What to Watch Friday: 20/20 and Dateline both focus on famous NC murders

20/20 (9 p.m., ABC) - “20/20” takes on infamous Charlotte serial killer: Henry Louis Wallace. Starting in 1992, Wallace raped and murdered 10 young Black women in Charlotte, while his crimes were essentially ignored by police. The Charlotte killing spree lasted for two years (he also killed one woman in his hometown of Barnwell, S.C. in 1990) and his victims were all people he knew personally: neighbors, friends or co-workers. They were all Black women in their 20s and they were all murdered inside their homes. Wallace is sometimes called The Charlotte Strangler or The Taco Bell Strangler — named so because he managed a Taco Bell on North Sharon Amity Road in Charlotte and nearly all of his victims were employees there, or friends and co-workers of his girlfriend at a local Bojangle’s. He was the subject of a 2018 Investigation Discovery documentary called “Bad Henry.” You can read more about Wallace — and a breakdown of his victims — in our story about Infamous NC True Crime Stories. Wallace remains on death row.

What to expect in 20/20’s Henry Louis Wallace report

Friday’s new “20/20” report (available to stream on Hulu the next day) includes the latest details of the Taco Bell Strangler case. Here’s what to expect:

• The report will seek to answer questions about whether race of his victims played a factor in the police investigations.
• The report also provides insight into the Wallace’s mind through overlooked clues and analysis by legendary criminal profiler and psychiatric nurse Ann Burgess. It includes never-before-broadcasted footage of Burgess interviewing Wallace ahead of his trial.
• We see an exclusive interview with Tyrece Woods, who discusses life today after surviving an attack by Wallace as a 10-month-old baby. We also get interviews with family members of many of the victims, including Dee Sumpter, mother of victim Shawna Hawk, who co-founded Mothers of Murdered Offspring in part as a way to put pressure on police to find the killer.
• We hear from Garry McFadden, now the Mecklenburg County Sheriff, who worked the case as a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police detective. McFadden discusses the investigation and reasons why the police failed to connect the murders at first
• We also hear from Marsha Goodenow, who prosecuted Wallace, from high school classmates of Wallace, and from reporters who covered the story closely.
• The episode also contains audio of Wallace’s police interrogations, as well as police reports, trial records and crime scene photographs.

20/20 has released some videos previewing tonight’s episode:

▪ Henry Louis Wallace reflects on Charlotte murders (Good Henry vs. Bad Henry)

▪ Why a mom wrote a public letter about her murdered daughter

▪ Official trailer for the 20/20 episode on Henry Louis Wallace

Dateline NBC (9 p.m., NBC) - Keith Morrison reports on the murder of prominent plastic surgeon and local musician Dr. Frank “Buddy” McCutcheon, who was killed in his home near Asheville, NC, in July 2016. According to a report from The Asheville Citizen-Times, McCutcheon was found dead in the first-floor TV room of his home with his wife, Brenda McCutcheon, and was shot with a gun that Brenda testified was kept in a kitchen drawer. The gun was later found in their yard. Tonight’s report will have new details from never-before-seen police footage and exclusive TV interviews with insiders close to the case. Interviews include: Detectives John Ledford and Walt Thrower, Prosecutor Meghan Lock, Defense Attorneys Sean Devereux and Steve Cash, Buddy’s family members and more.

Some programming descriptions are provided by networks.

Brooke Cain

The News & Observer

Brooke Cain is a North Carolina native who has worked at The News & Observer and McClatchy for more than 30 years as a researcher, reporter and media writer. She is the National Service Journalism Editor for McClatchy.