Police piece together mystery, charge man with murder

Police piece together mystery, charge man with murder

July 1, 2005

By ERICA ESTEP
6 News Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- The discovery of a woman's body Friday morning added to the mystery surrounding a man found covered in blood and high on crack this week.

Construction workers discovered the body of Gail Lynette Bell, 45, around 7:30 a.m. Friday when they went to check on equipment at a construction site in the 1900 block of Midpark Road off Middlebrook Pike.

Knoxville Police and Knox County sheriff's deputies responded to the scene. They found the Knoxville woman dead and lying on the ground behind a pile of rubble.

According to Knoxville Police spokesman Darrell DeBusk, evidence found at the scene indicates Bell was murdered at that location. "We don't want to give away too much right now to the condition of the body, but we do have enough evidence that we think it's a homicide," he said.

Knox County sheriff's deputies are aiding in the investigation because they believe the Bell's murder is connected to Douglas Loveday, 29, who was found disoriented and covered in someone else's blood Wednesday morning in Farragut.

Police say Loveday called a wrecker service early Wednesday morning saying he'd wrecked his car and needed it towed. The wrecker service thought the call was suspicious so they called police.

Deputies say when they arrived, Loveday was in a creek washing blood off himself.

Knox County sheriff's deputies say Loveday admitted to taking crack cocaine but wouldn't explain why he and his vehicle were smeared with blood.

Deputies say a small knife was found inside, along with a woman's tennis shoe, a key piece to the puzzle.

"We have one shoe here and one shoe in the car," Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison said.

Loveday has been charged with felony murder and is being held in the Knox County detention facility.

Leanna Farrington says she can't believe someone was murdered near her home. "It really scares me, yes it really does. It's unbelievable."

"You never know what people can do with bodies or where they can put them," she added.