Terry Alvin Hyatt: The North Carolina Cold Case Killer
Overview
For nearly two decades, the brutal murders of two women in western North Carolina remained unsolved, their cases gathering dust as separate, unrelated tragedies. That changed in 1998 when a guilt-ridden accomplice walked into a sheriff's office and confessed, unraveling a string of violent crimes that led investigators to Terry Alvin Hyatt. A man who appeared to be a friendly local who fixed up old cars was unmasked as a ruthless serial killer. Between 1979 and 1987, Hyatt kidnapped, raped, and murdered at least three women. His convictions, which came years after the crimes, were the result of his friends' eventual cooperation with law enforcement and the advancement of DNA technology. Hyatt now sits on death row, his case a chilling reminder of how evil can hide in plain sight.
Early Life and Criminal Beginnings
Terry Alvin Hyatt was born on March 28, 1957, in Asheville, North Carolina, the second of five children in what neighbors described as a normal family. From a young age, however, Hyatt struggled. He had a learning disability that made school difficult, and he was unable to connect with others on an emotional level, lacking empathy. Despite this, he was often seen as friendly and helpful.
Beneath this veneer, a criminal pattern was emerging. Hyatt became known for petty theft around his hometown. In November 1975, at age 18, he was convicted of larceny for snatching a woman's purse, a violation of his parole from a prior conviction. He was sentenced to four years in prison. His time in prison was not without incident; he escaped in May 1976 but was recaptured the following day. By the spring of 1979, Hyatt was a free man, and his crimes escalated from theft to murder.
The Murder of Harriet Simmons
On April 15, 1979, Harriet Delaney Simmons, a 40-year-old mother of seven, finished her shift as a night manager at Johnny's Supper Club in Raleigh. She got into her blue Toyota to drive to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit her boyfriend for the Easter weekend. When she failed to arrive or call her family, she was reported missing. Her car was later found abandoned at an I-40 rest stop near Statesville, with her purse and keys missing.
For almost a year, there were no leads. Then, on March 23, 1980, skeletal remains were discovered in the Pisgah National Forest near Candler. Jewelry and car keys found with the remains helped identify them as Harriet Simmons, a conclusion later confirmed by dental records. An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed multiple times in the chest. The case went cold for nearly two decades.
The Murder of Betty Sue McConnell
Just a few months after Simmons's murder, Hyatt struck again. On the night of August 24, 1979, 21-year-old Betty Sue McConnell finished her shift at a Dunkin' Donuts in Asheville. A young mother, she was on her way to meet a friend at a bowling alley. Around 2:30 a.m. on August 25, Hyatt and his 19-year-old friend, Jerry Leon Harmon, who had been drinking heavily, pulled up beside McConnell's car at a traffic light.
Hyatt made an obscene gesture, and when McConnell tried to drive away, he rammed her car, forcing her off the road. Armed with a hunting knife, Hyatt forced McConnell into her own car and drove to an isolated spot, with Harmon following. There, Hyatt raped her at knifepoint. He then drove her to the French Broad River, dragged her down the bank, and stabbed her repeatedly before pushing her into the water. A resident found McConnell, still alive, on his driveway. She was soaking wet and bleeding from multiple chest wounds. Before she died on the way to the hospital, she told authorities she had been picked up by two men, stabbed, and thrown in the river. Her car was found submerged in the river five miles away.
A Survivor and a Prison Sentence
On October 19, 1979, Hyatt abducted 40-year-old Carolyn Brigman at knifepoint as she walked home from her job at a Krispy Kreme in Asheville. He forced her into his truck, robbed her of $44, and threatened to slit her throat, bragging that he had "put a lot of bodies in the river." Brigman cleverly convinced Hyatt that she disliked the police and would not report him if he let her go. Her tactic worked, and he released her. She went directly to the police. Thanks to her detailed description, Hyatt was quickly arrested. In 1980, he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The Murder of Jerri Ann Jones
Hyatt did not serve his full sentence. He was paroled in 1987 and moved to Charlotte, where he found work in construction. On July 9, 1987, 19-year-old Jerri Ann Jones vanished from the parking lot of the Harris Teeter grocery store where she worked as a cashier. She was waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up. The next day, her naked body was discovered in a wooded area on Mineral Springs Road. She had been sexually assaulted, and her throat was slit.
Investigation and Capture
The murders of Harriet Simmons and Betty Sue McConnell remained cold cases for 19 years. The break came on August 13, 1998, when a heavily intoxicated Jerry Leon Harmon walked into the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department. Wracked with guilt, Harmon confessed his role in the 1979 abduction and murder of Betty Sue McConnell, implicating Terry Hyatt as the killer. Harmon also told investigators to speak with another of Hyatt's friends, Lester Dean Helms.
Detectives found Helms in a nursing home, suffering from a brain infection that impaired his speech. Eager to talk, Helms described a different crime. He recounted how in April 1979, he and Hyatt had pretended to help a woman with a flat tire at a rest stop. They forced her into their van, drove her to the mountains, and raped her. Helms stated that Hyatt then took the woman into the woods with a knife and returned alone, with blood on his hands. Investigators realized Helms was describing the unsolved murder of Harriet Simmons.
On November 19, 1998, detectives approached the now 41-year-old Hyatt. They told him they were investigating a recent murder and asked for a DNA sample to eliminate him as a suspect. Hyatt agreed, providing a blood sample. Afterwards, in an interview room, they revealed they were actually investigating the 1979 McConnell murder and bluffed that they had his fingerprints. Hyatt panicked, admitted he was present, but blamed Harmon for the killing. He was arrested for the murders of both Simmons and McConnell.
Trial and Sentences
Terry Hyatt's trial began in Buncombe County in January 2000. The prosecution's case was largely circumstantial, as much of the physical evidence from 1979 had been lost or degraded. The state relied heavily on the testimonies of Jerry Harmon and Lester Dean Helms. The defense attacked their credibility, pointing to Harmon's alcoholism and Helms's brain injury. The most compelling testimony came from Carolyn Brigman, the woman who survived her abduction in 1979. She identified Hyatt in court as her attacker, establishing his pattern of violence.
On February 1, 2000, the jury found Hyatt guilty of all charges related to the murders of Harriet Simmons and Betty Sue McConnell. He was subsequently sentenced to death for each murder, in addition to six consecutive life sentences for the associated kidnapping, rape, and robbery charges.
While Hyatt was on death row, the Charlotte police department's Cold Case Squad reopened the Jerri Ann Jones case. In 2005, DNA from a cigarette butt and semen found at the 1987 crime scene was run through a national database. It was a perfect match to Terry Hyatt. To avoid a third death penalty trial, Hyatt accepted a plea deal. On August 2, 2005, he pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Jerri Ann Jones and received another life sentence.
The Victims
- Harriet Delaney Simmons, 40 — April 15, 1979, near Candler, North Carolina. A mother of seven children, she was abducted and murdered while driving to visit a friend for the Easter holiday.
- Betty Sue McConnell, 21 — August 25, 1979, near Alexander, North Carolina. A young mother, she was abducted after finishing her work shift, then brutally assaulted and left to die by a river.
- Jerri Ann Jones, 19 — July 9, 1987, in Charlotte, North Carolina. A grocery store cashier, she was kidnapped from her workplace parking lot while waiting for a ride home and murdered.
Aftermath and Legacy
Terry Alvin Hyatt is currently incarcerated on death row at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. His appeals have been denied. The resolution of his crimes, nearly two decades after they were committed, stands as a testament to the persistence of a few investigators and the crushing weight of a guilty conscience. The confessions of his accomplices, combined with the power of DNA evidence, finally brought a measure of justice to the families of Harriet Simmons, Betty Sue McConnell, and Jerri Ann Jones, closing the book on one of North Carolina's most chilling cold cases.
