Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents investigating the triple murder at a Knox County Pilot Travel Center have been in touch with detectives at a West Tennessee police department about an unsolved stabbing there, a TBI spokeswoman said Saturday.
The Millington Police Department in Shelby County is still trying to identify the man who stabbed a nurse practitioner multiple times outside a mental health clinic where she worked last October.
The department said the victim was “fortunate to survive.” She aided detectives in creating a police sketch of her attacker, a man investigators said was in his 30s or 40s.
TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart told 10News agents are aware of the West Tennessee case as part of their investigation into Tuesday’s deadly stabbings at the Pilot Travel Center on Strawberry Plains Pike.
Three female Pilot employees died in the attack; a fourth woman was treated and left the hospital Wednesday.
A deputy with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office quickly arrived and shot 33-year-old Idris Abdus-Salaam multiple times, killing him. Agents identified the knife-wielding man as a truck driver from North Carolina
The TBI identified the slaying victims as 57-year-old Joyce Whaley, 51-year-old Patricia Denise Nibbe, and 41-year-old Nettie R. Spencer.
Adbus-Salaam's tractor-trailer was found nearby. Agents could be seen examining it Tuesday afternoon.
WBIR has learned authorities found a notebook in the truck that contains graphic writing believed to be from Abdus-Salaam.
The contents suggested he may have been mentally ill, a source told WBIR.
Because of the graphic nature of the writing and because law enforcement has not yet confirmed or denied the existence of this notebook, WBIR is not sharing the full text.
“As in any investigation such as this, agents will look into whether the suspect could be connected to any other similar incidents that remain unsolved,” Earhart said.
THE MILLINGTON STABBING
Millington detectives initially named a suspect in the Oct. 7 attack outside a mental health care center, but later ruled him out. The department said it did not believe the attacker lives in Millington, a city of 10,000 north of Memphis.
The Millington police chief and a detective assigned to the case did not return phone calls Friday night.
The chief told WMC-TV in Memphis at the time that the attack was quick and unprovoked. The nurse practitioner had just arrived for work in the morning.
The victim suffered serious injuries. She told police she'd gotten out of her vehicle when the attacker "came out of nowhere," Millington Police Chief Mark Dunbar told WMC-TV.
Based on witness descriptions, the man was described as being about 5 feet 10 inches and 190 pounds. He wore a green hoodie and may have been driving a white Ford Taurus with black tinted windows. Police believe the suspect was around 30 years of age.
They said it was possible that attacker was mentally ill.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
The tractor-trailer truck agents could be seen examining Tuesday afternoon bore the brand "Swift Transportation."
When contacted for comment, Swift Transportation executive and spokesperson Dave Berry declined to give his title to WBIR.
"I do odd jobs to help people," Berry told a reporter.
When asked whether Idris-Salaam drove for Swift Transportation, Berry said he "had no idea," and said the company operator likely transferred the reporter to him because he was one of the only people still working at the company's headquarters during the coronavirus outbreak.
The operator told WBIR Berry had handled media inquiries for the company for the six years she worked there. She identified him as the company's vice president for government relations.
When asked if drivers are independent contractors or employees of the company, Berry said "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Berry said he did not know of someone else available to answer WBIR's questions or if such a person existed.