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Alleged N.C. Serial Killer Accused Of Killing Four Gets Life For Murder Of 80-Year-Old Woman
Daniel Printz led authorities to the body of Edna Suttles nine months after she vanished from a South Carolina grocery store.
A North Carolina man connected to the disappearances and deaths of four women will spend the rest of his life in federal prison after leading authorities to the body of an 80-year-old victim.
Daniel Printz, 59, pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and murder of Edna Suttles, waiving his rights to potentially challenge his conviction or sentence at a later date, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday. Printz was the prime suspect in the South Carolina native’s disappearance after she vanished from a grocery store on Aug. 27, 2021.
Feds say Printz cooperated with investigators and led them to Suttles’ body on May 16, months after he buried her on a Rutherford County property not far from his Bostic, North Carolina home. Her cause of death has not been released.
As part of the plea agreement, Printz will not face the death penalty, court records show. He will also not face federal prosecution for the murders of Nancy Rego, 66, Delores Sellers, 88, and Leigh Goodman, 61 – three deaths he'd been linked to, according to authorities.
Delores Sellers is Nancy Rego’s elderly mother, according to The Charlotte Observer,
“Printz is a monster who has a long history of targeting, kidnapping, and killing women - causing unimaginable loss to his victims and their families,” said U.S. Attorney Corey F. Ellis for the District of South Carolina. “He has earned every day of his life sentence, and our communities are safer with him in a prison cell.”
On the morning of Aug. 27, 2021, Printz traveled from his North Carolina home to a Food Lion grocery store in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, where he bought a four-pack of yogurt. There, he waved to Suttles and got into her 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee before the pair returned to his North Carolina residence, according to a probable cause affidavit.
About four hours later, the pair returned to the Food Lion parking lot before the defendant moved a “visibly sedated” Suttles from her vehicle into his Chevrolet Cruze.
Printz then drove the Jeep to a nearby Best Western parking lot, where surveillance video captured him “wiping down” the car’s interior and exterior. According to the affidavit, Printz walked back to his vehicle and “drove off with an apparent motionless Suttles.”
Coworkers alerted the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office when Suttles failed to show up to work the following day.
Authorities obtained a search warrant for Printz’s residence after identifying the suspect through his Food Lion frequent shopper card, which he used on the morning of Suttles’ disappearance. They executed multiple searches at Printz’s home between late August and October, arresting him on Sept. 9, 2021, on charges of grand larceny related to the theft of Suttles’ Jeep.
Federal firearm charges were added after the searches.
On October 9, 2021, investigators found a bee box used for beekeeping on a secluded section of Printz’s property. Inside were a number of Suttles’ personal belongings, including her pocketbook, keys, and jewelry, among other items. A yogurt cup was later tested, revealing it contained traces of Lorazepam (a sedative), Tramadol (a pain-relieving narcotic), and Cyclobenzaprine (a muscle relaxer), a cocktail that could have caused fatal results when mixed.
During the search of the bee box, authorities also found personal items belonging to a missing massage therapist named Nancy Rego, including her passport and license, according to the Charlotte Observer. The missing woman’s relatives confirmed Rego and Printz had been in a relationship before she disappeared from Charlotte, North Carolina, in November 2017.
During another search at Printz’s home, authorities found pill bottles for Lorazepam, Tramadol, and Cyclobenzaprine, all prescribed to Rego back in 2017.
Family members said they maintained communication with Rego since her disappearance through text and e-mail. Despite attempts to meet or speak with her, the person who purported to be Rego always refused. According to the Charlotte Observer, investigators believed Printz collected Rego’s social security checks until the deposits suddenly stopped once Printz was arrested.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina said Rego was shot to death, according to Greenville News. Rego’s body has never been found.
According to Wednesday’s release from the Department of Justice, the feds have also connected Printz to the murders of Delores Sellers and Leigh Goodman.
“Printz admitted in Court that he had some responsibility for, or role in, their deaths and disappearances,” feds stated.
Delores Sellers, the 88-year-old mother of Nancy Rego, died at her Charlotte home in 2017, according to CBS Charlotte affiliate WBTV. Investigators say Sellers died from a lethal dose of prescription medication, allegedly administered by Printz, though details were scarce.
Leigh Goodman died in 2018, just days after meeting Printz, according to WBTV. Details of her death were not made available.
Feds say Printz has a violent criminal history, including a 1997 conviction in Michigan for kidnapping another woman, according to the Department of Justice. He was sentenced to 13 to 30 years and released after 12. Other convictions include firearm possession and assault and battery.
“Printz’s violence against women is reprehensible, and he earned the Court’s severe penalty for his crimes,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Susan Ferensie of the Columbia field office. “The sentence will never bring back the victims, but it’s our hope that the victims’ friends and families find peace in the memories of their loved ones.”
“He is a serial killer,” Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said during a press conference on Wednesday. “He was a sick-minded individual that preyed on the elderly and females.”
As part of the plea deal, Printz has agreed to cooperate in the cases of Rego, Sellers, and Goodman. He will not be eligible for parole.
