Henry Louis Wallace

Henry Louis Wallace (born November 4, 1965), also known as the "Taco Bell Strangler", is an American serial killer who killed eleven women in South Carolina and North Carolina from March 1990 to March 1994. He is currently awaiting execution at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Early life Henry Louis Wallace was born in Barnwell, South Carolina, a Barnwell High School student. He then dumped her body in a lake in his hometown. Her body was not discovered for several months. Wallace was questioned by the police regarding her disappearance and death but was never formally charged with her murder. He was also questioned about the attempted rape of a 16-year-old Barnwell girl but was never charged for that. By that time, his marriage to Maretta had fallen apart. He was also fired from working as a Chemical Operator for Sandoz Chemical Co.

In February 1991, Wallace broke into Barnwell High School and the radio station where he once worked as a disc jockey. He stole valuable video and recording equipment and was caught trying to pawn it.

In November 1991, Wallace relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Aftermath and criticism Charlotte's police chief rejoiced at Wallace's arrest, reassuring the community that the women of east Charlotte were safe. However, many in the area's black community criticized the police's conduct during the investigation, accusing them of neglecting the murders of black women. One woman stated that the police did not care because they viewed the young female murder victims as "fast girls who hang out a lot". As Shawna Denise Hawk's mother, Dee Sumpter, said: "The victims weren't prominent people with socioeconomic status. They weren't special. And they were black."

Charlotte's police chief, Dennis Nowicki, had said he was unaware of a killer until early March 1994, when three young black women were murdered within four days. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department apologized to Charlotte citizens for not spotting a link between the murders sooner. However, they said the murder cases varied enough to throw them off Wallace's trail. Until Wallace's murder pace picked up in the early weeks of March 1994, the deaths were sporadic and not entirely similar. It was only during the week of March 9, 1994, that Charlotte police warned the people in east Charlotte that there was a serial killer on the loose.

Trial Over the next two years, Wallace's case was delayed over the choice of venue, DNA evidence from murdered victims, and jury selection. His trial began in September 1996. In opening arguments, prosecutor Marsha Goodnow argued for the death penalty. At the same time, defense attorney Isabel Day asked for a life sentence, arguing that Wallace suffered from mental illness, and that the killings were not first-degree murder because they did not result from "premeditation and deliberation."

According to FBI serial murder profiler Robert Ressler:

"If he elected to become a serial killer, he was going about it wrong way... Mr. Wallace always seemed to take one step forward and two steps back. He would take items and put them in the stove to destroy them by burning them and then forget to turn the stove on."

In 1994 police had asked the FBI for assistance, but the FBI said that the murders were not the work of a serial killer. He was convicted of all the murders he admitted to with the exception of Bethea and Nance.

Following his sentencing, Wallace made a statement to his victims' families.

"None of these women, none of your daughters, mothers, sisters, or family members in any way deserved what they got. They did nothing to me that warranted their death."

On death row On June 5, 1998, Wallace married a former prison nurse, Rebecca Torrijas, in a ceremony next to the state's execution chamber. Mecklenburg County public defender Isabel Day served as an official witness and photographer. Also attending was the manager of the Death Row unit at the prison.

Since being sentenced to death in 1997, Wallace has appealed to overturn the death sentences, stating that his confessions were coerced and his constitutional rights were violated in the process. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the sentences in 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 denied his appeal. In 2005, Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm rejected Wallace's latest appeal to overturn his convictions and death sentences.