Clarksville, TN – On October 28th 1996, at 2:45pm, Clarksville Police Officers responded to 418 Peachers Mill Road Lot 45, Sunnydale Mobile Home Park, in connection to a deceased 23 year old female found inside identified as Crista Bramlitt.
There were obvious signs which pointed to her being a victim of a homicide and indicators of sexual assault. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was suffocation.
During the autopsy, a sexual assault evidence collection kit was completed and sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Crime Lab for analysis.
A DNA profile was obtained and loaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), in search of a possible match.
On February 13th, 2019, Detective Ulrey received an official CODIS report from the TBI Crime Lab that stated a preliminary association to a subject was made from a previously submitted evidence. The alleged perpetrator’s identity was listed as Kenneth Hudspeth, DOB 12/7/1970.
On April 16th, 2019, Detective Ulrey interviewed Hudspeth in Phoenix Arizona. During the interview with Hudspeth, it was established that Hudspeth was in Clarksville at the time of Bramlitt’s murder, he knew the victim, was present in the residence on the day of her death, and was the last person to see her alive.
Additionally, when queried on some other aspects of the case, he did not refute any of the facts.
On April 16th, 2019 Kenneth Hudspeth, age 48, was taken in custody in Phoenix, Arizona and charged with Criminal Homicide. He waived extradition and is currently being transported to Clarksville, Tennessee where he will be booked into the Montgomery County Jail.
Additional Background Information
There are over 1500 pages of documentation associated with the homicide investigation of Crista Bramlitt. The original detective on the case was Detective Charvis, who is now retired.
In 2005, there were changes to the CODIS and the DNA from the Bramlitt case and others cases were resubmitted for testing. The suspect in the case, Kenneth Hudspeth, flew under the radar and was not known to investigators at the time of the homicide.
He had resided in the mobile home park for a brief period of time and moved out almost immediately after the homicide was committed. He moved out of the Clarksville area in December 1997.
Hudspeth had numerous arrests over the years since the homicide, including two prison stints in Texas and Arizona, but there was not a CODIS hit in the Bramlitt case. The CODIS hit in Arizona came about after an arrest on a Felony charge involving an assault.
According to CPD policy, Cold Cases have reviews on an annual basis. Anytime information comes in related to a cold case, it is assigned and investigated. CPD currently has over 30 cold cases. Bramlitt family members were notified of the new information as soon as the break in the case was confirmed.
Clarksville Police Department received assistance from multiple agencies to bring Hudspeth to justice. The TBI expedited processing a DNA sample of Hudspeth’s to confirm the original DNA information. The Phoenix Arizona Police Department was invaluable with assistance in locating and keeping track of Hudspeth and went out of their way to help us with the case.
Also, the District’s Attorney’s Office worked hand and hand with the Clarksville Police Department to bring the criminal charge to fruition.
Detective Ulrey is the lead investigator.
