Thomas Henshall Jr: Tennessee man drove to Nashville with dead mom's body in truck
CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE: Thomas Henshall Jr, 37, wrapped his mother’s dead body in a tarp and drove across the state in his truck while stopping along the way with his girlfriend for gas, food and coffee, reports cited. He was arrested Saturday, September 25 by cops at Nashville’s Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center after he admitted to driving his mother’s corpse from Hamilton County.
"Henshall claimed that his mother had committed suicide and that he found her in a wooded area of Chattanooga, " Nashville police said in a statement on Sunday, September 26. Henshall told the cops his mother, identified as Danielle Bowen, 60, fatally shot herself. He also claimed he was "right next" to her when she took her own life. According to police, Henshall invoked his Miranda rights when the investigators asked how Danielle got her hands on a gun.
READ MORE
Orion Krause: Maine man pleads guilty for killing family members, says 'I freed them'
Henshall further told officers he picked up his girlfriend early Saturday with his mother’s body already in his vehicle before stopping for food, coffee and gas on their way to the VA facility. He told his girlfriend, who wasn’t identified by police, that he earlier found his mother dead in a wooded area. Henshall and his girlfriend ended up driving some 130 miles away to Nashville’s VA Medical Center, passing multiple other hospitals and law enforcement agencies on their way, police noted.
According to Henshall’s arrest warrant, his girlfriend told the cops that he called her Friday, September 24, and Saturday, September 25 in a 'distraught state' before going to her home and claiming he found Bowen dead in the woods and that they 'needed to take her somewhere'. Henshall further told investigators that he had secured the gun allegedly used by his mother in his RV near a lake near Chattanooga, but didn't provide more details. He then claimed to have left his cellphone behind. Detectives, however, said Henshall allegedly used the device to email his girlfriend earlier Saturday. "He’s not accountable for anything, " Danielle said in a recording attached to the email sent by Henshall to his girlfriend, an arrest warrant showed. "He’s agreed to put me out of my misery."
Thomas Henshall Jr is charged with failure to report the discovery of his mother, Danielle Bowen’s body and evidence tampering. Homicide detectives are continuing to investigate the case, police said on Sunday. Henshall remains jailed in Nashville and his bond is set on $80,000 bond, reports say. It’s unclear at the moment if he has hired an attorney.