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One of the big questions of the Wallace investigation was why did it take so long to catch Henry Wallace? After all, he knew all the victims, and he committed the murders in a very small area of Charlotte. Charlotte’s black population, terrorized by the murders and frustrated by the fact that no progress was seemingly being made in solving them, were quick to put the blame on racism. They said that the victims were black and came from poor backgrounds, and that was why police were not giving enough attention to solving their murders.
The Charlotte Metropolitan Police Department (CMPD) was quick to defend itself. They said they operated with too few officers and were overwhelmed by the number of homicides being committed in Charlotte. At the time, Charlotte was making the transition from a medium-sized Southern city to one of the top 20 largest cities in the country, and it was experiencing one of the largest crime rates in its history. The CMPD had only seven homicide detectives investigating the murders. The CMPD’s requests to city officials for more help fell on deaf ears.
As Glenn McFadden, who headed the Wallace investigation, would explain. “We worked under very difficult conditions. “We never had time to collaborate. We never had time to give [cases] a lot of attention.”
But the police investigating techniques left something to be desired. Homicide detectives did not talk to each other. They didn’t compare notes on their investigations. If they had, they would have noticed some striking similarities. For example, many of the victims knew each other, and many of the victims knew Wallace as a friend. Further, many of the victims had worked with Wallace.
Fortunately, the police did eventually get on to Bad Henry, but that was largely through the mistakes that the heavy drug-using Wallace made in committing his crimes. The CMPD says that they have made changes to improve their investigative techniques and learned a lot from the Wallace investigation, the biggest in its history. Hopefully, Charlotte will not have to see if that is true.
This captivating account explores the mind of a murderer, delving into Wallace's twisted psyche and the secrets he hid behind his friendly demeanor. Discover how he targeted vulnerable Black women, concealing his monstrous nature beneath a façade of normalcy.
