This week in On The Case With Paula Zahn, the criminal journalist examines the case of the sexual predator, Randy May, who terrorized the small-town community of Morristown, Tennesse, in the summer of 1980.
On July 20, 1980, Randy May attacked and sexually violated 16-year-old Mary Jones and her 15-year-old friend Mitzi Sizemore. Jones had her life taken from her on that day, but, despite being injured and left for dead, Sizemore managed to escape.
May approached the two teenage girls and using handcuffs, and a badge pretended to be a police officer. He tricked them into getting into his car by stating he needed help to search for a missing child. He then drove them to a secluded wooded area.
May stabbed Mitzi three times in the chest, slashed her throat, and then left her to die by handcuffing her to a tree. He then turned his attention to Mary, who he raped and murdered. Mitzi would later speak of the trauma of hearing her friend’s screams but of being unable to help her.
Mitzi Sizemore managed to escape death
Luckily Mitzi was blessed with skinny arms that allowed to wriggle out of the handcuffs. Despite her injuries, she was able to run across a field where she encountered an off duty Tennesse Highway patrol officer, who was able to raise the alarm.
May was given a life sentence; however, much to the dismay of many, he has already been the subject of at least two parole hearings. He last went before a parole board in September 2019, but to the relief of Mitzi Sizemore and Mary Jones’s family members, he was denied release. He is next up for a parole hearing in 2023.
More from On The Case With Paula Zahn
Follow the links to read about more horrific crimes investigated by Paula Zahn.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelLast week Paula Zahn looked at the case of Julie Ann Gonzalez, a 21-year-old doting mother of a two-year-old daughter. Police believe that when she went to pick up her daughter from her estranged husband George De La Cruz, he murdered her and hid her remains.
In 1987 Susan Woods was discovered submerged in her bathtub; she’d been either strangled or drowned. The case lay cold for 20 years until DNA evidence pointed to Joseph Hatley, who was someone the police had never even suspected.
On The Case With Paula Zahn airs Sundays at 19/9c on Investigation Discovery.