Earl Bramblett

Earl Conrad Bramblett (March 20, 1942 – April 9, 2003) was an American mass murderer, convicted for the killing of four members of the Hodges family in August 1994 in Vinton, Virginia. Bramblett murdered each family member in their residence before setting it on fire, and in 1997 was sentenced to death for the murders.

Bramblett was executed by electric chair on April 9, 2003.

Murders At around 4:30 a.m. on August 29, 1994, a passerby reported a fire at the Hodges residence in Vinton, Virginia. Firefighters and police found fire burning throughout the house. Gaining entry, authorities found 37-year-old Teresa Lynn Hodges' body on a couch, still burning—she had been strangled and doused with diesel fuel.

Further inspection of the Hodges house revealed purposefully-disconnected telephone lines and the presence of a petroleum-based accelerant in several areas.

Soon police gathered additional incriminating evidence against Bramblett. A witness had seen a vehicle similar to Bramblett's driving past the Hodges home during the fire, without stopping.

Disappearances of Tammy Akers and Angela Rader Bramblett was a suspect in the 1977 disappearances of Tammy Akers and Angela Rader, who were both 14 years old and worked for him at the time. Bramblett reportedly told friends that he wished he had not "hurt Tammy" three years after she went missing, though he was never charged in either Akers's or Rader's disappearances and their whereabouts are still unknown.

Media Bramblett's case was featured on the popular CourtTV crime show Forensic Files – Season 8, Episode 5 "Private Thoughts" and Discovery Channel's The New Detectives – Season 4, Episode 4: "Dead Wrong".