Things keep developing in the “Redhead Murders” case.

Since EHS teacher Alex Campbell’s Spring sociology class began looking into the string of murders that happened roughly 30 years ago in the Bible Belt, three of the before unidentified victims have been named in the last two months.

The latest identification came last week as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released that a homicide victim found alongside Interstate 81 in Greene County near Exit 44 had been identified as New Hampshire missing person, Elizabeth Lamotte.

Lamotte’s body was found in April of 1985. Lamotte was 17 years old when she went missing in 1984. Last year, detectives with the Manchester Police Department in New Hampshire obtained DNA samples from Lamotte’s family members, and those samples led to the recent identification of Lamotte’s body.

The investigation into Lamotte’s death is still ongoing and TBI Agents are asking the public for help in obtaining information about Lamotte and who she may have been with around the time of her death. Those with information are encouraged to contact the TBI at 1-800-824-3463.

The “redhead murders” are six slayings that happened in the 1980s along interstates in the Bible Belt states Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arkansas. Many believe that the six cases are connected and were done by a serial killer. Only one law enforcement agency, the Kentucky State Police, has said they believe the murders are connected.

After looking into the characteristics of the victims and the details of each murder, Campbell’s class came to the conclusion that the murders were done by one person who they named the “Bible Belt Strangler.” The students prepared an eight-page profile of the possible murderer and his victims. The profile was featured on the nationally ran “Out of the Shadows” podcast by Shane Waters, while also being presented to the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI offices in Nashville. The class also held a press conference with various law enforcement agencies to reveal their findings.

Campbell now has his Fall semester sociology class working on an Innocence Project. For the current project, the students are penning letters to California State Governor Jerry Brown in hopes that he will commute the prison sentence of Suzanne Johnson, who was convicted of killing a 6-month-old at her daycare in 1999 after being on trial in 1998. Johnson was sentenced to 25 years to life. After reviewing new scientific information on Shaken Baby Syndrome and causes of deaths in infants, Campbell’s class believes Johnson was wrongfully convicted and are now trying to get her sentence shortened.

Campbell believes that having students work on projects like the Johnson case and the “redheaded murders” is a more effective way of teaching than having them memorize things from textbooks.

“I learn better when I am applying what I know instead of just memorizing,” said Campbell. “I felt the students love that too. I try to give them an experience where they do learn, but they have to apply what they learn. Not just memorize and take a quiz on it.

“Real life is you have to apply things and achieve results, and that is what I want them to learn in my class.”