Love Triangle Leads To Decapitation In Nashville
A Nashville love triangle led to the decapitation of Henry James Baxter’s romantic rival, Erman Thompson. Baxter allegedly decapitated Thompson with a shovel before transporting the headless body in a wheel barrow and dumping the corpse in a nearby empty lot, The New York Daily News reports. Henry Baxter, 37, was charged with criminal manslaughter after confessing to police officers that he murdered Erman Thompson, 48.
Both men had fathered children with Ashley Thompson. The woman gave birth to two children with her husband and one with Baxter. According to the New York Daily News, Ashley knew her husband had been killed for several days before the decapitated body was found by the police, but she did not speak up out of fear for her own life.
The accused murdered and the victim lived in the same house with their children and Ashley peacefully until Baxter allegedly decided that he wanted the love of his life all to himself. Ashley told WTVF that she is “very, very angry – and sad.”
Baxter allegedly shot Thompson in the head with a pistol while arguing over Ashley. The alleged murderer then “hacked Thompson’s head off” with a shovel, according to police report excerpts shared on WTVF. Erman Thompson reportedly “raised Baxter like a son” until the pair of men got into a deadly fight over the woman they were sharing. The men had been friends before the victim married Ashley.
A local mailman discovered Thompson’s headless body earlier this week. A neighbor to the Thompson-Baxter household later discovered the severed head inside a garbage can. According to Ashley’s statements to law enforcement officers, Baxter told he the grave he dug in the backyard was for a dog, but she believed it was for her husband.
“I was scared half to death. It was a good five, maybe six inches down and then he said the ground was too hard for him to dig any deeper,” according to excerpts republished by The New York Daily News.
Baxter is being held on a $750,000 bail and is due in court on Wednesday.
