True Crime
A Roane County grand jury indicted Mitchel Crass in Elton Richardson's death, and he was booked Wednesday.
WVLT and WBIR, citing the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, reported Crass, 43, was booked into the Roane County Jail on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, with bond set at $865,000. The indictment they describe is first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence. WBIR spells him Mitchell and lists Richardson as 45. WVLT spells him Mitchel and lists Richardson as 44.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
An indictment returned Monday and a Wednesday booking are the accusation. They are the start of Crass's case in court. WVLT says Richardson's body was found in an abandoned structure near the 4600 block of Decatur Highway. WBIR's account of the TBI release says he was found dead on that block and does not describe a structure. WBIR names the first person charged as Zackary Edward Lowe, 27, charged Feb. 3. WVLT calls him Zackary Lowe and does not give the age or that date.
WVLT reported that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said a second man was arrested in a Roane County murder, and it named him as 43-year-old Mitchel Crass. WBIR, also citing a TBI press release, spelled him Mitchell Crass, gave the same age, and reported the arrest was Oct. 21, 2026. Both reported he was booked into the Roane County Jail and that bond was set at $865,000. Both reported the Roane County Grand Jury returned the indictment on Monday, which was Oct. 19. WBIR listed the counts as one count of first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence. WVLT used the same three counts. WVLT said he was arrested Wednesday. WBIR said the TBI investigation, with the Roane County Sheriff's Office, resulted in the arrest on Oct. 21.
The man who died is Elton Richardson, and the outlets do not give him the same age. WVLT reported he was 44 and that his body was found in January in an abandoned structure near the 4600 block of Decatur Highway in Ten Mile. WBIR reported he was 45, that the death was in Ten Mile in January 2026, and that TBI first announced the investigation on Jan. 27, 2026, after he was found dead on the 4600 block of Decatur Highway. WBIR's account of the release does not say the body was in an abandoned structure. WVLT does not give the Jan. 27 date. Neither story describes a weapon, a motive, or what the conspiracy count alleges he agreed to do. WVLT reported the investigation remains active and that additional information was not released.
The first defendant is already in the file, and the two stations do not describe him the same way. WVLT reported that in the days after Richardson's body was found, Zackary Lowe was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, and that a bond hearing for Lowe in March drew supporters from Roane County. WBIR reported TBI originally charged 27-year-old Zackary Edward Lowe with first-degree murder on Feb. 3, 2026. Zackary Lowe and Zackary Edward Lowe are the names on those two stories. Forty-four and 45 are the ages on Richardson. Mitchel and Mitchell are the spellings on Crass. The indictment counts the two stations list are the same three.
WBIR reported Crass is the second arrest in the murder. WVLT reported the same, and it reported Lowe still faces a first-degree murder charge. A grand jury indictment is the charging document. A booking is the jail intake. Lowe's February charge, as WBIR dates it, is a separate accusation in the same investigation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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