Missing man found hog-tied and dead in trailer, TN officials say. Two plead guilty

Months after Quenton McCullough disappeared, he was found hog-tied, gagged and dead in an abandoned trailer in Tennessee, prosecutors said.

The second man involved in McCullough’s death has now pleaded guilty, according to Russell Johnson, the District Attorney General for the Ninth Judicial District of Tennessee.

Shane Parks, 44, was sentenced to 45 years behind bars on charges of second-degree murder and kidnapping, joining co-defendant Joshua Aikens in prison, Johnson’s office said Nov. 3.

McClatchy News could not locate Parks’ attorney’s contact information for comment Nov. 5.

McCullough was last seen Oct. 7, 2020, and his mother reported him missing 10 days later in Roane County, authorities said.

Investigators said they searched for McCullough until they received a tip directing them to a single-wide trailer in nearby Morgan County. On Dec. 2, 2020, they found his body decomposing in a closet, prosecutors said.

An autopsy revealed he may have died of strangulation, but investigators said it’s unclear if he was already dead by the time he was taken to the single-wide trailer.

Investigators pieced together that a group of three men beat McCullough at another person’s home, restrained his hands and feet behind his back and put him in the back of an SUV for transport to the trailer, officials said.

Prosecutors said accusations that McCullough stole from someone may have led to his death. Someone put out an “offer of a reward” to anyone who would “break his fingers” as revenge, according to prosecutors.

Three men were arrested and charged. Aikens was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in March.

Roane County is part of the Knoxville metropolitan area.

This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Missing man found hog-tied and dead in trailer, TN officials say. Two plead guilty."