21:22

murder on December 22nd, 1993, Courtney's friend

21:26

and fellow soldier Fitz helped Courtney purchase

21:28

a 9mm handgun. You

21:31

see, Courtney wasn't of age and couldn't

21:33

purchase his own gun. It's

21:36

unclear if Courtney gave his friend money but I'm

21:38

assuming he did. His friend's

21:40

name was Fitz and Fitz would later

21:42

reveal to investigators that he watched as

21:44

Courtney purchased ammunition for the gun. Courtney

21:47

told Fitz that he wanted the gun for

21:49

home security but after this,

21:51

Courtney carried his gun almost everywhere.

21:55

But the strangest thing is that Fitz

21:57

recalled that Courtney shaved the serial 9mm

21:59

gun. number off of the handgun. As

22:02

reported by the Leaf Chronicle on January 17, 1994, Courtney

22:04

borrowed his friend's rental

22:08

car and while driving around town,

22:10

Courtney got into a no kidding

22:12

car accident with a police officer.

22:16

Courtney caused $2,700 worth of damage

22:18

to his friend's rental car and

22:20

Courtney swore to his friend up

22:22

and down that he would have

22:24

his debt paid off by February

22:27

1st which was less than 2 weeks

22:29

away. $2,700

22:32

for those of you wondering with inflation is

22:34

approximately $7,000 today. Now

22:37

I should note that Courtney was 19 years old. He

22:41

was a private first class and he

22:43

wasn't making that kind of money but

22:45

he made the promise anyway and then

22:47

he got a part-time job working at

22:49

Taco Bell and Courtney wasn't messing around.

22:52

The accident took place on January

22:54

17th and by the 19th, Courtney

22:56

had been hired on by the

22:58

assistant manager DeAnn Marie. DeAnn

23:01

would later reveal that while giving Courtney

23:03

a tour of the Taco Bell, he

23:05

seemed like a very inquisitive young man.

23:07

He asked a ton of questions, none

23:09

of which she felt inclined not to

23:12

answer. Some of the

23:14

questions that Courtney asked were things

23:16

like, can you tell me more

23:18

about the building structure? What are

23:20

the after-hour procedures involving off-duty employees?

23:22

What are the closing procedures? He

23:25

asked about security cameras, roof accessibility

23:27

and even asked, so do we

23:29

store anything in the drop ceilings?

23:32

He even requested and was granted a

23:35

key to exit via a different

23:37

door than everyone else used. And

23:40

once he was hired on, Courtney would begin

23:42

to devise a plan. At

23:44

least this is what the evidence would

23:46

show. On January

23:48

21st, 1994, allegedly

23:50

just two days after being hired and

23:52

receiving a pretty thorough tour of the

23:54

Taco Bell, Courtney was allegedly

23:57

at a party where party goers

23:59

overheard Courtney's Many say that he was

24:01

thinking about robbing a place and that he

24:03

had the perfect place in mind, the Taco

24:05

Bell he was working at. A

24:08

witness would later reveal that three other people

24:10

were a part of this robbery conversation.

24:13

Three men, their names or goal by

24:15

names were Kevin Tween, David

24:17

Housler and Box Train. Yes,

24:20

Box Train was probably a nickname.

24:23

Back at the base, Courtney had been letting on to

24:25

some people that something big was going to happen the

24:27

weekend of the murders. Once

24:29

while working in the mailroom with a fellow

24:32

soldier, he asked out loud if the mailroom

24:34

safe could be shot into. After

24:36

that conversation, Courtney gave his coworker the

24:39

good old wink wink elbow elbow and

24:41

said something big was going to happen

24:43

that weekend. As investigators

24:45

looked more into Courtney, they learned that on

24:48

the day before the murders that took place

24:50

around 2 to 3 am ish, Courtney

24:52

started his shift at 2.10 pm. He

24:55

worked straight through to his break at 7.39 pm

24:57

and then clocked in 30 minutes later at

25:01

8.12 pm. His shift

25:03

ended promptly at 9.11 pm and he arrived home at

25:05

about 9.30 pm. His

25:09

apartment was really just down the street. A

25:12

key witness in this case was another

25:14

Taco Bell employee by the name of

25:16

Jay Walker. Jay Walker

25:18

worked the 7 pm shift on the

25:20

29th of January. Her shift

25:22

ended at midnight on the 30th. As

25:25

she clocked out, she looked around the dining room

25:27

and noticed that there were no more customers. The

25:30

doors were locked and then she exited the Taco

25:32

Bell. As she exited,

25:34

she saw Courtney Matthews crouching near

25:36

some trash cans outside. Walker

25:39

remembered him working earlier in the night and she

25:41

looked at him and said, I thought you were

25:43

gone. To which Courtney responded, I

25:45

am gone, you don't see me. Jay

25:48

Walker left but Courtney was still

25:50

hiding and she never saw him

25:53

leave. Which if I

25:55

could pause here for just a second. How

25:57

eerie is this? I mean super- weird,

26:00

kinda creepy but if Courtney did

26:02

commit this heinous crime, it's crazy

26:04

that he let Jay Walker see

26:06

him and then he let her

26:09

just walk away. As

26:11

investigators interviewed witnesses, they also spoke

26:14

to Courtney's family and they specifically

26:16

spoke to his father. Courtney's dad

26:18

first did not believe that his

26:20

son could commit a murder let

26:23

alone a quadruple murder but

26:25

he recalled that on the night before

26:27

the murders, Godfrey the father had called

26:29

Courtney to see why he hadn't reached

26:31

out lately. Courtney answered

26:33

nonchalantly that he had been meaning to

26:35

call but forgot. Before

26:37

the call ended, Godfrey reminded his son

26:40

to call his grandmother. Godfrey

26:42

further told investigators that his son couldn't

26:44

have committed the crime because his son

26:47

was at a Nashville nightclub called the

26:49

Midnight at the Oasis. Investigators

26:52

found this interesting considering one of

26:54

Courtney's other relatives tried to give

26:56

him an alibi claiming that Courtney

26:58

was at a different nightclub in

27:00

Louisville, Kentucky that night. So

27:03

I guess these relatives should have gotten

27:05

their story straight before talking to the

27:08

investigators. So there's a

27:10

lot of evidence in this case. In

27:12

pending trial, they would find more. At

27:15

a nearby McDonald's restaurant, an employee

27:17

was emptying out the Mickey D's

27:19

outside trashcans the morning that the

27:21

murders were discovered at the Taco

27:23

Bell and as he emptied one

27:26

of the trashcans, the bottom of

27:28

the bag burst and shotgun shells

27:30

and 9mm shells fell to the

27:32

ground and those shells

27:34

make a distinct sound very

27:37

different from a soggy french fry

27:39

or some spilt milkshake. In

27:42

the trash, the employee also found

27:45

a black wallet, a black glove

27:47

and several coin wrappers. A

27:50

search of Courtney's car revealed a bowling

27:52

bag with $2,500 worth of cash. A

27:57

search of Courtney's apartment revealed several bullet

27:59

frags. on the floor of his

28:01

bedroom that matched those found in the

28:04

Taco Bell victims. And

28:06

you might recall that earlier I told you

28:08

about an argument where Courtney shot his gun

28:10

in his room during an argument with

28:12

his estranged wife, Jessica. Behind

28:15

Courtney's apartment complex, investigators

28:18

found a disassembled shotgun.

28:20

They were able to reassemble the gun

28:22

and forensic examiners determined that the rifle

28:25

slug shotgun shell had been used to

28:27

shoot the dial on the Taco Bell

28:29

safe. There was a

28:31

bridge near the Taco Bell and that

28:33

bridge also held evidence. Under

28:36

the bridge, investigators found some clothing

28:38

and latex gloves. The jacket

28:40

they found was a black three-quarter

28:42

length jacket and it had Kevin

28:44

Campbell's blood on it and he

28:47

was one of the Taco Bell

28:49

victims. And remember the

28:51

ceiling tile? The TBI lifted a

28:53

fingerprint and it was determined to

28:55

be Courtney's fingerprint. There

28:58

was a lot of evidence in this case

29:00

implicating Private First Class Courtney Matthews

29:02

and while his case would seem to be a

29:05

slam dunk, there would be a little

29:07

wrinkle in the case. There was

29:09

a different soldier claiming to be

29:11

responsible for the murder or at

29:13

least claiming to have been present

29:15

when the murders were committed. What

29:18

in the world? Recently

29:27

I covered two unsolved cases which I am

29:29

sure caused you to pause and analyze your

29:31

inner detective. Well, if you want to hone

29:33

in on that inner detective then you need

29:35

to check out June's Journey. June's

29:38

Journey is a mobile game that you can play

29:40

anywhere while connected to Wi-Fi. June's Journey

29:42

takes you through the main character

29:44

June's adventure to uncover family secrets.

29:46

Her first task is to uncover

29:48

the mystery of her sister's death.

29:51

You will be using your keen eye to

29:53

spot hidden clues in the immersive scenes that

29:55

take you across the globe. The

29:57

scene is set in the 1920s so it's a back

30:00

in time. June's Journey is a

30:02

hidden object mystery game and I love playing

30:04

while waiting for my kids at the bus

30:06

stop. It allows me to clear my mind

30:08

from the tasks of the day and to

30:10

refocus on my mommy duties. What

30:12

I love about June's Journey is that

30:14

not only are you searching for objects

30:17

but you can join other players online

30:19

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30:21

also get to design this luxurious island

30:23

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30:25

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30:27

gift each other trees, flowers and other

30:29

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30:31

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30:34

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30:36

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30:38

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30:41

iOS and Android. Go ahead,

30:43

download June's Journey today. Courtney

30:47

Matthew was represented at trial by attorney

30:49

Isaiah Gant and Gant told the jury

30:51

that this was a horrid crime, no

30:54

question about it but his

30:56

client was not the perpetrator and the

30:58

investigators were the ones who got tunnel

31:00

vision. For starters, remember that party two

31:02

days after Courtney was hired at Taco Bell where

31:04

people claimed to have heard him say that he

31:07

was going to rob the Taco Bell or that

31:09

he wanted to rob the Taco Bell or words

31:11

to that effect? Well, the

31:13

defense found partygoers who took the stand

31:15

to say that Courtney was not at

31:17

that party so it was impossible for

31:20

anyone to have overheard him say anything.

31:23

In fact, apparently Courtney was working at Taco

31:25

Bell and his punch card said he worked

31:27

from 6 23 p.m. until 3 14 a.m.

31:29

on January 21st. There

31:35

was another witness who was driving by

31:37

the Taco Bell at 2 a.m. on

31:39

the mornings of the murders and that

31:41

witness recalled seeing a white man standing

31:43

inside the restaurant who didn't look like

31:45

Courtney because Courtney was a blackmail.

31:48

And finally, the defense entered a

31:50

charge agreement into evidence. This

31:53

was a document signed by the state

31:55

of Tennessee and a different soldier named

31:57

David Housler and this document basically

32:00

said that David Housler was agreeing

32:02

to plead guilty to conspiracy to

32:04

commit the murder of the

32:06

Taco Bell Massacre. Say

32:08

what now? What does this David Housler

32:10

guy have to do with the murders? Well

32:13

I'll talk about him in a minute. The

32:16

jury didn't have any more evidence on

32:18

this so they had to

32:20

decide a verdict on the evidence

32:22

that they had against Courtney Matthews.

32:25

Fingerprints in a ceiling tile, not

32:28

an ordinary place where employees go

32:30

touching, matching shell casings, one

32:32

of the victim's blood on a jacket that

32:34

was last seen on Courtney, suspicious

32:37

activity, admissions saying I killed

32:39

four people, you have to

32:41

wonder what would the jury

32:43

decide? The jury

32:45

decided that Courtney B Matthews

32:47

was guilty of four counts

32:49

of first-degree murder. He

32:52

was also convicted of one count

32:54

of especially aggravated robbery. At

32:57

sentencing, all of the victim's families

32:59

took an opportunity to remember their

33:01

loved ones and they also remembered

33:03

the ridiculous reason for their death.

33:06

In cases motivated by murder, I always

33:08

have to wonder what a loved one

33:10

would give to bring someone back and

33:13

to think that Courtney got away with less

33:15

than $3,000 yet he killed four people.

33:21

For the murder, Courtney faced the death

33:23

penalty but maybe it was his

33:25

age, remember he was only 19 years old

33:27

at the time of the murders or

33:29

maybe it was something else but the

33:32

jury declined to impose a death sentence

33:35

instead imposing four life

33:37

sentences without the possibility

33:39

of parole. A

33:41

decade after the trial, Courtney appealed

33:43

his conviction. The court denied his

33:45

appeal but in

33:48

2019, Courtney filed a

33:50

new motion for a new trial. I

33:53

found the appellate court opinion where

33:55

the judge concludes that the case

33:57

was remanded for the appointment of

33:59

conflict-free counsel to represent Courtney in

34:01

the motion for a new trial phase.

34:04

The conviction remains intact.

34:07

According to a Leave Chronicle article written in July of

34:09

2020, the new hearing

34:11

was scheduled to take place on April 12, 2021. But

34:16

if you will believe this, I have

34:18

not been able to find an update.

34:22

But listen, that's not all on

34:24

this case. Remember when I mentioned

34:26

some guy named David Houser Jr.? Well,

34:29

let's talk about him because Courtney

34:31

Matthews wasn't on the hook alone

34:33

for the Taco Bell Massacre. No

34:36

no no. Now put on

34:39

your thinking caps because this next

34:41

bit gets very confusing.

34:45

David Houser Jr. was a soldier

34:47

stationed at Fort Campbell. He did

34:49

also know Courtney Matthews. On

34:51

March 7, 1994 which is 5 or

34:54

6 weeks after the massacre, David

34:56

was interviewed by the TBI and the

34:58

Clarksville PD. At the time

35:01

of his interview, he had been caught up by the

35:03

military for going AWOL. But

35:05

once David was captured by the military,

35:07

the military handed him over to the

35:09

civilians because our boy David was wanted

35:12

in connection with a robbery that happened

35:14

outside of a store called Grandpa's. The

35:17

robbery at Grandpa's happened a week before

35:19

the robbery and murders at Taco Bell.

35:22

Of course, they asked him about the

35:24

Grandpa's robbery and David denied any

35:26

involvement. So the TBI who

35:28

was knee deep in the Taco Bell

35:31

investigation, they asked David about that case

35:33

as well and they wanted to know

35:35

whether or not he was involved and

35:37

David said, absolutely not. I

35:39

have no idea what happened at the Taco Bell. Despite

35:42

his denial, David was still charged

35:45

with aggravated robbery for the

35:47

Grandpa's robbery. So

35:49

David was holed up in jail

35:51

pending those charges when he started

35:53

hearing stuff about the Taco Bell

35:55

massacre. So David approached his

35:57

lawyer and he was like, listen, Do

36:00

you think that I could kind of like get

36:02

a deal on my charges if I give up

36:04

some information that I know about this Taco Bell

36:06

murder thing?" And the lawyer told him

36:08

that he would see what he could do. So

36:11

the lawyer arranged a meeting between his

36:13

client, David Housler and the TBI.

36:16

On March 21, 1994,

36:19

David met with investigators and he said

36:21

that he was at a party on

36:23

January 21,

36:26

1994 and that there he saw Courtney and

36:28

that Courtney Matthews said that he was thinking

36:30

about robbing the Taco Bell. Now

36:33

during this conversation, Courtney also said

36:35

that once he robbed the place,

36:37

he didn't intend on leaving any

36:40

surviving witnesses. Courtney then

36:42

said, once it's done, you'll read about it

36:44

in the papers. David

36:46

left it at that and he hadn't seen

36:48

or talked to Courtney until they saw each

36:50

other in jail pending their charges and

36:53

they saw each other again on March 15. When

36:56

Courtney and David caught up in jail, David

36:59

claimed that Courtney bragged about the

37:01

murders and laughed about it. During

37:04

his statement to police, David did have to admit

37:06

that when he first was interviewed by the cops,

37:09

he hadn't told the entire truth because remember he

37:11

had said he had no idea what they were

37:13

talking about this Taco Bell thing. So

37:16

the investigators tended to believe David

37:18

and with his statement, they released

37:20

him on bond and David was

37:22

allowed to return across the border

37:24

to Kentucky. Well,

37:26

during the continued investigation, the

37:29

TBI heard conflicting information about

37:31

David's involvement in the Taco

37:33

Bell murders. In fact,

37:35

they heard rumors that David may have been

37:37

one of the people who encouraged Courtney

37:39

to rob the Taco Bell. In

37:43

October of 1994, David Houser went

37:45

back to the TBI for another

37:47

interview and it was during

37:49

this interview that he admitted that he

37:51

did pump Matthew up to commit the

37:53

robbery. The prosecutor was

37:55

not happy about this and now

37:58

David inserted himself into the crime

38:01

as being a conspirator to the

38:03

crime. In mid-October,

38:05

the prosecutors and David's attorney

38:08

were in the middle of working out

38:10

some sort of deal whereas David would

38:12

agree to plead guilty to conspiracy to

38:14

commit murder in exchange

38:16

for a 15-year sentence. So

38:20

with this signed proffer agreement

38:22

in place, David went

38:24

in to be questioned again. This

38:27

time he said that at the party,

38:29

three people, it was himself, Courtney and

38:31

some guy named Charlie, they were

38:33

all talking about robberies. David

38:36

was bragging about the grandpa's robbery and

38:38

this is when Courtney started puffing out his

38:41

chest about wanting to rob the Taco Bell.

38:44

During this conversation, David called Courtney's bluff and

38:46

he was like, I don't think you'll do

38:48

it, chicken or words to

38:50

that effect and then David said,

38:52

okay, if you do it, I'll come

38:54

with you. Which by the

38:57

way, all I know is that David's

38:59

attorney sucks. He really should have had

39:01

his client on lock. He should have

39:03

known every word his client was going

39:05

to utter during that interrogation. But

39:08

alas, here he was. David

39:11

just yapping with no real protection

39:13

because he hadn't been offered any

39:15

type of immunity. David

39:18

made other claims during this interview that

39:20

didn't pan out. So I'll

39:22

go through some of those statements but

39:24

just don't get married to these because

39:26

they couldn't be corroborated. During

39:29

his statement to the TBI, David claimed that

39:31

he was the one that purchased the ammo

39:33

for the Taco Bell Massacre. But

39:35

forensics established that Courtney really was the

39:38

one that bought the ammo without David.

39:41

David also claimed that there were four people

39:43

involved in the massacre and that they drove

39:45

two separate cars to the Taco Bell. He

39:48

said that before hitting up Taco Bell,

39:50

they hit up a minute mark for

39:52

beer and cigarettes. But the

39:54

employees at minute mark couldn't confirm that

39:57

Courtney or David went in there that

39:59

night. David also claimed

40:01

that Courtney retrieved one of the weapons

40:03

from a trash can at the Taco

40:05

Bell but both of the witnesses

40:07

at Courtney's house said that they saw

40:09

him clean those guns and place them

40:11

in his backpack. David

40:13

also said that Courtney gained access

40:15

into Taco Bell by knocking on

40:18

the drive-through window and being let

40:20

in by one of the employees.

40:23

But listen, all the evidence actually showed that

40:25

Courtney entered Taco Bell through a locked door

40:27

and that he hid in the ceiling. I

40:29

mean honestly it's unclear but didn't he have

40:32

a key? Anyway, of

40:34

course if you're an investigator, you're listening

40:36

to this and wondering what the hell

40:38

this guy is talking about. And

40:40

the prosecutors, when they heard about this

40:42

nonsense, they were so very upset that

40:45

they told David Houser that he breached

40:47

the agreement and they were revoking it.

40:50

David then, no kidding, tried

40:52

to run but of

40:55

course they caught him. In

40:57

early November, David was charged with

40:59

four counts of premeditated murder, four

41:02

counts of felony murder and

41:04

one count of aggravated robbery.

41:06

The state was so mad that they

41:09

were seeking the death penalty. After

41:11

the dust settled, the state obtained a

41:14

superseding indictment on just the four counts

41:16

of felony murder and they were just

41:18

seeking life without parole. A

41:21

year after Courtney Matthews' trial

41:23

concluded, David Houser's trial began.

41:26

It lasted from November 12th through the 21st of

41:28

1997. It

41:31

was an interesting case because while the

41:33

state introduced David's statement, the

41:35

prosecutor in Courtney's case and the main

41:38

special agent in the Taco Bell massacre,

41:40

they testified that the evidence revealed that

41:43

much of what David Houser had said

41:45

during his statement was false. There

41:47

were a lot of inconsistencies revealed during

41:49

this felony murder trial against David. But

41:52

guess what? Despite the fact that

41:54

there was no physical evidence between

41:56

David and the Taco Bell murders,

41:59

the jury... found David guilty

42:01

and he was sentenced

42:03

to life in prison. There

42:06

were appeals and appeals and appeals

42:09

with the main argument being how can you

42:11

have two convictions one for a

42:13

man named Courtney Matthews and one for

42:15

a man named David Houser with two

42:17

completely different theories of the case. And

42:20

then in 2013, the

42:24

Criminal Court of Appeals agreed with the

42:26

defense. Something was amiss. They

42:29

overturned the conviction but of course

42:32

this allowed the state of Tennessee

42:34

to pursue David with another trial.

42:36

In November of 2014, nearly two decades

42:40

after the quadruple murder, the

42:42

district attorney Joseph D. Ball dismissed

42:45

the murder charges against David Houser

42:47

Jr. In dismissing the

42:50

charges, D.A. Ball said, quote, due

42:53

to procedural defects in the obtaining of

42:55

the statements of Houser at the time

42:57

of his arrest and afterward and the

42:59

lack of proof without those statements, I

43:02

will enter a dismissal of the

43:04

case against David Houser in regards

43:06

to the Taco Bell murders. This

43:09

decision is one which has been

43:11

made only after countless hours of

43:13

review of the original case, the

43:15

evidence introduced and re-interviews of court

43:17

witnesses and court personnel by the

43:20

City of Clarksville Police and the

43:22

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, end quote.

43:25

Before I leave you, I just wanted to tell

43:27

you a little bit more of the victims and

43:30

about the Taco Bell where this brutal crime took

43:32

place. Patricia Price was a 39

43:35

year old mother of five kids. She

43:37

had three teenage kids and she had

43:39

a four and two year old at

43:41

home. She had moved to Clarksville where

43:43

her in-laws lived to make a better life

43:46

for her family. She loved the small town

43:48

feel. She had only been working

43:50

at Taco Bell for three months when she

43:52

was killed. Her mother Florence Butts told

43:55

the Knoxville Sentinel that Patricia just wanted

43:57

to make her life better for her

43:59

family. She didn't want to rely on

44:01

the system to take care of her and her

44:03

family which is why she was working at Taco

44:05

Bell. Kevin Campbell was

44:08

married with a two-week-old baby. Angela

44:11

Wyatt was also married and

44:13

Marcia Klopp was married with one

44:15

child. Six

44:18

weeks after the Taco Bell massacre

44:20

that Taco Bell location reopened its

44:22

doors. As reported in

44:24

the commercial appeal the Taco Bell opens with

44:26

the blessing of the victims families. The

44:29

Clarksville mayor at the time Don

44:31

Trotter said quote, part of

44:33

the healing process for Clarksville is beginning

44:35

life again. Starting from where

44:37

we left off so the memory of those

44:40

lost will live on with us and quote.

44:43

As they reopened the door they laid

44:45

a granite slab around the shrubs connected

44:47

to the restaurant. It was laid

44:49

there in the victims memory. The

44:52

granite slab reads, in loving

44:54

memory of Marcia Klopp, Patricia

44:56

Price, Kevin Campbell and Angela

44:58

Wyatt. Gone from

45:00

our sight but never from our memories.

45:02

Gone from our touch but never from our

45:04

hearts. Taco Bell started

45:06

a fund for the children who were left without

45:09

a parent that frightful night. The

45:11

fund was called the Clarksville Children's Memorial

45:14

Fund and it opened with $55,000

45:17

from Taco Bell and it was up to $214,000

45:22

six weeks after the tragedy. The

45:24

fund would be used to educate the

45:27

kids. True

45:33

Crime Army this case brought it back to the

45:35

roots of this show. If you see

45:38

something please call it out for what it is.

45:40

In this particular case the perpetrator Courtney

45:42

Matthews told various people his intent to

45:44

rob Taco Bell. His own roommates saw

45:47

him get all dressed in black and

45:49

load all his guns and be on

45:51

his way and not to

45:53

blame anyone but the perpetrator. I

45:55

just wonder what could have happened if someone

45:57

tried to snap some sense into this guy.

46:00

It really could have changed so many

46:02

lives. Anyway, I appreciate

46:04

you all for joining me for another

46:06

week of military murder. As

46:08

I mentioned earlier, I am taking next week

46:10

off to dedicate one entire day to each

46:13

one of my daughters for Mother's Day. So

46:15

while I am sad that I won't have

46:17

the bandwidth to prepare another case for you,

46:19

I just want to reach through this

46:22

mic and hug all of my mommy

46:24

listeners and say, enjoy your kids. Life

46:26

is short. Happy Mother's Day. You

46:29

deserve a day. Heck, you deserve every

46:31

day. So, I'll catch you

46:33

in two weeks. Thank you

46:35

to my girl Elizabeth for researching this case

46:37

for me. Honestly, I had never heard it

46:39

before and it brought me to tears due

46:41

to the senselessness. And thank you

46:43

to all my listeners who recommended this case throughout

46:46

the years. Military murder

46:48

is a Mama Margot production. This

46:50

episode was researched by Elizabeth, executive

46:52

produced by Myrtle, Falcon 13 and

46:55

Jen. Our newest Patreon

46:57

associate producers are Tanya, Chike,

47:00

Carrie, Maria and Wendy. Our

47:02

newest Patreon assistant producers are

47:05

Raquel, Christina, Sai and Denisha.

47:08

The theme music was created by TIEOPS. If you're

47:10

interested in supporting this show with as little as

47:12

$5 a month, you can have

47:15

access to up to 40 bonus

47:17

episodes. Be sure to check

47:19

it out at patreon.com-military-murder and

47:22

on Apple Premium. Until

47:24

next time remember, you never really know

47:26

what someone is capable of so remain

47:28

vigilant always. You have a

47:30

fabulous week and I'll keep digging to

47:32

bring you another Military Murder Story next

47:34

time. Bye!

48:02

I was working on a podcast. I

48:05

don't want to.