Memphis, TN – On Valentine’s Day, a woman’s body was found off of US 78 in Mississippi near the Coldwater River. The body was missing its head, hands and feet. Two days earlier, James Hawkins, 30, had reported his longtime girlfriend Charlene Gaither, also 30, missing. On Monday, Hawkins and Gaither’s 12-year-old daughter told police that after she “watched Dad kill Mom”, Dad made her help him dispose of the body.
On being questioned, Hawkins admitted to “being there” when Gaither died on Feb. 9 at their home near Memphis, Tennessee. He also admitted to severing her head, hands and feet and then throwing them out of his car in random spots over the Mississippi state line. But of course he didn’t kill her. I know, right? Have your child help you dispose of one little corpse and people just assume the worst.
Gaither’s head, hands and feet are still missing. Preliminary medical findings show that the dismemberment took place after Gaither died, and there’s no firm cause of death. (I’ll take blunt force trauma or gunshot to the head for $5000.)
The daughter was insistent that yes, her father had killed her mother. She said she witnessed the murder and the dismemberment, and that her dad made her go with him to get rid of her mother’s body.
Ten years ago, Hawkins pleaded guilty to numerous counts of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault under the alias James Thomas. He was sentenced to 15 years and got out after serving just over four years of that term in 2002. He remained on probation through December of 2009.
Just last month, Charlene Gaither sought a protection order against Hawkins to prevent him from approaching or contacting her. The case was dismissed the same day.
James Hawkins has been charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, filing a false report, and first-degree murder. He is being held in Shelby County Jail on a $500,000 bond. His daughter has already received a life sentence of nightmares and a need for intense therapy. Thanks, Dad!
and thanks to you, Ells.
Tags: dismemberment, Murder, Uxoricide
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