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Everything You Need to Know About Henry Louis, Serial Killer in Charlotte

The early 1990s saw the people of Charlotte live in fear over a serial killer who was on a killing spree. Henry Louis Wallace popularly known as the Taco Bell Strangler and the Charlotte Strangler is the man that people usually hear on true crime documentaries. Born in Barnwell, South Carolina in November 1965, Wallace was raised in a troubled household. As he grew up, he tried his luck in the United States Navy but was unsuccessful as he was discharged four years later. He then moved to Charlotte and settled there working as a manager for a fast-food restaurant. Therefore, this article will explore facts that the reader needs to know about the serial killer that was disguised as an upstanding member of the community.

He had a violent Childhood

According to several accounts, Henry Louis Wallace was raised by a single mother who abused him both psychologically and physically. According to an episode of A&E’s First Blood on Wallace, he admitted to authorities that he began to have violent fantasies about dominating women after witnessing a gang rape when he was 8 years old. He tried to rape a friend’s younger sister when he was 16 years old. He eventually began engaging in “rough sex” with sex workers.

He was a drug addict

After his discharge from the army, Wallace settled in Charlotte and had a pretty normal life as he even got married to his high school classmate known as Maretta Brabham. He even became a stepfather to his wife’s daughter. Not long after that, his downward spiral began in that he started using crack cocaine. To fund his drug addiction, he would burglarize houses and businesses. He was even arrested in 1988 for breaking into a hardware store and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation.

His victims

Wallace picked up his first victim Sharon Nance in May 1992. She was a sex worker and when she demanded payment for her services, Wallace beat her to death and proceeded to dump her body beside the railway tracks. Her body was discovered a few days later. Two months later, he was on the prowl again when he raped and later strangled Caroline Love at her apartment. He disposed of the body by dumping it in a wooded area. Caroline was his girlfriend’s roommate.

 Wallace had a cool-off period for a little over a year as is most common with serial killers but he struck again in August 1993 when he raped and strangled Valencia Jumper who was a 21-year-old student. He then changed tactics of disposing of the body as he usually just dumped them as he set the body on fire in an effort to erase the evidence.

 He went on and killed eight other women before he was apprehended by the police. He was even arrested for shoplifting in 1994 but the law enforcement authorities did not connect him with the murders.

His arrest

The notorious serial killer was arrested on March 13, 1994, a day after Slaughter’s body, one of his victims whom he had stabbed 38 times, raped and strangled had been found. He confessed to all eleven murders. He even went on and described all the women he had murdered, together with how he robbed, raped and strangled them which is pretty chilling.

His trial

Wallace’s case was postponed for the two years after his arrest due to issues with the jury’s selection, the venue selection, and DNA evidence from the victims. September 1996 marked the start of his trial. Prosecutor Marsha Goodnow supported the death penalty during opening statements while Isabel Day, the defence attorney, requested a life sentence at the same time, claiming that Wallace had a mental disorder and that the deaths were not first-degree murder since they were not the result of “premeditation and deliberation.”

During the trial, psychologist Faye Sultan was brought in to testify on the mental state of the killer. She agreed with the sentiments of the defence attorney and revealed that Wallace had suffered emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his mother and was also suffering from mental illness at the time of his trial. The case was concluded and he was found guilty of the nine murders and given nine death sentences.

He got married while on death row

This fact is quite shocking in that Henry Louis Wallace got married while in prison to Rebecca Torrijas, a former prison nurse on June 5, 1998. The ceremony was held next to the execution chamber. His attorney, Isabel Day acted as the photographer and official witness for the couple’s wedding.

His efforts to appeal

Wallace has appealed since receiving a death sentence in 1997, arguing that the conviction was unjustified because his confessions were forced and that his constitutional rights were violated. In 2000, the North Carolina Supreme Court sustained the convictions. His appeal was turned down by the US Supreme Court in 2001. Wallace’s most recent appeal to overturn his convictions and death sentences was denied by Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm in 2005.