Love Fuels South Carolina Couple’s Three-State Murder Spree: “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde”
Arrested for a pair of local killings, Adrienne Simpson and Tyler Terry confessed to unsolved murders that shocked South Carolina investigators.
A male and female suspect waged a wild shootout with police during a high-speed chase that set investigators on the path toward clues in a local killing. But the truly shocking details of the couple’s love-fueled murder spree emerged only after they both ended up in custody and started talking — all in the wake of a week-long manhunt that terrorized a small South Carolina town.
In May 2021, law enforcement agencies in Chester, South Carolina (as well as neighboring York County) each received separate tips about the welfare of two locals residents who hadn’t made recent contact with concerned family and friends. One, 33 year-old Eugene Simpson, had been missing several days from his home in the Chester County town of Great Falls. Shortly after investigators were notified of Simpson's death, 35 year-old Thomas Hardin, was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds on the floor of his York County apartment after police conducted an evening welfare check.
As investigators would soon learn, both cases shared a common thread: a tragic link to Adrienne Simpson and Tyler Terry, each one-half of a deadly “modern day Bonnie and Clyde” romantic pairing. Together, Simpson and Terry would eventually confess to their roles not only in the deaths of the two missing locals, but in multiple murders stretching across the United States.
Missing: Search for Eugene Simpson & Thomas Hardin puts investigators on a killer couple’s trail
Fondly remembered for his upbeat attitude, jack-of-all-trades talents, and an abiding love for his two young children, Eugene Simpson had been married to his wife Adrienne for ten years at the time of his 2021 disappearance. Eventually estranged but never officially divorced, the couple’s lives remained intertwined enough for relatives to wonder if, after both of them went missing, Eugene might’ve finally conquered a recurring cycle of drug abuse and reunited with Adrienne for an unannounced getaway.
“I just thought Eugene was gone missing with Adrienne,” recalled Eugene’s cousin in-law Melissa Simpson, who nevertheless became alarmed after Eugene didn’t show up for a scheduled outdoor cookout for his children. "We knew that something had happened. And we were trying to hope for the best. But you just want to know now, like, ‘Where's he at? What happened?’”
While local police began their search for Eugene and Adrienne, law enforcement in nearby York County discovered a grisly scene after responding at Thomas Hardin’s apartment for a requested welfare check. Hardin lay dead on the apartment floor, the victim of multiple 9-millimeter gunshot wounds to his chest and neck area.
Hardin’s residence seemed relatively undisturbed given the violence of his death, an early sign that the motive for his murder might have stemmed from something more than simple robbery. “Nothing appeared to have been tampered with or taken,” said York City Police Lt. Kevin Hoffman. “[I]n the case of Thomas, one likely would have known the assailant. This was a personal crime — maybe a crime of passion.”
While at the scene, York County investigators were approached by a neighbor of Hardin’s who had found Adrienne’s credit card on the ground. A quick data search soon revealed that both Adrienne and Eugene had recently been reported missing in neighboring Chester County.
“We knew at that moment,” said Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey, “that we were looking for connections between those crimes.”
Police shootout & manhunt: Linking Adrienne Simpson & Tyler Terry to multiple murders
Things moved quickly once investigators began questioning the acquaintances of Thomas Hardin. A trans-identifying man, Hardin was reported by family and friends to have been in an “on-again, off-again” relationship with Tyler Terry, according to Hoffman.
But, he added, “[w]hat really gauged my interest was, I was able to find some reports involving Tyler Terry and Adrienne Simpson in a couple of domestic violence reports. Once I gained those reports, it was learned that Adrienne Simpson was a girlfriend of Tyler Terry’s. And it does show a pattern on Tyler's end of domestic violence history.”
With Adrienne still missing, investigators focused on Tyler Terry — whose record included allegations of assault and domestic violence — as a potential common suspect in both cases. Interviews with Adrienne’s family and friends revealed that she and Terry were known to be “an item,” despite accounts from friends that Terry physically abused her.
Terry’s ongoing romance with Thomas Hardin was a reported source of jealousy for Adrienne, a clue that led investigators to question whether she might have played an unknown role not only in Hardin’s violent murder, but in her husband Eugene’s disappearance. In a matter of days, a call came in to the Chester County Sheriff's Office identifying Adrienne and Terry together in a vehicle in the town of Chester. The car immediately fled when a deputy attempted to approach, launching a prolonged and violent high-speed chase.
“There were multiple shots fired by the assailant in the vehicle,” said Sheriff Dorsey. “But he [Terry] ran and actually did return fire a few times as he drove in his vehicle, shooting through his windshield with his rifle.”
Terry, who remained armed, managed to flee on foot and escape into a nearby wooded area after the vehicle eventually crashed. But deputies arrested Adrienne at the scene, even as her possible accomplice to murder remained at large in the Chester community.
A cascade of confessions: The murder trail left by Adrienne Simpson & Tyler Terry
In custody, Adrienne Simpson offered investigators a version of events that placed the greatest culpability on Tyler Terry, who was still at large and considered armed and dangerous. “She disclosed that Tyler had shot and killed Eugene” after meeting Eugene Simpson to allegedly discuss custody of the couple’s two children, said Hoffman, adding that Adrienne also admitted “to driving Tyler to the house of Thomas [Hardin].”
Adrienne’s account of Hardin’s murder targeted Terry as the shooter, with Terry escalating what she described as a botched marijuana exchange. “[S]he did put herself on scene,” said Hoffman, “but did not disclose to me of any prior knowledge to what Tyler was planning to do to Thomas.”
Far more stunning revelations came as investigators continued to question Adrienne. “Once we talk about everything that's happened in Chester and York, she talks about some other shooting — much to the surprise of our investigators at the time,” recalled Chester County prosecutor Randy Newman.
After the couple fled the scene of the South Carolina killings, said Adrienne, they fled by car to St. Louis, Missouri, where they targeted a lone man — possibly for money — outside an upscale hotel. “Tyler has the 9-millimeter, and he shoots the person standing there, who ends up being killed at that moment,” said Lt. Lee Blackmon of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. “They searched through his belongings and really didn't find anything else of value at that time.”
Further talks with Adrienne led to more shocking confessions. After she and Terry left the scene of the St. Louis hotel murder, they next assaulted an unsuspecting motorist, killing a female passenger in the attack. “There’s a BMW that's traveling down the road in the same direction,” recounted Blackmon. “She described this as an opportunity, because this is a fancy vehicle; these folks most likely had money.”
The more Adrienne talked, the more investigators marveled at how far the couple’s trail of murder might reach. “That’s the first thought I had, that we're kind of dealing with a potential modern day Bonnie and Clyde,” said Blackmon — who, like his law enforcement colleagues, believed that Adrienne had played a bigger role in the killings than she was willing to disclose.
The discovery of Eugene Simpson’s body further affirmed those suspicions. “There were some bullet fragments that were found in relation to the body,” said Sheriff Dorsey. “And we learned that there were multiple weapons involved,” including both a 9-millimeter and a .38 caliber handgun.
By May 24 — seven days after the couple’s South Carolina high-speed chase — a multi-agency manhunt effort led to the peaceful arrest of Tyler Terry. In the hospital for dehydration treatment, Terry largely corroborated Adrienne’s version of the couple’s murderous escapades, while adding one additional twist: According to Terry, Adrienne was an equal and able trigger accomplice — and not simply a ride-along observer.
“He tells us that, ultimately, yeah, he shot Eugene Simpson — but Adrienne also shot Eugene,” said Lt. Kristen Grant of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, while noting Terry’s apparent compulsion to feed off of Adrienne’s chaotic energy. “He actually smiles, and he says, ‘What would Harley Quinn be without the Joker?’ He says that, basically, [Adrienne is] the reason that he does what he does.”
Terry eventually told investigators of the pair’s involvement in yet another previously-unsolved murder; the killing of a motorist in Memphis, Tennessee in which Adrienne was the alleged shooter. “According to Tyler, she's pretending they have a flat tire, and when a gentleman pulls up next to him, Adrienne shoots out the driver's side window, striking the gentleman, and he falls flat on his back into the roadway,” recalled Grant, adding that law enforcement in Tennessee subsequently confirmed Terry’s details relating to the killing.
In November 2022, Adrienne Simpson and Tyler Terry each pleaded guilty to multiple murders and other crimes, evading the death penalty while receiving sentences of life in prison without parole.
“What a guilty plea offers a family in a situation like this is finality,” reflected York County prosecutor Kevin Brackett. “And also, you… spare them the graphic details that come from a trial. Knowing that both of them will die in prison, I think, was a comfort to the family.”
Watch all-new episodes of Snapped: Killer Couples on Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen.
