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In December 2011, 25-year-old Brittany Eldridge was nearly 9 months pregnant & living in Knoxville, Tennessee. She was thrilled at the idea of meeting her first child, a son she had named Ezekiel “Zeke” Owen, but when she didn’t show up for work, her co-workers were immediately worried. What they found next would launch one of Knoxville’s most heartbreaking investigations.
Brittany Caroline Sherwood Eldridge was born in Tennessee on January 13, 1986 to Robin Owens & Jeff Sherwood. After she graduated from Austin East High School, she studied at the University of Tennessee. As a child, she was a cheerleader & also played soccer, somehow managing to be both a tomboy & a girly-girl at the same time. She was a religious girl who attended Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church & her brother, Jeffery Sherwood, describes her as a bright, beautiful, caring young lady with blue eyes & a big heart.
In 2011, Brittany was working as a collector at Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance & living alone at the Cross Creek apartment complex off Western Avenue in Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee after separating from her husband.
In December, she was 8 ½ months pregnant & planning to work up until her due date, so when she suddenly didn’t show up for work on Tuesday, December 13, 2011, two weeks before her due date, her co-workers & her boyfriend, Norman Clark, were immediately concerned. However, at the same time, being so close to her due date, they all speculated that maybe she’d gone into labor overnight.
Not only was Norman Brittany’s boyfriend, but also the father of her unborn son. During his time in college, he studied sports management, but in 2011, when he was in his mid-20s, he was also working at Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance as a collector, just like Brittany. The two just so happened to start working on the very same day two years earlier. According to Norman, although she was all-around beautiful, it was truly Brittany’s smile that first caught his attention.
Since Brittany excelled at her job, Norman often turned to her as a mentor & the more time they spent together, the more they realized there was a spark between them. About eight months after they met, they started a romantic relationship.
Although Norman was single at the time, Brittany was not. She was married to a truck driver named Terry Eldridge, who drove his rig at night. Because she wanted children & Terry didn’t, tensions began rising in their relationship. The fact that they rarely saw one another due to their opposite work schedules only made matters worse.
Since Brittany was still married when she started her relationship with Norman, they kept things very quiet at work. They rarely, if ever, spent time in public places outside of work, fearing that they might get caught. However, recorded conversations through their work phones proved that their relationship had crossed the line from an innocent friendship.
More than one year passed by while Norman & Brittany continued to keep their love affair a secret until February 2011 when Terry realized what was going on. Very quickly, he moved out & they started the divorce process.
Shortly after she moved out, Brittany called her mom & told her the news that she was pregnant. She also let her know that the father was her co-worker, Norman Clark, something that shocked Robin. Although the pregnancy hadn’t been planned, Norman indicated that he planned to stick by Brittany’s side.
Only one year earlier, Norman had a baby girl with a woman he had been seeing from Nashville. He helped to support his daughter & planned to do the same for his son, Zeke. He indicated that he was excited to have another child & Brittany was thrilled to be a mom for the first time.
Brittany’s friend & co-worker, Andrea Ray, was very worried because it wasn’t like Brittany to be late to work let alone not come in without a phone call. She was the type of girl who came in even when she didn’t feel well. Andrea was one of the only people at work who knew anything about Brittany’s secret relationship with Norman so she stopped by his desk & asked him to call Brittany’s mom, Robin, to see if she’d heard from her daughter.
When Norman talked to Robin, she didn’t know why Brittany wasn’t at work, but she told him that she would stop by her apartment to check on her.
As soon as Robin arrived, she was immediately concerned, finding Brittany’s door unlocked. As she entered the apartment, it was clear that something was terribly wrong when she found the living room TV laying on the floor, flipped off its stand while the rest of the apartment was also in disarray. Robin immediately dialed 911, telling the dispatcher that she suspected that her daughter’s apartment had been robbed & she feared for her safety.
Not knowing what was going on, Robin ran back outside while she was on the phone with the dispatcher, but she was instructed to go back inside to see if she could find her daughter. As she got further into the apartment, she was able to hear the sound of running water coming from the bathroom & found the bathtub’s faucet actively running.
The last room that Robin was left to check was Brittany’s bedroom, but she was understandably terrified to enter that room, fearful of what she might find. As she reached the doorway, she caught a glimpse of her daughter’s body lying on the floor & she immediately knew that Brittany was dead.
Robin rushed from the apartment, absolutely shocked & inconsolable as she realized that her entire life had just changed in an instant. As the shock wore off, she was left to wonder who could have possibly wanted to harm her young daughter & her unborn son & why.
Brittany’s older brother, Jeffery, was at the gym at the time & recalls grabbing his phone from his locker when he noticed a slew of missed calls from his mom. When he called her back, he was stunned to hear that his sister had been murdered.
As responding officers arrived at the scene, they discovered Brittany’s naked body lying in a pool of blood on her bedroom floor near her bed; her body partially covered by lingerie. Not only had she been strangled to death, but she also suffered two stab wounds to the neck. Although her autopsy determined that she died from asphyxiation caused by strangulation, the stab wounds to her throat, which were inflicted with a pair of scissors, also contributed to her death. There were also injuries to her chest, throat & neck.
Her unborn baby boy, Zeke, who had been only two weeks from delivery, died from intrauterine asphyxia status post maternal death. After the medical examiner conducted a paternity test, it confirmed that Norman was Zeke’s father. The time of Brittany’s death was determined to be twelve hours before her body was found.
Although the chaotic state of Brittany’s apartment suggested a robbery, there was no evidence of forced entry & nothing of value had been taken. Two televisions were lying on the floor & although the contents of her purse & drawers were strewn about, nothing seemed to be missing. Even though her pin number was attached to her credit card, it had also been left behind. This suggested that the scene had only been staged to appear as a robbery-gone-wrong.
Norman recalls the frantic phone call he received from Robin when she told him the devastating news that not only was Brittany gone, but as was their son. He rushed to her apartment & ran to officers, telling them that the baby was his as he hoped Zeke could still be born & be okay.
When investigators spoke with Norman in the back of a police car, he was confused as to why they were questioning him & later indicated that it hadn’t crossed his mind to request a lawyer because he knew he was innocent & he only wanted to help.
Once at the police station, Norman indicated that he originally had plans to see Brittany the night before, but he ended up going straight home after work & then spent the night at a female friend’s house. He also voluntarily provided a DNA sample & drove with detectives back to his house so he could give them the clothing he’d worn the night before. Once back at police headquarters, Norman continued to cooperate with investigators until he was released to go back home.
The next evening Norman attended a candlelit vigil that was held in Brittany’s honor & he was welcomed by her family with open arms. Days later, Brittany’s family laid her & Zeke to rest.
Detectives also brought Brittany’s now ex-husband, Terry Eldridge, in for questioning, a man who was 17 years her senior. They had gotten married when she had been only 22-years-old & very quickly, their relationship was strained since she wanted to settle down & have a family, but Terry was constantly working, driving nights in his truck. When Terry realized that not only was his wife having an affair, but she was pregnant with the man’s baby, their marriage was done.
When investigators took a DNA sample from Terry, it was not a match to what was found at the crime scene. This, paired with the fact that officers determined that he was nowhere near her apartment on the night of her murder, quickly eliminated him as a suspect.
The case began to grow cold as one year passed & then two without an arrest. Brittany’s family was terrified that she & Zeke would be forgotten & no one would face justice for what they had done to them.
In the meantime, the investigation continued & detectives listened to recorded phone calls from Brittany’s workplace since each call was recorded for quality control. Her conversations with friends proved that her relationship with Norman had been unstable since he realized that she was pregnant. Their relationship changed in an instant & according to her friend Andrea, although Brittany had been hoping that the pregnancy would bring them closer together, the opposite had happened.
Despite living in his parent’s basement, Norman was struggling to make ends meet & barely staying ahead of debt collectors, who frequently contacted him at work.
Based on work conversations, it was clear that Norman had little to do with Brittany until about three days before her murder. In a series of emails, Brittany had begged Norman for just five minutes of face-to-face conversation while Norman’s responses painted her as a needy & demanding person. However, very quickly, he began showing a lot of interest in her & their son. As investigators looked through Brittany’s journal, they saw that she intended to take him to court for child support once Zeke was born.
Investigators heard Brittany venting about Norman’s wishy-washy emotions. Meanwhile, Norman’s work calls proved that he was highly involved with many other women in the midst of Brittany’s pregnancy. He later admitted that he was single & seeing about 15-20 other women at the time, people he described as friends with benefits. Not only was he utilizing dating websites, but he was also seeing other women from work, including Brittany.
Since Norman already had a baby girl with another woman, investigators theorized that maybe he murdered Brittany to avoid paying child support. According to Brittany’s friend, Andrea, who Brittany had talked to the night before the murder, Norman wanted to meet with Brittany on Monday after work & Brittany agreed.
According to Norman, he ended up blowing off their date & didn’t end up going there after work on Monday, the night she was murdered. By this point, Brittany’s family started to believe that he was involved & they were growing frustrated that he remained a free man.
Nearly 2 ½ years after Brittany’s murder, prosecutors presented their evidence to a grand jury & Norman Clark was charged with Brittany & Zeke’s murders. He was arrested on May 14, 2014 & pleaded not guilty.
In August 2015, nearly four years after Brittany’s murder, Norman Clark, who had no previous criminal record, went on trial for murder in Knoxville, Tennesse & risked facing life in prison if he was found guilty.
According to the prosecution, Norman went to Brittany’s apartment on the night of Monday, December 12, 2011 & strangled & stabbed her to death because he didn’t want her to have his baby. Not only was he a womanizer who was involved with many other women, but he also struggled to pay his bills without adding another child to the picture. Threatened with the fact that Brittany was planning to take him to court for child support, he snapped.
After a long day of work, being far into her pregnancy, Brittany had been preparing to take a bath when she was attacked from behind. Prosecutors indicated that Norman grabbed her with his forearm & placed his hand over her mouth. While she struggled to free herself, he grabbed a pair of scissors that were likely in the bedroom, & stabbed her twice in the neck. As the life faded from her body, unborn baby Zeke suffocated inside her womb.
Norman had planned to come by Brittany’s apartment that night to discuss the upcoming birth of their son. In an email sent that day, he wrote, I will text or call on my way. Brittany’s understanding was that Norman would be at her place at about 8:45 pm.
Several of the women that Norman had been seeing took the stand & although he described his various relationships as nothing more than friends with benefits, some of the women explained that they were under the impression that their relationship was exclusive, that they had loved him with all of their heart.
According to Brittany & Norman’s co-worker who testified, Kevin Flores, Norman told him that Brittany was lying about the fact that he was the baby’s father, accusing her of being with someone else & contracting an STD.
Brittany & Norman’s supervisor, Kim Russell, testified that when Norman came to her desk to tell her that Brittany had been murdered, she saw no emotion from him. Under cross-examination, she did admit that she didn’t know him very well & was unsure of his typical demeanor.
Based on the timeline of events that the prosecution put together, Brittany was seen leaving work on Monday night at 8:05 pm. The medical examiner estimated her time of death as early as 8:30 pm, only 25 minutes later. An FBI expert testified that Norman’s phone pinged off of a tower near Brittany’s apartment first at 8:28 pm & again at 9:05 pm.
According to Norman, he’d gone to a friend’s house for the night, Leanne Hawn, another woman that he had been seeing. Leanne testified that he was at her house as he indicated, but he came over, unannounced, at 10:30 pm, about two hours after Brittany may have already been murdered.
Meanwhile, Norman’s defense attorney, Greg Isaacs, argued a lack of evidence, including eye-witnesses & physical evidence. The DNA samples that Norman had provided were not a match to what was found at the crime scene.
When Isaacs questioned Leanne Hawn, she admitted that although she first saw Norman at her house at 10:30 pm, she couldn’t say exactly when he arrived at her home since she ‘d been asleep with her TV on. Isaacs argued that Norman had actually arrived much earlier & watched Monday Night Football alone before he climbed into bed with her. He argued that Norman wouldn’t have had enough time to murder Brittany, stage the crime scene to look like a burglary, clean himself up & get over to Leanne’s in less than an hour.
In regards to Norman’s phone pinging near Brittany’s apartment that night, Isaacs called in his own expert who said that the state had gotten this wrong. Rather, he argued that the area where Brittany lived had 12 break-ins over a 3-4 week span of time & they theorized that Brittany had caught a burglar in the act. 10 of the 12 cases involved flat screen TVs, however, although Brittany’s new TV had been knocked to the floor, it had not been taken. Isaacs argued that maybe the killer fled after he had been startled & didn’t risk taking the TV with him.
However, why a burglar would assume that an apartment with lights on inside on a Monday night was unoccupied, is unclear. Especially since Brittany had been in the process of filling the bathtub when she was attacked.
Two unknown DNA samples were found on the lingerie that partially covered Brittany’s naked body in her bedroom; although the contributor was male, it was not a match to Norman. Isaacs urged jurors to focus on the evidence rather than Norman’s extracurricular activity with other women.
Norman Clark did not take the stand to testify in his own defense.
After six hours of deliberation, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict as 11 voted not guilty while one juror believed Norman Clark was guilty. It ended in a mistrial, leaving Brittany’s family devastated. After fifteen months behind bars, Norman was now a free man.
Prosecutors indicated that they planned to retry Norman again with the same charges. The same evidence would be presented with the same prosecutor.
The second trial began in September 2017, nearly six years after Brittany’s murder.
This time around, defense attorney, Kit Rodgers, was representing Norman. As with Isaacs, Rodgers urged the jury to focus on the evidence which suggested a burglary-gone-wrong, rather than Norman’s promiscuous lifestyle.
Once again, prosecutors painted a picture of a man who was not only financially struggling, but was also threatened to lose his womanizing way of life if his second child was born. They focused on the fact that Brittany had been strangled, a very personal way to kill someone.
Unlike with the first group of jury members, with only one voting to convict, this time around, the majority of jurors believed that Norman was guilty. After six days of testimony & four long days of deliberations, once again, the jury was deadlocked with one juror believing that Norman was innocent.
Brittany’s family were once again devastated by the fact that after suffering through a second trial, Norman Clark had still not been held accountable for what they were convinced he was guilty of.
After six years & two trials, prosecutors made the decision not to proceed to a third trial & Norman’s charges were dismissed. Unless they came across new evidence, he would remain a free man.
Norman remains adamant that he had nothing to do with Brittany’s death & after more than fourteen years, her case is considered unsolved.
25-year-old Brittany Eldridge had been two short weeks from becoming a mother when her life was suddenly lost to violence. Ezekiel Owen never had the opportunity to take his first breath. Those who loved Brittany have endured years of turmoil & grief, knowing that the man who killed her & her child is still out there. The person who wrapped their hands around her neck, strangling the life out of her, knowing they were also murdering her child before plunging scissors into her neck, is living their life while she & Zeke are gone from this world forever.
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