'96 Nashville tanning salon double murder suspect convicted in new sex crime

Описание: It remains one of Nashville's most high-profile cold cases. Melissa Chilton and Tiffany Campbell, both 18, were heinously stabbed to death in the Nashville tanning salon where they worked, in February of 1996. Patrick Streater, a suspect who previously dated Campbell, was arrested years later, after advancements in DNA testing. But before the case went to trial, prosecutors dropped the charges, saying they weren't confident enough with the evidence to go forward.

"The worst day of my life," said Gail Chilton, Melissa’s mother. "I had to go back to that dorm room (where Melissa had been attending school at Middle Tennessee State University) and load her stuff up."

Now, nearly three decades later, the man once accused in the "tanning salon" double murder case is now facing nearly 10 years in prison for a separate sex crime conviction in Washington state.

In January 2024, Streater was arrested again, this time in Seattle, and charged with attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. Court documents say a woman escaped from Streater’s car, half-naked, and screaming that someone was “trying to rape her.” The woman reported Streater threatened he would “break your (expletive) face” while restraining her in the back seat. She was able to flee the vehicle using pepper spray and run into a nearby gym, screaming for help.

More than a year later, Streater pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment with sexual motivation.
His official sentencing is next month in September. Streater is facing nearly 10 years in prison, and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

“I’m really thankful someone took him off the street,” said Chilton. “I wish we had gotten him seven years ago. I feel guilty... like I should have pushed harder at that time.”

Chilton and Campbell were found stabbed more than 100 times inside Exotic Tan for Men, a case that is still open and unsolved, nearly 30 years later.

In 2013, advances in DNA testing led to the indictment of Patrick Streater, who was already serving prison time in California for a series of armed robberies. Some of them involved a knife. Streater was linked to the tanning salon crime scene through a partial DNA match on a knife sheath. Then-detective Mickey Miller told FOX 17 News in an interview in 2023, that investigators believed Campbell was the intended target.

“The crime scene was so awful, those images will always stay with you,” Miller said. “We felt like Tiffany was probably the target, and Melissa had come in unexpectedly- that’s why she had so many defensive wounds.”
A witness also reported that Streater appeared visibly upset when he visited the salon the night before the murders, looking for Campbell.

In a 2023 interview with FOX 17 News' Kelly Avellino, Streater acknowledged going to the salon but denied owning a weapon like the one used, as a witness had testified.

“They said you looked visibly upset,” Avellino asked.

“I don’t know how I appeared to anybody,” Streater responded.

After five years of court proceedings, the double homicide case against Streater took a dramatic turn. After a new round of DNA testing, prosecutors believed the results weren't as favorable. Charges were dropped, and Streater was released.

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