Updated: 9/23/2009 7:30:14 PM
Knox County Sheriff's Office investigators have sent surveillance video to the FBI for enhancement, in the investigation into a store owner found shot to death. It could be a clue that cracks the case of who killed 64-year-old Jim Mullins. The Knox County Sheriff's Office has released information about two vehicles of interest in the case, but no suspect description has yet been publicized. Meanwhile, Jim Mullins' family is keeping in touch with investigators who still want to find a blue and silver pickup truck and red vehicle seen leaving the store. The family is shocked by what has happened. "Everybody in the family is trying to do what they can and we'll just go one minute at a time," Patsy Mullins said. She mowed her brother-in-law's lawn Wednesday morning. Across the street at the store, his sister, Bobbie Jo Mullins, sorted through photos and remembered Jim Mullins love of gardening. Every year he gave his mother the biggest watermelon. His brother, Sonny Mullins, agonized over what happened inside Rutledge Pike Discount, where his brother usually worked alone. "I left about 12:30. Told him I would be back early that afternoon but I wasn't back early enough," he said. A customer discovered Jim Mullins shot to death around 4:00 Tuesday. Wednesday the crime tape was gone, but the store showed signs of a struggle and change from the cash register littered the floor. "He was away from the cash register and they shot him," Patsy Mullins said. Sonny Mullins thinks someone who knew his brother's routine committed the crime. "It's just about as cold blooded as anybody could ever be in this world. Those people don't need to be on the face of this earth, they need to be gone." Mullins is angry, and he's devastated. "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. We had coffee together every single morning. We did everything together," Sonny Mullins said. "He was a good guy. He didn't deserve to die that way." Mullins said his brother was a hard worker. "He couldn't live without retail sales. He was here from 7:00 to 7:00 seven days a week. Never took a day off... If he took a day off he came over to check on his cats and stuff." His sister will look after the cats. His family will decide what to do with the store he owned. They are considering selling the inventory and closing it down. Funeral arrangements have now been made for Mullins. The family will receive friends Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Bridges Funeral home on Rutledge Pike in Knoxville. The funeral will be held at 7 p.m. Friday. Burial is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Roseberry Baptist Church cemetery, near the Mascot area.
Previous: Community shocked by store owner's shooting death
The owner of a discount store on Rutledge Pike in the Corryton area was discovered shot and killed Tuesday afternoon.
The Knox County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene after receiving a call from a customer who discovered the body inside the Rutledge Pike Discount Store.
KCSO spokesperson Martha Dooley identified the victim as the store's long-time owner, 64-year-old James Harrison Mullins. "Jim" and his brother Sonny Mullins ran the discount store. Their parents also owned and operated a grocery store for decades at the same location.
"Jim and I have been partners at that location for over 40 years," said Sonny Mullins. "We never turned anyone away that needed help. His killing was so senseless."
Sonny Mullins said his brother was killed during a robbery, although the KCSO is yet to officially state a motive in the shooting.
"Even the perpetrators today, if they didn't have money, they could have asked Jim," said long-time friend Harry Bacon. "Jim would have given them whatever they wanted. He was just that kind of fellow."
Bacon and more than 40 other friends and family members of Mullins crowded around a border of yellow police tape in the store's parking lot, unable to believe the man they loved was killed.
Bacon grew up with both Jim and Sonny Mullins and says they have been close "for more than 50 years."
"Jim Mullins was a simple living fellow who worked hard," said Bacon. "He knew everyone and everyone knew him. And no matter how Jim felt, he always made everyone else feel better. He was such a witty and fun friend."
Bacon said he spoke to Jim on the phone Tuesday afternoon and planned to visit him later in the day.
"I looked at my phone and it was 1:19 p.m. when I talked to him. I had already talked to Sonny and he said Jim wanted me to give him a call. I tried to disguise my voice because that's one of the ways we always joked around. But, of course, he knew it was me right away," said Bacon.
"I was devastated. His [Jim's] life was this store," said Loretta Ayers, a family friend who taught Sunday school with Mullins' wife, Betty. "Jim has worked with the store all his life. I mean they've always had that as a family business."
Ayers said the stores operated by the Mullins family served as a landmark in the area.
"So many people knew the Mullins and their store. People around here always used the building when giving someone directions. Just tell someone to drive towards Mullins and they knew where to go," said Ayers.
Terry Landell owns a wrestling school in the same building as the discount center. Landell said someone burglarized the Mullins store six months ago.
"Jim was so sharp. He remembered the license plate numbers from a few cars he saw the night before his store was broken into. The next day he gave the numbers to the Sheriff's Office and they caught the guys in no time," said Landell. "You know, it's really a shock. This man got up every morning and was at that store from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. He was at the store every day. Just a really kind soul who was very easy going."
"It's a tragedy to have done something like this because it didn't need to happen," said Ayers. "This is just a little country store and he's trying to make a living. This family has dealt with a lot because Jim and Sonny's mother died one year ago yesterday. And now one day later he has been killed."
"He was a fellow everyone enjoyed being around." Bacon added, "He was my friend."
The KCSO deployed a helicopter to search for two vehicles of interest seen leaving the parking lot. KCSO spokesperson Martha Dooley described one vehicle as a silver and blue pickup truck. The other was only described as a "red vehicle."
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Knox County Sheriff's Office tip line at 865-215-2243.
