Brian Christopher passed away on July 29nd, which was reported as a suicide by hanging while he was incarcerated in an isolated Hardeman County Tennessee jail cell. Jerry “The King” Lawler, Christopher’s father, doesn’t believe the reports. He said that he’s been told that you can bet substantial money that Christopher didn’t commit suicide.
Lawler opened up on his Dinner With The King podcast about Christopher’s passing. The Tennessee Bureau Of Investigation is looking into his death and asked Lawler not to speak publically on the matter until their investigation has concluded. Lawler previously detailed the heartbreaking experience of losing his son, and is now talking again giving new details surrounding Christopher’s death.
“Since our last podcast, we’ve got a ton of information and a ton of contact and people reaching out about information about what really happened,” Lawler said. “I know everything that was reported said Brian committed suicide by hanging himself. Now since that time, at least I’m certain — in a lot of people’s minds and certainly in mine — we have serious doubts if that actually happened.
“Right now we’re not at liberty to discuss, some of the things we’re not at liberty to discuss. The Tennessee Bureau Of Investigation is conducting their own investigation into what happened and it’s still an on-going investigation at this time. Once they finish that they will report to the Attorney General in Hardeman County, unfortunately, that’s the same place that the jail and the Sheriff and to me it all seems like a [network]. You know that’s what we’ve been hearing goes on in Hardeman County it’s just been very frustrating. The sad thing is nothing is going to bring Brian back.”
The Lawler Family wants answers and they have been contacted by four different eye-witnesses to the incidents leading to Christopher’s death. All four stories were the same with no deviation as Lawler continued to describe what his family has uncovered regarding Christopher’s final hours.
“Nobody who saw Brian in his last few moments is talking to us,” Lawler said. “But everybody who was in the jail with Brian that day swears — one of the guys he said to me, ‘Mr. Lawler I got $92 to my name, but if I had $9 million I would bet all of it that Brian didn’t hang himself.’ These aren’t any people who have anything to gain by talking to us. as a matter of fact, a lot of them are scared and are worried about their own safety after talking to us and telling us some of the things that went on in the jail that day.
“It’s really frustrating to hear these things but we’re just really trying to find out what happened to Brian.”
Lawler said the TBI doesn’t have to tell them anything about their investigation until it concludes. When he asked how long this type of investigation can last, Lawler was told they can span nearly a year.
“Once we see the results of that investigation, then we might have to launch an investigation of our own,” Lawler said. “This is not about a lawsuit or trying to sue the jail or sue the Sheriff or sue the county or anything. It’s not about that at all. It’s just about finding out what really happened here.”
Lawler said that the isolation cell Christopher was in when he reportedly hanged himself to death has no place where you could hang yourself from. Lawler spoke about even more evidence as pictures contradict the story that he hung himself with his own shoelaces.
“They said he was hanged by shoelaces and there are a couple pictures of Brian’s neck where it’s almost the bruising from what would be a shoelace apparently, and it goes around and it stops on the front of his neck,” Lawler continued. “The bruising stops at what would be the distance of his hand. When you look at a picture of his hand, there’s bruising that looks like the side of his neck going along the inside of Brian’s hand.
“To me, it looks like he had his hand trying to pull something off of his neck that may have been choking him. Those pictures aren’t consistent with somebody hanging themselves. So there’s just a lot of stuff that we have talked about a little but there’s still a lot of stuff we can’t talk about right now.”
Lawler spoke to people who were inmates at the Hardeman County Jail and they revealed cameras are plentiful in the eight-year-old facility. Questions regarding a possible video of Christopher’s tragic passing could be squelched due to rumors of equipment malfunction. His search is a tireless one as he promises not to stop pursuing the truth until the actual events surrounding Christopher’s death are revealed.
“There’s even questions about the surveillance cameras at the jail,” Lawler said. “This is a fairly new jail with supposed upgrades. Some of the inmates said that cameras are everywhere and one of the inmates said you can walk over in the pod and start to pick up a piece of paper and a voice would come over the intercom — ‘Don’t pick up that piece of paper!’ — it’s like they were being watched at every step they made inside this jail.
“So if that’s the case, then why haven’t they come forward with video of what took place. We have also heard — this is a rumor though that we have to substantiate — that twenty of their surveillance cameras were inoperable. So there’s a lot of things we have to find out from the jail and the correction officers. Every inmate’s movements should be tracked all day long so we’re just going to keep searching until we find out.”
Sources: Dinner With The King and WrestlingINC
