Nicholas Holloway, the last of three people charged in the 2020 death of Robert Quenton McCullough, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after entering a guilty plea. The move effectively closes a sprawling case that began with a missing-person report in October 2020 and ended with the discovery of McCullough’s body in an Oakdale trailer that December.
Holloway pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping, and a judge signed off on the 25-year term as part of the deal, according to WATE. The outlet reports he will serve the time in the Tennessee Department of Corrections, and the plea means there will be no contested trial on the remaining charges.
How investigators say it unfolded
McCullough was last seen in early October 2020, and his family reported him missing later that month. His body was recovered on Dec. 2, 2020, inside an abandoned mobile home in the Oakdale area, where investigators found he had been bound with rope and zip ties. The trailer was identified in reporting as 153 Young Drive. Multiple agencies, including the Roane County Sheriff’s Office, Rockwood Police Department and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, handled the missing-person investigation and the resulting criminal cases, according to reporting on the 153 Young Drive trailer.
Sentences for co-defendants
Two co-defendants had already received longer terms in earlier proceedings. Joshua Aikens was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, while Shane Parks pleaded guilty to kidnapping and second-degree murder and was handed concurrent 45-year sentences. Those outcomes were announced in 2024 as prosecutors moved the case through Roane County courts, according to WVLT and follow-up coverage by WVLT.
Legal notes
Prosecutors said Holloway’s plea guarantees a lengthy prison term and spares witnesses and McCullough’s family the ordeal of a trial. Ninth Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson previously noted that inconsistent witness statements made it difficult to pin down the exact timing of McCullough’s death during the original investigation, according to WATE. With Holloway now sentenced, authorities say the criminal proceedings in the case are essentially wrapped up.
