Profile of Serial Killer Tommy Lynn Sells

Tommy Lynn Sells was a serial killer who claimed responsibility for over 70 murders across the U.S., earning him the nickname Coast to Coast Killer. Sells  pleaded guilty to just two murders, but that  was enough to land him on Texas death row. He was executed in 2014. Tip of the Iceberg On Dec. 31, 1999, 10-year-old Krystal Surles was staying at the house of a friend, Kaylene Katy Harris, 13, when a man entered the bedroom where the girls were sleeping. The man grabbed Katy and slashed her throat, killing her. He then slashed Krystals throat and she dropped to the floor, pretending to be dead. She stayed still until she could escape and get help from a neighbor, thinking everyone in the house had been killed. Krystal provided enough detail for a forensic artist to create a sketch  that eventually led to the arrest of Tommy Lynn Sells. It turned out Sells knew Terry Harris, Katys adoptive father. She was his intended victim that night. Sells was arrested days later, on January 2, 2000, at the trailer where he lived with his wife and her four children. He did not resist or even ask why he was being arrested. Sells later confessed to killing Katy and attacking Krystal, but that was the tip of the iceberg. During the following months, Sells admitted to killing multiple men, women, and children in several states across the country. Childhood Years Sells and his twin sister, Tammy Jean, were born in Oakland, California, on June 28, 1964. His mother, Nina Sells, was a single mother with three other children when the twins were born. The family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and at 18 months old, both twins contracted spinal meningitis, which killed Tammy Jean. Tommy survived. Soon after his recuperation, Sells was sent to live with his aunt, Bonnie Walpole, in Holcomb, Missouri. He stayed there until age 5, when he returned to live with his mother after she discovered that Walpole was interested in adopting him.   Throughout his early childhood years, Sells was left  mostly to fend for himself. He rarely attended school and by age 7 was drinking alcohol. Childhood Trauma Around this time, Sells  began hanging around with a man from a nearby town. The man showed him a lot of  attention in the form of gifts and frequent outings. On several occasions, Sells spent the night at the mans home. Later, this man was found guilty of child molestation,  which came as no surprise to Sells, who had been one of his victims since he was 8. From ages 10 to 13, Sells showed a knack for staying in trouble. By 10, he had stopped attending school, preferring to smoke pot and drink alcohol. When he was 13,  he climbed naked into his grandmothers bed. This was the last straw for Tommys mother. Within days, she took his siblings and left Tommy alone, leaving not so much as a forwarding address. Carnage Begins Filled with rage after his abandonment, the teenage Sells attacked his first female victim by pistol-whipping her until she was unconscious. With no home and no family, Sells began drifting from town to town, picking up odd jobs and stealing what he needed. Sells later claimed he committed his first murder at age 16, after breaking into a home and killing a man inside who was  performing oral sex on a young boy. There was never any proof to back up his claim. Sells also claimed to have shot and killed a man named John Cade Sr. in July 1979, after Cade caught him burglarizing his home. Bad Reunion In May 1981, Sells went to Little Rock, Arkansas, and moved back in with his family. The reunion was short-lived. Nina Sells told him to leave after he  attempted to have sex  with her while she was taking a shower. Back on the streets, Sells returned to what he knew best: robbing, killing, working as a carnival roustabout, and hopping trains between cities. He later confessed to killing two people in Arkansas before heading to St. Louis in 1983. Only one of the murders, that of Hal Akins, was confirmed. Transient Serial Killing In May 1984 Sills was convicted of car theft and given a two-year prison sentence. He  was released  the following February but failed to follow the terms of his  probation. While in Missouri, Sells started working at a county fair in Forsyth, where he met Ena Cordt, 35, and her son. Sells later admitted to killing them. According to Sells,  Cordt  invited him back to her house, but when he caught her  going through his knapsack, he beat her to death with a baseball bat. He then did the same to the only witness of the crime, 4-year-old Rory. Their bodies were found three days later. By September 1984, Sells was back in jail for drunk driving after crashing his car. He stayed in jail until May 16, 1986. Back in St. Louis, Sells claimed  he shot a stranger in self-defense. He then headed to Aransas Pass, Texas, where he was hospitalized for an  overdose of heroin. Once out of the hospital, he stole a car and headed to Fremont, California. While in Freemont, investigators believe he was responsible for the death of Jennifer Duey, 20, who was shot. They also believe he murdered Michelle Xavier, 19, who was found with her throat cut. In October 1987, Sells was living in Winnemucca, Nevada, with 20-year-old Stefanie Stroh. Sells confessed to drugging Stroh with LSD, then strangling her and disposing of her body by weighing her feet with concrete and putting her into a hot spring in the desert. This crime was never confirmed. Sells said he left Winnemucca on November 3 and headed east. In October 1987, he  confessed to murdering Suzanne Korcz, 27, in Amherst, New York. Helping Hand Keith Dardeen was the next known victim who tried to befriend Sells. He spotted Sells hitchhiking in Ina, Illinois, and offered him a hot meal at his home. In return, Sells shot  Dardeen,  then mutilated his penis. Next, he murdered  Dardeens  3-year-old son, Pete, by bludgeoning him with a hammer, then turned his rage on  Dardeens  pregnant wife, Elaine, whom he attempted to rape. The attack caused Elaine to go into labor, and she gave birth to her daughter. Neither mother nor daughter survived. Sells beat both of them to death with a bat. He then inserted the bat into Elaines vagina, tucked the children and the mother into bed, and left. The  crime went unsolved  for 12 years until Sells confessed. Julie Rae Harper In 2002, crime writer Diane Fanning began corresponding with Sells as he awaited execution in Texas. In one of his letters to Fanning, Sells confessed to the murder of 10-year-old Joel Kirkpatrick. Joels mother, Julie Rae Harper, had been found guilty of his murder and was in prison. Sells told Fanning in a later interview that Harper had been rude to him at a convenience store, so to get back at her he followed her home and murdered the boy. The confession,  along with Fannings testimony at a prison review board and help from the Innocence Project, resulted in a new trial for Harper that ended in acquittal. Coast to Coast For 20 years Sells was a transient serial killer who managed to  stay under the radar  as he roamed the country, killing and raping victims of all ages. During his confessions, he took on the nickname Coast to Coast when describing the murders he had committed one month in California and the next month in Texas. Based on Sells confessions throughout the years, the following timetable can be pieced together, though not all his claims have been proved: December 1988, Tucson, Arizona: Kills  Ken Lauten over a bad drug deal.December-January 1988, Salt Lake City, Utah:  Murders an unknown woman and her 3-year-old son, disposing of their bodies in the Snake River in Idaho.January 1988,  Ã‚  Ina, Illinois: After murdering the Dardeen family, is arrested for stealing a car. He takes off before his scheduled court appearance.January 1988, Lawrence, Massachusetts: Rapes and murders Melissa Trembly, 11.January 27, 1989,  Truckee, California: Kills an unnamed  prostitute  and disposes of her body; an unidentified womans body was found at the location he gave police.April 1989, Roseburg, Oregon: Kills  an unnamed woman in her 20s.May  9, 1989, Roseburg: Kills  a female hitchhiker.May  9, 1989,  Roseburg: Is arrested  for stealing from his employer; spends 15 days in jail.August 16, 1989, North Little Rock, Arkansas: Is arrested  on theft charges.October 18, 1989, Oakland, California: Is charged  with public drunken ness and put into detox.November 1989, Carson City, Nevada: Is charged with public drunkenness.December 1989, Phoenix, Arizona: Is hospitalized  for a heroin overdose.January  7, 1990, Salt Lake City, Utah: Is arrested on charges of  cocaine possession but released after police determined that he was not in possession of drugs.January 12, 1990, Rawlings, Wyoming: Is arrested and sent to prison for auto theft; released in January 1991.December 1991, Marianna, Florida: Kills  Teresa Hall, 28, and her 5-year-old daughter.March-April 1992, Charleston, South Carolina: Is arrested  for  public drunkenness.May 13, 1992, Charleston, West Virginia: Is imprisoned  for raping, beating, and stabbing a 20-year-old woman who survived the attack; sentenced to two 10-year prison terms and  released in May 1997.October 13, 1997,  Lawrenceville, Illinois: Attacks  Julie Rea Harper and stabs 10-year-old Joel Kirkpatrick to death.October 1997,  Springfield, Missouri: Kidnaps, rape s, and strangles to death 13-year-old Stephanie Mahaney.October 1998, Del Rio, Texas: Marries  a woman with three children; the couple is separated for two weeks in February 1999 and again in late March.March 30, 1999,  Del Rio: Rapes  and murders Debbie Harris, 28, and Ambria Harris, 8.April 18, 1999,  San Antonio, Texas: Rapes  and strangles Mary Perez, 9.May 13, 1999, Lexington, Kentucky: Rapes  and murders Haley McHone, 13, then sells her bicycle for $20.Mid-May-June 24, 1999,  Madison, Wisconsin: Is jailed for drunk and  disorderly conduct.July  3, 1999, Kingfisher, Oklahoma: Shoots and kills  Bobbie Lynn Wofford, 14.December 31, 1999, Del Rio, Texas: Murders Katy Harris,13, and attempts to murder Krystal Surles, 10; his final murder. Trials and Sentencings On September 18, 2000, Sells pleaded guilty and was convicted of the capital murder of Katy Harris and attempted murder of Krystal Surles. He was sentenced to death. On September 17, 2003, Sells was indicted but never tried for the 1997 Greene County, Missouri, murder of Stephanie Mahaney. That same year, Sells pleaded guilty to strangling to death 9-year-old Mary Bea Perez of San Antonio, for which he received a life sentence. Sells was executed  by lethal injection in the Allan B. Polunsky Unit near West Livingston, Texas, on April 3, 2014, at 6:27 p.m. CST. He declined to make a final statement. Sources Tommy Lynn Sells. Clarkprosecutor.org.Engle, Scott. Murder Case Reopened on Executed Killer. Montgomery County Police Reporter.