They d had a tumultuous relationship while dating, court records show. At the time of the murder, Gaul was attending Maryville College.
Authorities portrayed him as a jealous and possessive ex-boyfriend who harassed Walker. She was shot through a wall of her home as she slept.
Gaul s attorney, Wesley Stone, filed a motion to acquit the young man or give him a new trial three years ago. Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee retired in late 2019 and then COVID-19 hit.
Stone has raised numerous reasons why his client should be acquitted or given another trial including the jury not being sequestered for a case that drew national attention, a crime scene photograph of Watson, objection to coverage by Law and Crime and McGee s refusal to toss some of the grand jury s counts against Gaul.
This isn t the first time LaPaglia has come under scrutiny.
In February 2010, he played a role in the illegal body search of suspect Felix C. Booker in Anderson County, court records show.
An Oak Ridge police officer stopped a vehicle that Booker was riding in. The officer suspected he was hiding something. He found what appeared to be drugs in the car.
Authorities took Booker to the Anderson County Detention Facility.
A detention officer stripped Booker naked. A supervisor and the district attorney directed him to take Booker to the hospital for an exam, according to records.
No one secured a search warrant to check inside Booker s body.
Man accused of breaking probation in horrific Washington Pike deaths faces May 26 hearing date
Curtis Scott Harper, 31, has picked up a new misdemeanor domestic assault charge while serving probation in the Knox County case. Author: WBIR Staff Updated: 3:25 PM EDT May 7, 2021
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. A Middle Tennessee man on probation for killing three people in a horrific 2012 crash on Washington Pike will remain in jail in Knox County for at least the next few weeks, a judge decided Friday.
Curtis Scott Harper, 31, is facing the potential loss of his probation status after picking up a new misdemeanor domestic violence charge in Williamson County, where he now lives. Knox County authorities have filed paperwork seeking to revoke him, and last month he turned himself in to await a resolution in the case.
Appalachian Unsolved: The predator and the high school student
Larry Lee Smith has served time in three states for attacks on young women. Authorities think he also killed a Knoxville girl in 1987, but he s never been charged. Author: John North, Leslie Ackerson Published: 6:09 PM EDT May 6, 2021 Updated: 3:44 PM EDT May 12, 2021
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Larry Lee Smith likes abusing young women. The Knoxville man likes threatening them, lying to them and entrapping them, as his lengthy criminal record shows.
Authorities think he s also killed a young woman, although they ve never been able to prove it. The slaying of 15-year-old Michelle Denise Anderson, a Fulton High School student, remains one of Knoxville s oldest unsolved killings, dating to January 1987.