Month: August 2025

The suspect wanted in connection with the killing of four people and the kidnapping of a baby in Tennessee was taken into custody on Tuesday after a week-long manhunt.

Austin Robert Drummond, 28, was taken into custody in Jackson by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, according to the Jackson, Tennessee, Police Department. According to the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office, Drummond is accused of the July 29 killings of Cortney Rose, Rose’s children Adrianna and Braydon Williams, and Adrianna Williams’ boyfriend James Wilson. Their bodies were found along a road in Lake County, and a baby, the child of Adrianna Williams and Wilson, was left in a car seat in a “random individual’s front yard” in nearby Dyer County. Four other people have also been arrested in connection to the case.

Jackson Police Chief Thom Corley in a press release: “I am pleased to announce the successful capture of Austin Drummond, wanted for the murder of four individuals in Lake County, Tennessee. This marks an important step in restoring safety to our community.” Police later posted a photo Tuesday of Drummond being taken into custody, in which he is seen being held at by his arms and collar by law enforcement officers. A motive for the killings remain under investigation.

The announcement of Drummond’s capture came approximately an hour after Jackson Police posted a warning to social media that Drummond was spotted in the area of Saddlebrook and Bridlepath drives in Jackson, in which they posted: “Please shelter in place immediately. Keep windows and doors locked, remain indoors, and avoid unnecessary travel.” The police then broadcast that related roads were blocked before announcing Drummond’s capture. At the time he was taken into custody, a reward of up to $30,000 was being offered for information leading to Drummond’s arrest.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Drummond will face four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.

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On Tuesday, House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., issued subpoenas to the Department of Justice, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and several top former Justice Department officials for documents and testimony in the probe of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was found dead by suicdie in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.

The Committee announced Tuesday that it had sent the subpoenas to the Clintons, former Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Bill Barr, Merrick Garland, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales, and former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller “for testimony related to horrific crimes perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein.” It also sent a subpoena to Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, but agreed last week to delay deposing her until after the Supreme Court considers her petition to overturn her conviction for sex trafficking. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Comer directed the Justice Department to deliver the documents on the Epstein subpoena by Aug. 19:  “While the Department undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly disclose additional information related to Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell’s cases, it is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. The Committee may use the results of this investigation to inform legislative solutions to improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking and reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations.”

The cover letter Comer sent to former President Clinton called for him to sit for a deposition on Oct. 14 to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein: “By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003. You were also allegedly close to Ms. Ghislane Maxwell, an Epstein co-conspirator, and attended an intimate dinner with her in 2014, three years after public reports about her involvement in Mr. Epstein’s abuse of minors.”

A subcommittee had voted to subpoena the Justice Department last month for the “full, complete, and unredacted Epstein Files,” as well as subpoena 10 former officials in a motion led by Democrats, with three Republicans joining. The DOJ announced last month after reviewing Epstein’s case that no other people were expected to be charged and no further information about the case would be released.

Also on Tuesday, attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell submitted a filing urging the judge not to unseal the transcripts, citing her pending appeal of her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The filing read in part: “Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not  nWhatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain.”   

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