Two men are charged with second-degree murder in Grundy County, Tennessee, stemming from drug-related deaths in two separate investigations conducted in 2021.
Travis Heath King, 43, and Bobby Jack Northcutt, 60, both of Tracy City, are charged separately in the two deaths, one death occurring in January 2021 and another in June 2021, Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum said in a press release issued Friday. Shrum said both men are believed to have provided the alleged victims drugs containing fentanyl.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation helped investigate the Jan. 12, 2021, death of Monteagle, Tennessee, resident William Henry Dove, 37, whose body was found in a Monteagle hotel room, according to agency spokesperson Susan Niland. Dove's cause of death was determined to be acute combined drug toxicity, Niland said in a statement on the charges filed against Northcutt, whom investigators identified as the person who provided the drugs to Dove.
Grundy's grand jury returned on March 14 an indictment charging Northcutt and he was booked into the Grundy County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
In the second indictment last week, King is charged in the June 5 death of Gruetli-Laager, Tennessee, resident Michael Hardy Myers, 64, according to court records.
King was identified as the source of drugs provided to Myers that led to his death. King is being held on a $100,000 bond, according to authorities.
Twelfth Judicial District Assistant District Attorney Dave McGovern said that following changes in recent years, state law supports the second-degree murder charge when linked to fentanyl and similar drugs. Second-degree murder under Tennessee law is a class A felony punishable upon conviction by 15-60 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine.
"In Tennessee, under the second-degree murder statute there is a special paragraph that says if somebody distributes, delivers or dispenses fentanyl or carfentanil - and the [related] death is the result of that standing alone or with any other scheduled substance - that it is second-degree murder," McGovern said Monday in a telephone interview.
McGovern said the strength of the drug is what makes it so deadly when misused. He said fentanyl is 50-70 times more potent than the morphine used on the battlefield for combat-wounded soldiers in World War II.
McGovern said he couldn't comment on any charges stemming from warrants not yet served.
Court officials said neither King nor Northcutt have attorneys on record yet, but both face a circuit court hearing Friday for arraignment and to provide the judge with the status of their legal representation.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.