I SURVIVED A SERIAL KILLER: The Fast Food Killer

Summary

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Cold Case Files: I SURVIVED A SERIAL KILLER - The Fast Food Killer

Date: May 9, 2026
Host: Marisa Pinson / A&E / PodcastOne
Episode Theme:
A chilling exploration of the serial murders committed by Paul Dennis Reed, dubbed the "Fast Food Killer," through the eyes of those who survived and the investigators who solved the case. The episode centers on survivor testimonies, the investigation that connected a series of brutal robberies and murders at fast food restaurants in Tennessee, and the eventual capture and conviction of Reed.

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Table of Contents

• Episode Overview
• Key Discussion Points
  • The Attacks: Survivor Testimonies
  • The Pattern: Connecting the Cases
  • The Hunt: Law Enforcement Investigation
  • Capturing Paul Dennis Reed
  • Trial and Aftermath
• Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
• Timestamps for Critical Segments

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Episode Overview

The episode examines the terrifying spree of Paul Dennis Reed, who murdered seven fast food restaurant employees in 1997. Through harrowing survivor accounts (primarily Jose Gonzalez and Mitch Roberts), law enforcement interviews, and expert commentary, listeners gain insight into the challenges faced by investigators, the trauma endured by survivors, and the relentless pursuit of justice in one of Tennessee's most infamous serial murder cases.

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Key Discussion Points

The Attacks: Survivor Testimonies

Jose Gonzalez - The McDonald's Survivor

• Background: Jose Gonzalez recounts coming to Nashville from Los Angeles for construction work, taking a job at McDonald's while waiting on construction projects ([02:47]-[04:30]).
• The Night of Survival:
  • March 23, 1997: After closing, Gonzalez is confronted at gunpoint with coworkers by Reed ([04:30]-[05:11]).
  • Forced into the restaurant's office/stock room, they are ordered to lie on the ground ([06:47]).
  • The manager is shot twice; another coworker is shot. As Reed attempts to shoot Gonzalez, the gun jams ([07:42]).
  • Reed stabs Gonzalez repeatedly: "He started stabbing me in the back of my head and my face. He throw me to the ground. And after that, he stabbed me three times in my back." ([07:54])
  • Gonzalez feigns death and, after the attacker flees, manages to dial 911: "I just said, I need a doctor." ([10:56]-[11:35]).
  • Gonzalez survives immense injuries after multiple surgeries ([12:24]).

Mitch Roberts - The Shoney's Survivor

• Background: General manager at Shoney's, previously employed Reed as a cook. Reed was fired after a violent outburst ([23:36]; [28:50]).
• The Confrontation:
  • On June 1, 1997, Reed arrives at Roberts' rural home under false pretenses seeking his job back ([21:50]-[23:36]).
  • Attempts to lure Roberts to his car, pulls a gun, and tries to handcuff him. Roberts suspects him to be the killer linked to the fast food murders due to the red car seen at crime scenes. He uses wit to distract and escape ([23:36]-[27:40]).
  • Roberts orchestrates a police trap that results in Reed’s arrest upon his return ([27:48]).

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The Pattern: Connecting the Cases

• Series of Attacks

  • January 20, 1997: Shoney’s manager Charles Thoet is found stabbed 52 times; a robbery but also rage ([05:16]-[06:30]).
  • February 16, 1997: Captain D’s employees Steve Hampton and 16-year-old Sarah Jackson found shot dead in a freezer; robbery suspected ([09:19]-[10:21]).
  • March 23, 1997: McDonald’s attack with multiple casualties and a surviving witness, Gonzalez.
  • April/May 1997: Baskin Robbins in Clarksville; Angela Holmes (21) and Michelle Mace (16) kidnapped and murdered ([19:06]-[20:38]).

• Common Threads:

  • Robbery was always involved; multiple victims, young employees ([13:41]).
  • The violence was excessive, suggesting more than economic motive.
  • The suspect used both guns and knives.
  • The murderer often eliminated all witnesses, demonstrating cold-blooded intent.

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The Hunt: Law Enforcement Investigation

• Initial Hurdles:
  • Lack of video evidence due to tampered/missing tapes ([05:16]).
  • Few forensic leads or eyewitnesses until Gonzalez survived ([06:35]-[06:44]).
• Escalation and Mobilization:
  • After multiple killings, police and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation implement round-the-clock surveillance of fast food outlets, generate 1,200+ leads ([18:28]).
  • Public urged to help; composite sketches created from Gonzalez’s description ([17:42]-[18:18]).
  • A red car is identified as part of the evidence ([21:20]).

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Capturing Paul Dennis Reed

• Reed’s Background:
  • Moved to Nashville to pursue country music; previously convicted of armed robbery in Texas ([23:18]-[23:36], [28:35]).
  • Noted for violent temper, lying in wait, and planning attacks ([28:50]).
• Apprehension:
  • Reed returns to Roberts' home expecting to talk about his job; instead, is met by armed police and surrenders ([27:48]).
• Positive ID:
  • Gonzalez identifies Reed in a photo lineup under extreme stress, which is later corroborated by fingerprints and forensics ([30:07]-[30:16]; [33:34]).
  • Physical evidence links Reed to several murder scenes ([34:00]-[35:13]).

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Trial and Aftermath

• Reed’s Demeanor:
  • During interrogation, Reed denies being the “trigger man”, refers to himself in the third person, and issues bizarre statements ([34:25]-[34:55]).
• Conviction:
  • Multiple trials: Captain D’s, Baskin Robbins, McDonald’s ([36:17]).
  • Gonzalez’s testimony is central in court; he identifies Reed in-person ([36:27]-[37:10]).
  • Reed receives seven death sentences—more than anyone else on Tennessee’s death row ([37:20]).
• Legacy/Impact:
  • Survivors reflect on the trauma, the pain witnessed in court, and the unlikeliness of their own survival ([39:18]-[39:42]).
  • Reed dies of pneumonia on death row in 2013 ([38:42]-[38:53]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Survivor’s Terror:

  • "I see the guy with a gun. He shoot the other people. He point the gun to my forehead. I was thinking, I'm going to die."
    — Jose Gonzalez ([01:54])
  • "He started stabbing me in the back of my head and my face. He throw me to the ground. And after that, he stabbed me three times in my back."
    — Jose Gonzalez ([07:54])

• Investigator’s Realization:

  • "It was obvious Nashville had a Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy running around killing people."
    — Mike Rowland ([01:42], [17:28])

• Community in Fear:

  • "The community itself was in an uproar."
    — Jose Gonzalez ([18:52])
  • "There is a crazed killer on the loose and what's going to happen next?"
    — Roger Moore ([18:55])

• The Arrest:

  • "He came back to the house, and when he came back, I had six police officers waiting for him...He knew instantly that he didn't have a place to go, so he just put his hands up and gave up."
    — Mitch Roberts ([27:48])

• The Courtroom:

  • "I was sitting in the witness chair and I pointed at him."
    — Jose Gonzalez ([36:38])
  • "Is that a face you will ever forget?"
    — Mitch Roberts ([37:10])
  • "He will never be forgotten."
    — Jose Gonzalez ([37:18])

• On Motive:

  • "The motive was a pure and simple greed of someone who cared nothing at all about human life and only cared about the money."
    — Roger Moore ([36:05])

• Reflecting on Survival:

  • "If he would have never been caught, he would have continued to kill."
    — Jose Gonzalez ([38:25])
  • "My family wouldn't be here today. He meant harm to all of us...I don't think he had a soul or a conscience."
    — Mitch Roberts ([39:42])

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Timestamps for Critical Segments

• Intro and Content Warning - [01:20]
• Jose Gonzalez recounts McDonald’s attack - [02:47]-[12:24]
• Investigation into Shoney’s and Captain D’s attacks - [05:11]-[10:21]
• Gonzalez’s survival and aftermath - [10:56]-[13:06]
• Police mobilization and the hunt - [17:21]-[21:06]
• Baskin Robbins murders and escalation - [19:06]-[20:51]
• Mitch Roberts’ home invasion and Reed’s capture - [21:50]-[28:09]
• Reed’s criminal history and identification process - [28:12]-[33:34]
• Reed’s interrogation - [34:00]-[35:13]
• Trial and sentencing - [36:05]-[37:20]
• Death and legacy - [38:42]-[39:42]

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This episode masterfully weaves survivor testimony, law enforcement efforts, and the emotional cost of the Fast Food Killer’s crimes—presenting a narrative of horror, resilience, and justice. For those who haven’t listened, these firsthand accounts and courtroom recollections provide not just the gripping details of the case, but a deep understanding of the human impact behind the headlines.

Transcript

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[Narrator/Host]

This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. In breaking news tonight, a lead suspect

[Judith Yates]

in the fast food murders is behind bars.

[Mitch Roberts]

Paul Dennis Reed is the most notorious serial killer in Tennessee history. I'm certain that I am not the trigger man.

[Jose Gonzalez]

He was pure, pure evil.

[Mike Rowland]

It was obvious Nashville had a Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy running around killing people.

[Roger Moore]

There is a crazed killer on the loose and what's going to happen next?

[Jose Gonzalez]

I see the guy with a gun. He shoot the other people. He point the gun to my forehead. I was thinking, I'm going to die.

[Mitch Roberts]

He pulled a gun, told me so. You're going to do what I tell you to do. His ultimate goal was to kill my family, make me open the safe and kill me dead. I was not going to let him in the house with my family. I would die for my family. Let's say I am the killer. I still want you to be able to socialize. I'm not trying to base your question. I'm trying to be exactly honest with you. You understand if we didn't have the evidence, you wouldn't be in that chair right now.

[Narrator/Host]

Real people who faced death and lived to tell how this is. I survived a serial killer.

[Jose Gonzalez]

I am Jose Gonzalez and I survived A serial killer. In 1997, I was almost 30 years old. I was living in Nashville, Tennessee. I came to Nashville from Los Angeles to work with my brothers and cousins in construction. While I was waiting for work and construction, a couple blocks away, where we live, it was at McDonald's and I started working in the restaurant. It was a nighttime shift, three to close March 23, 1997. There were four people there. The manager, Ronald, Andrea, Robert and I. That night we were cleaning all the stores, leaving everything ready for the next day. When we were done, I just heard the manager telling me in Spanish to go home. So you are going to your car. I'm not gonna let you and Robert go to their cars. And I'm gonna stay here at the door with Andrea to lock the doors. So I start walking to the outside. The manager and Andrea, they were at the door. While I was walking outside behind Robert, I see the guy with a gun. When I see the gun, I was scared. I just see the guy moving the gun, like telling us to go back to the store. Robert and I, we start walking back to the store and he came in behind us with a gun. He asked us to go to the office where the money was. So we started walking there after that. I see the manager trying to open the safe and I just see him like sweating and obviously scarce when he put the money in the bag, I was thinking about, this guy is gonna get the money and leave. But he didn't. He was giving directions to the back room. So I followed the guys to the stock room. The room was dark. I remember I see the manager, Ronald, he was next to me and. And Andrea was crying. When I got the job, I knew they were attacked and other fast food restaurants, but I wasn't scared. Now I was scared.

[Narrator/Host]

Mike Rowland is a detective from the Metro Nashville Police Department.

[Mike Rowland]

Two months before the attack at McDonald's on January 20th of 1997, we had a case involving Shoney's. The manager that came in to open that morning didn't find anything unusual until she got back to the office in the back, where she found the night shift manager, Charles Thowett, brutally stabbed to death. There was a floor safe and it was open. And decent amount of cash was taken, pushing the $2,000 mark. So we looked at robbery, but Mr. Thoth was stabbed 52 times, which would suggest it could have been a crime of passion. We had VHS type cameras in the establishment. Unfortunately, there was no videotape in the machine. And we found out the person that committed the crime. They took Mr. Thowitt's car and his car was found a few blocks up the street in a parking lot. It was pulled straight in front where a camera was pointing, but they didn't have the machine on either. We started canvassing the neighborhood, looking for anyone that possibly may have seen anything during that time of night.

[Narrator/Host]

Roger Moore is the Deputy DA General for Davidson County.

[Roger Moore]

Unfortunately, no leads were developed. No evidence, no fingerprints, nothing to enable the police to make an arrest.

[Mike Rowland]

We kind of felt like we were at a dead end.

[Jose Gonzalez]

It was dark, and I just. I remember I see the manager, Ronald, he was next to me. The guy told us to lay on the ground. I just see them laying down on the ground with the face down when he shoot the manager twice. And then after that, he went to a Rover and he shot him. Then he shot him right up. And I just see the, like, the lighting of the shot. And after he came to me, I wasn't face down. I was looking at him. And now he point the gun to my forehead. And I was going back to all my life and all the past. And that's when he pulled trigger. But nothing happened. He started clicking it four or five times.

[Roger Moore]

The gun malfunctioned or was out of bullets, whatever might have been the case. And Mr. Gonzalez took that opportunity to fight for his life.

[Jose Gonzalez]

I was thinking, do something quick. And I just grabbed the gun and we were fighting. But it wasn't for too long because when we were fighting, I just felt something in my ribs and my left side. I knew it was a knife. After that, I was unable to do anything. And I felt one more stopping on the same side and the other two on the other side. He started stabbing me in the back of my head and my face. He throw me to the ground. And after that, he stabbed me three times in my back.

[Mike Rowland]

The knife went completely through the inside of the chest wall.

[Jose Gonzalez]

I feel the air coming out from my stubs. I was thinking about, like, play dead. I just hold my breath to let him know I wasn't breathing or nothing. I was in the ground. And I just see the manager's face right next to me. And I was actually. My face and all his blood. I was afraid to move. So I was thinking if the guy was behind me, still there.

[Roger Moore]

One month before the murders at McDonald's, a double homicide occurred during a robbery at a Captain D's restaurant in Nashville.

[Narrator/Host]

Judith Yates is the author of When Nashville Bled.

[Judith Yates]

On the morning of February 16, Steve Hampton was set to open the store. And along with him was Sarah Jackson who was only 16. And another employee came along, couldn't get into the store, saw that the chairs were still stacked on the table. That's not like Steve. He is ready, you know, in a minute to open up early, actually. So eventually the police were called to do a welfare check.

[Mike Rowland]

Steve Hampton and Sarah Jackson were found in the freezer face down. Both of them had multiple gunshot wounds to the head and to the back. It appeared to have been a motive of robbery. There was money missing. One employee specifically spoke about a man coming in the night before.

[Judith Yates]

And this guy asked, are you hiring? And the guy said, well, we don't know. You'll need to talk to Steve Hampton, the manager. When does he come in? He comes in the morning.

[Mike Rowland]

He appeared to be wearing a Shoney's uniform. They described the suspect being a tall man, I believe, with a ponytail. But the height was what was really, really stood out like 6 foot 2. So there was a composite drawing done of this person and put out on the news. And then within days of this investigation ID of Steve Hampton, it was found on Ellington Parkway. That evidence did produce a fingerprint, and obviously that was put in the system, but nobody was spit out at the time.

[Jose Gonzalez]

I was laying down and trying to not make any noise. I don't know for how long, but I just hear a door shut. And I just turned my head and I didn't see. I didn't see him anymore. That's when I went. I was thinking about what the telephone was, and I started crawling to the office. I was looking for the phone and I didn't see it. I was feeling tired. While I was on the ground, I just see a wire and I just pull it and it comes right next to me. It was the phone. Hey, dial 911. I just said, I need a doctor. I start hearing noises outside. I hear the ambulance. I hear the noise when they break in the glass door to get into the store. When they came in, it was probably a few people there, but they don't went to the room where I was. They went to the other room with the other guys. So I was just waiting for them to come in to see me. They came back and they see me in the ground. That's when I start moving my feet that way. They noticed I was alive.

[Roger Moore]

I think that there was some higher power looking out over Jose Gonzalez, because by all rights, he would have been the fourth victim. He suffered tremendous injuries.

[Jose Gonzalez]

Two days later, when I walk out of place in the hospital, I was in pain. I had 1, 2, 3, 4 surgeries my lungs, my face, my head, my finger. Someone was calling my name, like saying Jose, But I was unable to talk. But obviously I started moving or I did something because the person who was calling my name, he said, jose, don't move. You cannot talk. Just move your fingers. If you listen to me. So I just move my finger, say, I'm a detective for police in Nashville and we want to talk to you.

[Narrator/Host]

Juan Borges is a retired Metro Nashville police detective.

[Jose Gonzalez]

When I first seen Jose at the hospital bed, we didn't really know if he would really make it. He didn't know what happened to his co workers. I told him no one survived but you. I told him we're trying to apprehend this person and the information and the cooperation that we really needed from him. And he definitely appeared to be confused, frightened. I was feeling scared because I knew he was in the streets and I expect something else to happen.

[Mike Rowland]

After the McDonald's homicide on March 23, we started relating that homicide with the Captain D's and the Shoneys because they're all fast food. Young people are involved. We have knives, we have guns, we have robbery. Now we had six people deceased from these robbery murders and one surviving victim. It was obvious we had a serial killer running around killing people.

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[Jose Gonzalez]

The Nashville area is on high alert

[Mitch Roberts]

after a slew of robbery homicides at local fast food restaurants.

[Mike Rowland]

It was obvious Nashville had a Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy and that we had a serial killer running around killing people.

[Judith Yates]

Because this individual was hitting fast food restaurants, the media dubbed him the Fast food killer.

[Roger Moore]

With McDonald's we had a live witness. So the primary focus at that point in the investigation was having Jose Gonzalez be interviewed and provide a sketch of the perpetrator. And that sketch was run in the papers and the TVs and all the media everywhere. And once Jose was able to, he looked through many, many, many mug shots and photo books looking for the person.

[Jose Gonzalez]

They started showing me pictures, books of pictures. They probably show me 500 pictures, 600. I never see them.

[Mike Rowland]

We were working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We were staking out restaurants. We had help from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the police chief put extra patrolmen in the area driving up and down the streets and checking on the restaurants. We set up a hotline that generated 1,200 leads. It was nonstop.

[Jose Gonzalez]

The community itself was in an uproar.

[Roger Moore]

Businesses were closing early and having extra security. It was, there is a crazed killer on the loose and what's going to happen next?

[Mike Rowland]

One month after the McDonald's homicide, we received a call from the Clarksville Police Department about 40 miles away from Nashville that they had two girls missing from a Baskin Robbins.

[Roger Moore]

Two women were Angela holmes, who was 21 years old, and Michelle Mase, who was 16.

[Judith Yates]

Michelle's brother shows up at the Baskins and he thinks, okay, this is strange because nobody is there. And he tries the door and it's open. So he very cautiously walks into the store. The girl's purses are there, the floor safe has been pulled out of the floor. He calls Angie's husband who comes down immediately to the store and they call the police.

[Mike Rowland]

I jumped in a car and drove straight up there. When we arrived at the store, looked pretty much like a typical robbery. There was no blood, there was nothing in the store. That at that point in time made us feel like it may have been connected. But less than an hour later, we got called to Dunbar Cave State park, not too many miles from the Baskin Robbins. At that location, one victim was found up in a wooded area. The other victim was found down at the water's edge, partially in the water. Both their throats had been brutally cut.

[Judith Yates]

The police were connecting Baskin and Robbins to Captain D's and to McDonald's. Because the robbery was in the evening after close. The money was gone, the safe was left open.

[Roger Moore]

The police efforts were already at an unbelievably high level. But you can imagine this now became a multi county collaboration and hunt for a killer who it seemed was not going to stop until he was caught. This was all hands on deck, asking for the public's help to report anything unusual that they may have seen. So tips came in.

[Mike Rowland]

Somebody observed a red car around the Baskin Robbins would have been around the time that the girls came up missing. And another person saw a red car around Dunbar Cave State Park. So Clarksville Police Department put out a BOLO looking for if anybody knew anything about a red car in that area during that time.

[Roger Moore]

Approximately a month, perhaps a little bit longer. After the Baskin Robbins, the perpetrator made one more attack.

[Mitch Roberts]

I'm Mitch Roberts and I survived the serial killer. In 1997. I was 46 years old and I worked for Shoney's. I was the general manager of one of the busiest units in Nashville, close to the airport. I was aware that recently there had been attacks at other fast food restaurants. I had some of my customers who would ask me questions about if we had heard anything or how the investigation was going to. A lot of policemen came and ate with me. So we kind of kept current on what was going on. But we were such a high traffic area, it never occurred to me that we possibly could be a target. I lived about 25 miles outside of Nashville in a rural area, and it was quiet 95% of the time. If you didn't know where I live, you wouldn't be able to find my house. On June 1, 1997, I was waiting to go to bed and I was on the couch with my wife and my daughter and my son. We were watching a little TV and my son was playing with our video camera. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, there was a knock on the door. When I heard the knock at the door, I looked and the man at the was a cook for me at Shoney's. His name was Paul Dennis Reed.

[Mike Rowland]

Paul Dennis Reed. He came from Texas and he actually came to Nashville to be a country music singer.

[Judith Yates]

He was going to be the next Garth Brooks is what he told people. Well, he looks the part. He's got expensive boots, big fancy cowboy hat, guitar, and he even made audiotapes

[Mitch Roberts]

of himself singing she Couldn't Carry a Tune in a Bucket. As far as being a country music singer, that was delusions of grandeur. Paul had a temper, bad temper. He had gotten mad on the cook's line and frisbeed a plate and it hit one of my dishwashers. I fired him on the spot. For Paul to show up on a Sunday night about the time I'm ready for bed was, yes, it was a shock, but we can let him in. And I said, paul, what's the purpose of your call? And he said, well, I wanted to see if you'd give me my job back. And about that time, my wife interrupted me and said, could I speak to you just a second in the other room? I walked in the other room, my wife, and she said, something's weird about that guy. You need to get rid of him. So I went back out in the living area and I said, paul, it's kind of late. Why don't you come by tomorrow and we'll talk about your job then? So I kind of led him towards the door and he walked out. And when we got out on the porch, he told me that he could prove to me someone was stealing from the restaurant. And I said, really? And he said, yeah, let me show you. So we started walking down to the car, which is probably 75 to 100ft from my front door. And the red car was sitting in my driveway. So I started adding two and two and it came up four. That was the red car the news had been talking about and the police had been talking about. This was the person they were looking for in the fast food murders. And so I kind of felt funny, but I just went along with it. I said, well, you need to give me a call tomorrow and we'll go through this and I'll see about your job. So I turned and started to walk away, and he ran around in front of me and pulled a gun and said, told me, said, you're going to do what I tell you to do. And he handed me a pair of handcuffs. And I said, paul, if this is a joke, it's not funny. And he said, it's not a joke. There's two guys behind your house that'll shoot you if you don't do what I tell you. His ultimate goal, I felt like, was to. To handcuff me in the car, go back in the house, kill my family, come back and get me, take me to work, make me open the safe and kill me there. I instantly started thinking, how do I get out of this? What can I do? I was not going to let him in the house with my family. I would die for my family. So I started talking to him like I was still his boss. And I turned and walked away from him again. And he just followed me up to the porch. I turned around and he had a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. And I said, paul, what is it you need? He said, well, if you're not gonna give me my job back, I need some money. So there was a front door that he expected me to pull open, but he didn't expect me to pull open and turn and hit him. I hit him, and I backed in the doorway and held the door to keep him from pulling it open. I told my wife, I said, hand me the gun. It's laying right there. Well, there wasn't a gun laying right there, but he bought it and left. Then we got the door locked, called the local police. I told him, you need to come to the house. There's been a guy trying to break in, and this is the serial killer they're looking for in Nashville. They came out and was talking to me and interviewing me, and the phone rang. It was Paul on the phone. He was wanting to apologize. Tell me he's sorry. We had words on the porch, and he hoped I'd, you know, forget about it and give him his job back. I was shocked. I didn't expect to hear from him again. But that's when I thought, let me see if I can help the police catch him. I told him, I said, paul, you scared us. You need to talk to me before tomorrow. You need to come back out here. We need to talk about this tonight. And so he said, okay.

[Judith Yates]

He's thinking, mitch is going to give me my job back because I'm such a wonderful employee. I'm going to get rehired and I'll have money again.

[Mitch Roberts]

He came back to the house, and when he came back, I had six police officers waiting for him. The police came out from behind brick walls and bushes. They had automatic weapons, shotguns, and he didn't anticipate that. And he knew instantly that he didn't have a place to go, so he just put his hands up and gave up.

[Roger Moore]

The Cheatham county officers there took him into custody.

[Judith Yates]

In breaking news tonight, a lead suspect

[Narrator/Host]

in the fast food murders is behind bars.

[Roger Moore]

Then the connections started to click. Once Paul Reed was captured and found out about his history, that he had gone to prison in Texas for robbery, There had been witnesses who had testified.

[Judith Yates]

He was convicted of armed robbery in 1984, and he was paroled with early release in 1990. When he left the Texas prison system, he had said, next time, I won't leave witnesses.

[Mitch Roberts]

He put an application at Shoney's. I interviewed him and hired him. When I said anything to him, it was always, yes, sir, no, sir, very respectful. Until he got mad the day at Shoney's and threw the plate and hit the dishwasher. I'd never seen that side of him in the several months that he had worked for me. He had been down in the area where I live, been to several stores, asked questions about me and if they knew me and where I lived. He didn't do anything quickly or spontaneously, as much as he thought about it and planned it. Premeditated, if you will. He was smarter than they gave him credit for. He knew how to get out of things. He knew how to cover his tracks. He was still working for me when he was doing these crimes.

[Jose Gonzalez]

I remember getting. Jose called him up and I said, listen, we've got someone of interest that is very important that you come and help us out. Let me go pick you up. Will go to the murder squad headquarters. I got the phone call to go to the police station. They told me that they got a few pictures. That way I can look at him and see if he's. If he's someone I can recognize. They bring six pictures.

[Mike Rowland]

When Jose looked at the photo lineup, he started sweating and trembling and even stained the paper with his sweat.

[Jose Gonzalez]

I just got, I don't know, scared for a moment. I just. I just see him right there.

[Narrator/Host]

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[Mike Rowland]

Jose was holding the photo line up in his hands and he picked Paul Reed out as the suspect.

[Jose Gonzalez]

When they told me that they got him, I was happy for the families, the other people who died.

[Mike Rowland]

We brought Paul Dennis Reed back to Nashville and we sat down with him in an interview room and attempted to get him to tell us what happened.

[Mitch Roberts]

Are you certain that you have nothing that you want to say as far as the crime scenes on either Captain Dean's or the crime scene on McDonald's or anything in between? I can positively confirm that to you.

[Mike Rowland]

We tried multiple different ways to get him to talk. Good cop Bad cop. I mean, in general, you're an intelligent person.

[Mitch Roberts]

That's a good man.

[Mike Rowland]

He want to go.

[Mitch Roberts]

I apologize. I appreciate it.

[Mike Rowland]

Paul Reed did refer to himself in the third person.

[Mitch Roberts]

Oh, Lord, this is crazy. I mean, why would they do this to Paul Reed? And they really think in their minds I did this and I did that.

[Mike Rowland]

Then he started making some odd statements.

[Mitch Roberts]

I am under 24 hour government surveillance. I mean, every verbal word is under a monitoring device.

[Mike Rowland]

He made statements like, I wasn't the trigger man.

[Mitch Roberts]

I want you to make absolutely no misjudgment that I am not. That I'm certain that I am not the trigger man. I'm trying to be exactly honest with you that I did not pull the trigger.

[Mike Rowland]

He never actually said he committed the homicides, but Jose Gonzalez picked him out of a photo lineup. And his fingerprints matched to the prints on the cards that belonged to Steve Hampton. Searches were done of his house, of his car. In that red car, there was evidence that matched at least one of the girls from Baskin Robbins. I don't have a doubt in my mind that he committed the murder and the robbery of Mr. Thoet. But we were never able to link him to the Shoney's case.

[Mitch Roberts]

They never convicted him of what he did to me. I didn't have to go through that trial. Thank goodness they had enough evidence, fingerprints and other evidence to connect him to the three other cases that they had.

[Roger Moore]

The motive was a pure and simple greed of someone who cared nothing at all about human life and only cared about the money.

[Mike Rowland]

Paul Reed ended up having three trials. The Captain D's trial, Baskin Robbins, and the last trial was the McDonald's trial.

[Jose Gonzalez]

He testified in trial.

[Mitch Roberts]

Gonzalez showed jurors his stab wounds. Described to jurors how Reed shot the victims in the Hermitage McDonald's and then tried to kill him, Reed with a knife.

[Jose Gonzalez]

It was hard. I was afraid to see him right there in front of me. But I was sitting in in the witness chair and I pointed at him.

[Mitch Roberts]

I'll ask you if you would, Mr. Gonzalez, would you stand up and see if you see the individual that you described as being in a restaurant that night?

[Jose Gonzalez]

That's that. The one in orange.

[Mitch Roberts]

Let the record reflect he did that on five.

[Judith Yates]

So reflected.

[Mitch Roberts]

Is that a face you will ever forget?

[Jose Gonzalez]

He will never be forgotten.

[Roger Moore]

The eyewitness Testimony of Mr. Gonzalez, in my opinion, was the key in the McDonald's trial.

[Mitch Roberts]

He approached me and he pointed the gun at my head.

[Roger Moore]

The defense tried to poke holes, just say at the end of the day the jury should have that reasonable doubt. But three different juries each found the evidence in each case was sufficient to convict him of every crime that he was charged with. And he received a total of seven death sentences, one for each victim. He was the only person in Tennessee to have received seven death sentences. That's about twice as many as anyone else currently on our death row called Dennis Reed.

[Judith Yates]

He was a loser. He was a punk. These were just your average American people working hard. And he took their lives in such a cold blooded fashion.

[Jose Gonzalez]

If he would have never been caught, he would have continued to kill.

[Mitch Roberts]

When I thought about Paul being the serial killer, that was surreal that someone that worked for me could do that. I don't think he had a soul or a conscience. He was mean to the core.

[Mike Rowland]

Paul Reed spent a few years on death row. During that time, he got sick. And on November 1st of 2013, he died.

[Mitch Roberts]

He died from pneumonia. That was way too easy a death for him compared to what he put these other victims through and the suffering that they went through. I met Jose at the trial. He knew who I was and I knew who he was. I can't imagine the terror that he went through. It had to be overwhelming, overwhelming. I respect him a lot.

[Jose Gonzalez]

It was sad to see the families, the people who died, who died that day, crying sometimes in the courtroom. So being a survivor is big to me. I got the opportunity to be here for them. Today I live in Nashua, New Hampshire with my daughter and my. And I work in construction in Boston.

[Mitch Roberts]

I feel like I'm the luckiest man in the world. By all rights, if I hadn't have been so lucky, I wouldn't be here today. My family wouldn't be here today. He meant harm to all of us. Not a week goes by that I don't think about how lucky I am to be here.

[Narrator/Host]

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[Jose Gonzalez]

This is the

[Narrator/Host]

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[Roger Moore]

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[Mike Rowland]

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[Roger Moore]

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