Christopher Cummins

*** Before I start I want it to be known that this case was sometimes difficult to search due to the surname involved. Some reports list his name as Cummings but I have left it with this spelling as it appears to be the correct one through the Tennessee Department of Corrections.”***

This ended up being a case in which by the time I was done I was not sure what to think. It appears to me that it was one of those cases in which investigators made deals and/or believed people that were involved in the crime in order to get more on someone else that they believed to be more culpable. Then again, maybe it was not that they believed Christopher Cummins “more” culpable but the only way they could get any kind of justice in the murder of Buddy Griggs was to find someone culpable. Now, do not take these comments to mean that I necessarily believe Christopher Cummins to be innocent of the crime in which he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life. What I do believe is that there was way more to this story than what has ever been told and while I cannot say that I know for certain Christopher Cummins did everything as the prosecutors claimed at his trial, I do believe him to be more guilty than he has claimed.

In April of 2010 Buddy Griggs had two young children with his ex-wife, Krystal. Krystal was now married to Christopher Cummins. It appears that they all lived in or around Wayne County Tennessee. It is not completely clear as to what was supposed to occur on April 17^th. This was the last day that he was seen alive. There are some indications that it was possible Buddy had gone to the Cummins home to retrieve his children for visitation, or at least that was what he thought. Krystal claimed at some point that she and Christopher were having marriage problems and that she had decided to leave him because he was manufacturing drugs and that Buddy had gone to the home with her to get a diaper bag. I believe that part of that statement could have been true also. But, I lean towards believing that Buddy believed Krystal was leaving Christopher and was helping her because that is what Krystal told him, not necessarily because that was what was really happening. It seems that one thing that both Christopher and Krystal would agree on is that the two of them took Buddy's children to his mother's home that day. At some point, someone, reported him missing.

Of course Christopher and Krystal would have been immediate suspects with Buddy missing, but it is not clear exactly how soon they were spoken to or what the investigators discovered, and when. Throughout my research of both this case and the case in the murder of Rose Goggins I found a a lot of comments about how law enforcement handles things in Wayne County. There seems to be quite a bit of criticism surrounding Wayne County Sheriff, Ric Wilson, but in fairness I found nothing to substantiate any claims that were made and lets be honest, most people do not say anything nice on the Internet about someone else unless of course they have died. That being said it was alleged that it appeared that law enforcement did not think much of the disappearance of Buddy Griggs despite his family being convinced that Krystal Cummins was involved in some way.

Buddy's body would be found on May 14^th by someone who was basically chasing down a bad smell on his property. Whether Krystal and Christopher were already behind bars is unclear but they both would before too long. Reports say that when initially interview they both denied any involvement in Buddy's disappearance but that over time Krystal had given “numerous contradictory statements” to the police which made them suspicious. It appears that Krystal may have already been charged in the murder of Buddy Griggs and it was not until after she made a statement implicating Christopher that his case was turned over to a grand jury and he too was arrested, but again all of this seems to have occurred prior to Buddy's body being found.

In a statement that Krystal eventually told police and apparently to a jury the following year Christopher had murdered Buddy at their home, in front of her children. This is when she told the story of retrieving the diaper bag and Buddy taking her there. She would claim that everything seemed fine as the three adults played with the children and then suddenly Christopher had hit Buddy with what she described as a shirt sleeve filled with rocks. She claimed Christopher then choked him with a wire cut from an exercise machine. Buddy's body was then allegedly wrapped in plastic and put into the trunk of her car. It was then that the couple first took the children to Buddy's mother and then drove around several places looking for somewhere to leave the body. Eventually they found a ridge and decided to simply roll the body down the side. She says that they then went back to their home where they burned several items that they thought may have contained evidence.

After this statement investigators went back to Christopher and once again he denied involvement. Then he was told what Krystal had said in her last statement. This is when Christopher's story changed and he blamed Krystal. In his new story Krystal had told her that Buddy had attempted to rape her and that she hit him with a rock, choked him and put him in her trunk. He stated she had returned home telling him this story, removing the body and asking him to burn it but he refused. He agrees that the couple took the children to Buddy's mother's house but claimed he did not know the body was still in the car until after they dropped the children off and Krystal began discussing where to dump the body. He continued to claim that he did not know when or where the body was removed and that it was Krystal who had burned things.

One thing I find strange about all of this is that both Christopher and Krystal were in custody on May 14^th when the body was discovered, not by law enforcement but a property owner. I will say that it was said that the body was found after water had receded after a “historic flood” but there seemed to be no indication that law enforcement had been looking in the area or were planning to. This indicates to me that while Krystal may have told her story of what happened she never led investigators to Buddy's body. Of course she could have alleged that she was not sure where the body was actually taken by claiming they had driven around several places. And, again, that may have been true but it also could have been a way to only tell enough to get Christopher in trouble. It also indicates that investigators felt they had enough to arrest and charge Krystal fairly early on. It was not until after her statement against Christopher that his case was taken to the grand jury and an indictment was granted for him. I will point this out however, while several articles stated that at the time the body was found Christopher was under arrest an appeal later stated he was not indicted by a grand jury until June 18^th for the crime. That does not mean that he was not in jail at the time the body was found but it is indicative that it may have not been on the charge of murder.

While it was not said publicly, it is my opinion that when Christopher went to trial in May of 2011 Krystal had already made a deal with prosecutors. It does appear that there was a deal made although to be fair I have no concrete proof of this. Two things lead me to this conclusion however. First, at the end of Christopher's trial it was said that there had been no trial date set for Krystal at that time. Secondly I found no articles whatsoever discussing a trial or a sentence pertaining to her. The closest that I could find was that the murder charge was dropped against her and she was charged with accessory after the fact, tampering with evidence and filing a false report. The Tennessee Department of Corrections website give minimal information on current and former inmates. All that I could determine is that Krystal's “sentence ended” in November of 2017 and she is no longer under supervision.

Christopher's trial lasted three weeks. On the Friday before it began prosecutors were told that an inmate by the name of Brian Smith had information about the case and was willing to testify that Christopher Cummins had confessed to him. He would even allege that he had been shown pictures of the victims body although it was unclear just how or where he allegedly saw these pictures. Its seems highly unlikely that Christopher could have possessed pictures of the victim after his death while inside jail. On the following Monday morning Christopher's trial was to begin and it was then that prosecutors announced their new witness and apparently what they expected him to testify about. Of course the defense was not happy and they asked for a continuance but the judge denied it.

Throughout several appeals that I found for this case I found nothing that showed any sort of proof that Christopher Cummins was directly, or for that matter indirectly, involved in the murder of Buddy Griggs. Now, that is not to say that they did not have some evidence that could be tied to him, it just means that I found nothing in any appeal pertaining to any evidence either with the defense disputing it or it being mentioned in the background of the story. Krystal of course got on the stand and told the story in which I related here earlier. The defense produced a witness of their own who testified that Krystal had confessed to her in the jail that she had been the perpetrator as well as that she had confessed to Buddy's aunt. They also showed evidence she had previously choked a woman and thrown a boiling teapot full of water on the woman's head. Then Brian Smith was presented to the jury and made his claims. In his story Smith had claimed that fellow inmate Steven Beersdorf Sr. ( I recently blogged about his story) was also present during the alleged confession. The defense put Beersdorf on the stand who directly disputed Smith's claims.

After a three day trial and deliberations that lasted about a hour the jury returned with a verdict of guilty of first degree murder against Christopher Cummins. He was sentenced to life with parole. However, he is not eligible until January of 2068.

Many people agree that Christopher Cummins is more guilty than he has alleged in his statements and knows more than he has ever stated. However it seems even more people believe that Krystal was absolutely more involved than she alleged in her statements. Had they not had her testimony against Christopher it is unlikely there would have been a conviction. Even if things occurred the way in which Krystal claimed they did, both during and after the murder, I can almost guarantee you that had her case gone to court the prosecutor would have alleged that Krystal lured Buddy to the home in order for the murder to happen. They would not have bought her story that she was leaving her husband and Buddy simply went with her to get a diaper bag. If that was the case why did she remain with him after they dropped off her children at Buddy's mother's home? Why did she not stay behind and call the police? She and her children would have been away from Christopher and safe. She never claimed that she was forced to drive around in the car with him looking for places to dump Buddy's body. In the same respect I do not believe it likely that Krystal could have moved the body as much as Christopher claimed in his statements. No, the two of them did this together and yet Krystal is out free. By the sounds of things though the woman has a temper on her so she may not be out for long.