Inset: Edward Randolph (Overton County District Attorney’s Office). Background: The road in Overton County where Randolph allegedly left his girlfriend’s body (Google Maps).
A 49-year-old man in Tennessee has been arrested after he allegedly killed his girlfriend, whose body was found inside a burning refrigerator. Edward Randolph was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of abuse of a corpse in the slaying of 47-year-old Hope Parrott, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), 13th Judicial District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway on July 31 requested that special agents with the TBI assist with investigating the discovery of a dead female inside a refrigerator found alongside Sunk Cane Road, which is about 100 miles east of Nashville.
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Following a preliminary investigation, authorities said they identified the body as Parrott. Along with the TBI, the Overton County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the circumstances of Parrott’s death, noting that she was found “discarded and burned” on the side of a local road, prosecutors said. Investigators soon found that the evidence pointed to Randolph.
“Further investigation revealed Parrott’s boyfriend, Edward Randolph, killed her and transported her body in a refrigerator, which he later set on fire,” authorities said in the release. It was not immediately clear if investigators had determined a cause of death for Parrott.
A spokesperson with the Overton County Sheriff’s Office spoke to McClatchy News and provided additional details surrounding Parrott’s death.
According to the report, the investigation stemmed from a 911 call at 1 a.m. on July 31. The caller was a woman who reported to the dispatcher that a fire was burning just off of Sunk Cane Road, located in a rural area of Overton County. When authorities arrived at the location, they reportedly found a refrigerator that had been set on fire at the base of an embankment, which could be seen from the road.
When investigators opened the fridge, they found human remains. As authorities were in the process of trying to identify the remains, they learned that Parrott’s family had reported her as a missing person on July 5.
Family members reportedly told police they had been unable to get in touch with Parrott for several days, which was not like her. The family also said that Parrott had been trying to leave Randolph.
Randolph was taken into custody and processed at the Overton County Jail. As of Friday morning, he was being held without bond, a jail administrator confirmed to Law&Crime.
