
Not much happened in the quiet community of Mountain City, Tennessee.
For decades its 2500 residents slept soundly at night.
Then on January 31, 2012, two killers crept into the home of 36-year-old Billy Payne and his 23-year-old fiancee, Billie-Jean Hayworth, through an unlocked back door.
They gunned down the couple and slipped away unseen.
Mamamia’s daily news podcast The Quicky speaks to the ABC journalist who broke the story about catfish Lydia Abdelmalek. Post continues after audio.
The next morning a neighbour discovered Billy’s lifeless body on his bed. He had a bullet wound to his face and his throat had been cut.
Billie-Jean’s body was found in the nursery next door. She had been shot in the head while she was holding her seven-month-old son, Tyler.
Tyler was covered in his mother’s blood but was unharmed.
There had never been a case like this in Mountain City and residents had no idea who would want to kill the young, friendly couple.
Despite the lack of physical evidence at the crime scene, police soon turned their focus towards the Potter family.
Marvin “Buddy” Potter, then 60, and his wife Barbara, 61, lived nearby with their 31-year-old daughter, Jenelle.
According to ABC News, Jenelle was a bit of a loner. She had always lived with her parents and she’d never had a job. She didn’t interact much with the wider community and didn’t have many friends in Mountain City.