They were called “The Tanning Bed Murders” in 1996. Two women were found brutally murdered in a Nashville business. The case remained unsolved. Until now.
Patrick Lamonte Streater has been indicted for the murders of Tiffany Campbell and Melissa Dawn Chilton. Streater was serving time in the California penal system when the Nashville crime was solved. Streater’s crime and subsequent arrest is a story of a Nashville kid who, somewhere, went horribly wrong.
In 1996, Patrick Streater was running track and tossing footballs for McGavock High School. He had a promising future. The wide receiver was named first-team all-Metro by the Nashville Banner. He told people his dream was to teach sports. He accepted an offer at MTSU but changed his plans and attended East Tennessee State University.
Meanwhile, Melissa Dawn Chilton was a high school cheerleader who attended MTSU. She began working as an exotic dancer at a tanning salon called “Exotic Tan for Men” attached to a business called “Private Moments.” Tiffany Campbell was a dancing coworker, also working her way through college. Law enforcement suspected the “tanning salon” was a cover for prostitution. Streater was dating Campbell in 1996. On February 22 of that year, Tiffany and Melissa were found stabbed over 100 times in a back room of “Exotic Tan.” It was a horrific crime that led to legal changes in Nashville’s adult entertainment, a segment on “America’s Most Wanted” and a $70,000 reward. Nashville serial killer Paul Dennis Reid was a suspect at one time, as was Streater, but there was no way to prove the suspicions.
Streater then moved to California, where he took a job as a football coach of Jesuit High School in Sacramento, and as a track coach at Holy Family Elementary. He temporarily worked as a security guard. He also spent his time in another endeavor: in 2002 he was arrested for a string of home invasion robberies. He targeted elderly women, tying them up, beating them, and stealing valuables. Streater received a 12-year sentence. He was using the money from the robberies for living expenses. By day he worked with children; on his time off he terrorized old, helpless women who resided alone. “Coach Streater” was taken off the field – and off the streets.
The Metro Nashville Police Department has released a statement explaining “investigative work and interviews and scientific evidence,” led to the charges against Streater. Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson praised the closing of the case, saying, “The indictment against Patrick Streater is the result of countless hours of detective work by Sergeant Pat Postiglione and his team. They worked diligently to uncover new pieces of the investigative puzzle, as well as put into place those pieces developed by other officers over the past 17 years.” (source) Postiglione is a veteran Metro Nashville Police Detective who supervises the Cold Case Unit. He also worked the Paul Dennis Reid case. RewardsTV.net has named Postiglione “Crimepay Officer of the Month.”
The crime that took 17 years to solve has brought peace for law enforcement and peace to the victim’s families. Most importantly, says one of the victim’s mothers, the victims can now rest.
Credit: photo of J. Yates
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