

A report from the investigation said that people paid by Billy Hull were the source of many of the allegations in an effort to take down the sheriff. A six-month investigation into the corruption allegations concluded in March 1977, and no merit was found in the claims. During Hull’s murder trial, allegedly the same cop had set up the victim, so Hull could get his mug shot to give to the hitman. The officer making the allegations had worked at some point at Castaways Club. One of those claims was that the assistant district attorney picked up alleged sex workers at Castaways and brought them to Billy Hull’s house. In the summer of 1976, a former Chattanooga police officer made allegations of corruption in the police department and city attorney’s office. Hull also claimed that on his grandmother’s deathbed, she had the presence of mind to tell him where she had buried jars containing large amounts of money. He claimed she gave him a lot of money and extravagant gifts to explain why his lifestyle did not add up to what he reported to the IRS that he was making. At one point during his trial, Billy Hull told the court that he made a substantial amount of money from helping his grandmother with her whiskey bootlegging business. He would also watch at night for the incoming whiskey deliveries, and at times help her count money since it was only a cash business. Billy Hull helped his grandmother in her bootleg business by burying whiskey in the yard at night and digging holes for her to place barrels and fill with whiskey that would be left there for a year to char. She purchased and sold bootleg whiskey from her home. During the trial, Parker brought forth another unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot against implicating Billy on a second murder charge.īilly Hull’s mother, who was alive at the time of the trial, was the daughter of Katie Holcomb, a bootlegger. Hull fought his conviction to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which affirmed it four years later.

Larry Parker was found guilty of manslaughter. Billy Hull was found guilty of murder-for-hire and sentenced to 20 years and one day in the State Penitentiary. A victim of his own lifestyle, the evidence proved to be overwhelming. Parker was a friend of Billy Hull and was hired by him along with Wayne Carter to carry out the assassination. on May 1, 1973, Larry Parker, shot and killed Roland Hargis, a boyfriend of Gloria Hull, as he was leaving the Tradewinds Night Club in Chattanooga. She filled the cigarette machines during the day as well as kept the club’s books.Īt approximately 12:55 A.M.
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Gloria Hull began to work there in the evenings, eventually quitting her job and working at the club full time as the evening cashier. After six months or so of working multiple jobs, Hull quit the foundry and began devoting his full time to his new business venture. He also worked from time to time at gymnasiums or spas. In 1967, Billy Hull opened a two-room go-go club known as The Castaways Club and the Lion’s Den as a side business while still working at the foundry. Thereafter, she went to work at Concrete Forms. Soon after, Gloria returned to work at Riviera Carpet Mill, where she continued to work until 1962 and the birth of their second child. The Hulls welcomed their first child in 1958. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 1958 or 1959 and moved back to Rossville, Georgia, where he found employment at Muller Company, a foundry, as a sand lab technician. After high school, Billy Hull worked at the Peerless Woolen Mills for a year or two before he enrolled in college at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee. During their senior year, Gloria Hull worked on the second shift at the Chattanooga Glass Company while attending school. Homeowners Billy & Gloria Hull pose for a photo inside their new home for a trade magazine.īilly and Gloria Hull were married in 1951 while they were juniors in high school. In 1972, close to 10,000 people attended the open house. The 5,600 square-foot home featured three bedrooms and 4.5 baths, a large indoor pool, and a helipad. Anticipation grew as the house took fourteen months to complete. After two years of planning, architect Ed Ball set out to build the most fantastic house in Tennessee. Located high atop Missionary Ridge, the house on Cliff Road overlooked the city. The Swinger’s Tiki Palace began as a dream home idea of Billy Hull, a prominent strip club owner in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
