Town note
The area was originally part of Carter County, but the county seat at Elizabethton was hard to reach over the hills.
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FILE 611 / 10 July 2025 / 178 MIN / full
We are going to Mountain City, Tennessee, in the far northeastern tip of Tennessee; this is in Johnson County. about 0:04:40
The area was originally part of Carter County, but the county seat at Elizabethton was hard to reach over the hills.
about 0:05:42Johnson County was created in 1836, and the town was made its county seat.
about 0:05:53The land was platted and named Taylorsville after Colonel James P. Taylor.
about 0:06:04In 1885 the town was renamed Mountain City at the urging of Congressman Roderick R. Butler, to reflect its position in one of the highest valleys in Tennessee.
about 0:06:21The area was originally part of Carter County, but the county seat at Elizabethton was hard to reach over the hills.
about 0:05:42Johnson County was created in 1836, and the town was made its county seat.
about 0:05:53The land was platted and named Taylorsville after Colonel James P. Taylor.
about 0:06:04In 1885 the town was renamed Mountain City at the urging of Congressman Roderick R. Butler, to reflect its position in one of the highest valleys in Tennessee.
about 0:06:21Mountain City hosted the old-time fiddlers convention in 1925, attended by many musicians and with a contest.
about 0:06:42Dudley Vance of Bluff City won first prize at the 1925 convention with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
about 0:07:17exactly 50%
about 0:10:30White 91% · Black 3.1% · Asian 1.3% · Hispanic 2.3%
Ethnicity can overlap race.Property crime
▼ about 20% below
Violent crime
▼ about half
Listing price, two-bedroom two-bath house of 450 square feet on Shingletown Road
about 0:12:59Listing price, three-bedroom two-bath house of 3,304 square feet on two acres
about 0:13:38Listing price, seven-bedroom eight-bath house of 6,996 square feet on Bankers Bend Road
about 0:14:20"2,367"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:09:32
"53%"
Comparison: "higher than normal". Direction: above.
As told in 2025 about 0:09:49
"almost 45"
Comparison: "above the national average". Direction: above.
As told in 2025 about 0:09:53
"about 42%"
Comparison: "usually 50-50". No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:10:03
"91%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:10:10
"3.1%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:10:10
"1.3%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:10:10
"2.3%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:10:26
"exactly 50%"
Comparison: "50-50 is the normal". Direction: about the same.
As told in 2025 about 0:10:30
"Baptists"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:10:30
"$29,155"
Comparison: "national average a little over $69,000". Direction: above.
As told in 2025 about 0:11:01
"73.4"
Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.
As told in 2025 about 0:11:20
"$183,800"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:11:32
"$810"
Comparison: "national average almost $1,300". No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:12:00
"$100,000"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:12:59
"$490,000"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:13:38
"$1,780,000"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:14:20
"about 20% below"
Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2025 about 0:21:04
"about half"
Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2025 about 0:21:14
2.5 / 5 · average of 2
“The scenic views are lovely, the local restaurants are good and the service makes one feel at home even if one is not from the area.”about 0:08:04
“The town is full of crime and crackheads, meth is the largest cash crop, the authorities cover it up, the people are uneducated bible thumpers and there is nothing to offer.”about 0:08:31
The family had moved there from the Philadelphia suburbs in 2004. She was six feet tall, spoke in a childlike voice and, at thirty, still lived at home under strict rules: no driving, no boyfriends and no staying out past midnight.
In 2010 he met Billy Jean Hayworth at Parkdale Mills, where they both worked, and the relationship quickly became serious. They became engaged, moved into his father's house in Mountain City and, in 2011, had a son.
The feud with the Payne household grew on Facebook and Topics. In the summer and autumn of 2011 the posts became violent.
At the centre of the story was a man called Chris. He was, she said, a CIA agent who worked on cases, owned houses in Tennessee and Pennsylvania, and could not use a telephone because his enemies might track him. In reality there was no Chris.
At about 4.30 a.m. she wrote that her father was leaving. They walked across a field, sheltered behind a shed and entered the house through an unlocked sliding glass door. Billy Payne had been shot in the face and his throat had been cut. Billy Jean Hayworth had been shot in the head while holding her seven-month-old son. The baby was unharmed.
Bradley Osborne, who was due to pick Billy up for work, had entered the house at about 6.20 a.m., heard an alarm clock and a baby whimper, but left without going into the bedrooms. At about 10.10 a.m. Roy and Linda Stevens came to collect their post, found Billy dead and then found Billy Jean on the floor of the nursery with the baby in her arms. Linda Stevens called 911.
The day after the killings the s said they were shocked and claimed their social media accounts had been hacked.
He made a motion towards a loaded .45 in a holster on his hip but was subdued. The search found an arsenal of weapons and bags of shredded, printed emails in his truck; investigators reconstructed about a hundred pages.
In 2016 the lead prosecutor, Brooks, published a book about the case, Too Pretty to Live: The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee.
January 31, 2012 / Billy and Billy Jean's house, Mountain City, Tennessee
As told in the episode, on 10 July 2025.
Accused
Accused
Accused
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
about 2:10:19church
about 2:29:00other
about 2:29:51business
about 0:49:27business
about 0:36:17business
about 0:47:04business
about 1:53:54police
about 1:32:04other
about 1:32:04home
about 0:32:58school
about 0:15:28road
about 0:12:56road
about 0:14:09road
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