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Johnny Cash’s Great-Niece Courtney Cash Found Stabbed to Death

Johnny Cash
Courtney Cash, the great-niece of musician Johnny Cash, was found stabbed to death at her home in Tennessee

Tragic. Courtney Cash, the great-niece of the late musician Johnny Cash, was found stabbed to death and stuffed in a box at her house in Tennessee, authorities told the Associated Press on Thursday, March 20.

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Putnam County Sheriff David Andrews said Cash's body was found on Wednesday morning, in a home about 70 miles east of Nashville. The scene inside the house was "somewhat bloody," Andrews told reporters, adding that "there was a struggle."

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A second victim, identified as Cash's boyfriend William Austin Johnson, was being treated for stab wounds at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Andrews said. Johnson apparently escaped the attack with his and Cash's young child.

The couple's friend, a man named Wayne Gary Masciarella, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the incident. He's being held without bond and has a court date scheduled for April 21.

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A motive for the stabbing was not released, but Andrews suggested that drugs may have been involved in some way. "This is a senseless, tragic death of a young lady whose life was probably taken as a direct or indirect result of drugs," he said in a news conference.

Johnny Cash's brother, Tommy Cash, also spoke out about the devastating incident, and asked for prayers for his family after the loss of his granddaughter. "We are completely heartbroken," he said.

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