Tommy Lynn Sells’ Chilling Motivation To Kill

For serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells, the motivation to kill was like chasing a high. In an interview with ABC News, he said, “The first time I did a shot of dope, it was the best feeling I ever had in my life. The first time I killed somebody, it was such a rush. It was just like that, a shot of dope every time I did it, it was that rush again, and I started chasing that high.”

He also said that due to his own tumultuous childhood, Sells was fine with killing children. He thought that he was sparing them from the pain he experienced himself (via ABC News). In fact, there was only one person to survive an encounter with Sells, a 10-year-old girl named Krystal Surles, who awoke in terror to see her friend, 13-year-old Katy Harris, being stabbed to death. Sells then cut Surles’s throat, and she pretended to be dead until he fled the scene. Her testimony was crucial to finally putting Sells behind bars. 

The serial killer spoke of Surles in a 2010 interview with ABC News, “There’s not a day goes by that I don’t think of her.” After being sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder and sexual assault of Katy Harris, Sells was executed by lethal injection in 2014, per Clark Prosecutor

Source: This post first appeared on

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Man Accused of Killing Longtime Bully Who Mocked Him, Police Say

Inset: Marquillo Kelly (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Part of the 4100…

Man Charged With Sexual Battery After Allegedly Picking Up 14-Year-Old Girl at Gas Station

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Willie Dwayne West IV, 26, is facing…

Police: Woman Beat 2-Year-Old Son, Sent Videos to Boyfriend

From left: Karina Burns and Colt McNeese (Dakota County Sheriff’s Office). A…

Police say mother left young children home alone

Inset: Madeline Colunga (Harris County Constable Precinct 4). Background: The Tomball, Texas,…

Trump Administration Sues Maryland Over Law Restricting ICE Cooperation

President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office before signing a…

Toddler Fatally Shoots Baby Sister After Father Leaves Gun Unsecured

Inset: Michael Tejeda (Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Wichita street where…

Mother Sentenced After Waking to Find Child Suffocated Beside Her

Inset: Jaley Bush (Lee County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Bush speaking with law…

Gainesville Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge of Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Robert Lee Johnson III, 39, has pleaded…