A Beech Bluff man found dead Monday inside a car behind a pre-kindergarten center had a history of drug convictions, according to his criminal record with the Jackson Police Department.
Around 8:30 a.m. Monday, police were called about a body, inside a car, on the back parking lot of Whitehall Pre-K Center, located at 532 Whitehall Street. A citizen was dropping off a child for school when he made the discovery.
"The citizen said they saw a car, a 1985 Pontiac Bonneville, on the parking lot and thought it looked suspicious," Miller said Monday morning.
An assistant county medical examiner was summoned to the scene and the victim was identified as William Joseph Nachlinger, 25, of Rocky Springs Road in Beech Bluff, according to a news release from the Jackson Police Department.
Nachlinger's murder is the first homicide of the year in Jackson, Miller said.
According to his criminal record, Nachlinger had been convicted for drug/narcotics and sent to prison three separate times: in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He also had a conviction for evading arrest in 2007 and was also sent to prison.
Nachlinger's body was transported to the state Medical Examiner's Office in Nashville to determine the exact cause of death, the release said.
According to witnesses, the car had been parked there at least 24 hours. Evidence at the scene indicates Nachlinger was not killed on the parking lot.
"We do believe the car was here for 24 hours before we were called to the scene," Miller said.
Miller said the pre-K center was placed on lockdown and said the principal told him the lockdown would end once police had left the scene.
Because of the cold weather and the possibility of rain, the car, with the body inside, was towed to the evidence bay at the Jackson Police Department to be processed, Miller said.
Police were on the scene for about two hours.
The release said investigators would like to talk to anyone who saw or talked to Nachlinger on Saturday.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the Jackson Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit at 731-425-8400 or Crime Stoppers at 731-424-8477 (TIPS). Submit a cyber tip at 424tips.org and click on “web tips”.
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