Escaped inmate nabbed after trading gun for NASCAR tickets
September 4th, 2010
Sometimes, life is like a country song. Or a William Faulkner novel, whichever.
There’s so much southern gothic in this story that we’re not even sure where to begin, but let’s start here: Michael Lynn Sherer was nabbed in Hampton, Georgia near Atlanta Motor Speedway after trading a gun for tickets to Sunday’s Emory Healthcare 500 NASCAR race.
Oh, but it doesn’t end there. Turns out Sherer is an escaped fugitive, on the run from a murder charge. And when he was nabbed by Hampton police, he used the murder victim’s name as his own alias. That, friends, is cold-blooded.
The story, in more detail: Sherer had apparently escaped from the Winston County (Ala.) jail, where he’d been held on charges of killing Thomas Lynn Smith of Jasper, Ala. in Smith’s home following a break-in.
Sherer apparently made it from Winston County to Hampton, a distance of more than 250 miles, in a van he’d allegedly stolen prior to the murder. At the Atlanta Motor Speedway, he drew attention from vendors setting up for this weekend’s race as he tried to pawn off a .22 caliber pistol — one which allegedly belonged to the victim.
When police approached him, he initially used his victim’s name, but difficulty answering questions like "when were you born?" led police to take a little more interest. Not long afterward, he gave up his real name, and that was that. He’s currently awaiting extradition to Alabama.
About all this story needs now is a Johnny Cash-esque ballad to be written about it. It’s all right there for the taking.
(Photo via WSB-TV 2 and Henry County Sheriff’s Office.)
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