Stay ConnectedThere are no witnesses, no fingerprints, and no confession to the 1992 deaths of Tommy Griffin and his sister, Connie Branam in East Tennessee.
There are, however, four alleged and un-investigated alternate suspects, six alibi witnesses, a disgraced medical examiner, a nearly impossible timeline, a bad search warrant, and a man named Gary Sutton sitting on Death Row. Did the state damn the wrong man to die?
Connie Branam's car is found along Clear Fork above Wears Valley, and the cops conduct a search of James Dellinger's home. Then, Gary and James are arrested and charged with Connie's death.
Episode Links
🎧 Listen to Beth on Truth and Justice with Bob Ruff
🏢 Beth tries to take a VCR to the Sevier County Courthouse
☕Buy Beth a Coffee
💉 Tennessee's Lethal Injection Protocol Manual
⏳ Timeline of Events at the Time of Death Podcast Website
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
Beth Braden: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Time of Death Podcast: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Find us at www.timeofdeathpod.com
Blount County Chief Detective Dale Gourley speaks to the media about Tommy Griffin's death and Connie Branam's disappearance as searchers comb Sevier County for the missing woman. Gary Sutton, reeling from the death of his best friend, talks to police twice, not realizing that the walls are closing in around him. Also in this episode - updates from last week's failed execution of Tony Carruthers and the silence from the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Gary's intellectual disability hearing.
☕Buy Beth a Coffee
⏳ Timeline of Events at the Time of Death Podcast Website
🌍 Google Map of Places of Note - Including the changes to Alcoa Highway Relevant Articles
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
Beth Braden: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Time of Death Podcast: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Find us at www.timeofdeathpod.com
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay in Gary Sutton's intellectual disability hearing, and Governor Bill Lee has granted Tony Caruthers a temporary reprieve from execution following a failed execution attempt on 5/21/26. Then, we go back in time to some very interesting details about what Tommy Griffin didn't have with him when he was found in Walland on February 24, 1992.
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
Beth Braden: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Time of Death Podcast: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Find us at www.timeofdeathpod.com
Connie Branam sat up nearly all night after her brother's trailer burned to the ground on February 21, 1992. On February 22, she began looking for him, and she ended up back at Howie's Hideaway in Maryville with Gary Sutton and James Dellinger.
Episode Links
☕Buy Beth a Coffee
📰 WBIR - James Dellinger Dies in Prison
🧑⚖️ Tennessee Supreme Court Order for Gary Sutton's Execution
💉 Tennessee's Lethal Injection Protocol Manual
⏳ Timeline of Events at the Time of Death Podcast Website
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
Beth Braden: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Time of Death Podcast: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Find us at www.timeofdeathpod.com
Alcoa, Tennessee, police officers find Tommy Griffin shirtless and beaten on the night of February 21, 1992, and arrest him for public intoxication. The state's theory of the case diverges as it maintains that it was Gary and James who beat Tommy that night while Gary and James say they were already back home in the holler.
Episode Links
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
With seven criminal charges dismissed, Gary Sutton's weekend was looking up, and he had a full day to hang around with his best friend, Tommy Griffin, and his Uncle James Dellinger. Before midnight, Tommy would be in jail and his trailer would be a smoldering heap.
Episode Links
❓Beth questions trailer fire investigation
🔎 Wondering what it takes to investigate a decades old case?
☕Buy Beth a Coffee
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
Beth Braden: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Time of Death Podcast: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Find us at www.timeofdeathpod.com
Things were tense in the holler on Bluff Heights in the months leading up to the death of Tommy Griffin and Connie Branum, but Gary Sutton finally got some good news.
📱 Text or call 988 if you are struggling with suicidal thoughts - 988lifeline.org
📸 Beth pays her respects at Martin Justus Cemetery
📃 Atkins v. Virginia overview & opinions - Justia
🗞️ "Nashville DA says death row inmate should not face execution due to intellectual disability" - The Tennessean, March 11, 2022
☕Buy Beth a Coffee
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
Beth Braden: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Time of Death Podcast: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Find us at www.timeofdeathpod.com
Gary Wayne Sutton has been in prison for 34 years. He's spent 30 of them on death row. The State of Tennessee is scheduled to execute him on December 3, 2026….but was his guilt proven beyond a reasonable doubt?
Episode Links
📸 Photo of Carolyn & Gary from 1993
🗞️ "4 Tennessee death row inmates scheduled for execution in 2026" - WJHL, Jan 16, 2026
📸 One of Beth's many visits to Sevier County's archives
🎤 Dolly Parton's America Podcast
☕Buy Beth a Coffee
Stay connected with Beth's reporting and follow along as the stories unfold. Follow us on your favorite platform.
Beth Braden: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Time of Death Podcast: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok
Find us at www.timeofdeathpod.com
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
