Elizabethton students lauded as Murder 101 project draws national media and a Sundance premiere

The Elizabethton Board of Education on Monday recognized Elizabethton High School students whose multi-year Murder 101 documentary and podcast project has drawn national and international attention and will stream on Amazon Prime on July 6.

Mr. Campbell, the Elizabethton High School sociology teacher who led the original 2018 class, told the board the students’ work — which began as a classroom research project into cold-case murders — grew into a podcast that drew coverage from outlets including NewsNation and The New York Post, was produced by KT Studios and later developed into an episodic documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

“The students showed that they could do high-level work,” Campbell said. He told the board the project had involved cooperation with an FBI behavioral analyst and that the students’ reporting prompted broad attention; he added, “it’s now been confirmed by law enforcement and genetic testing that not only one but up to 16 serial killers were actually operating in Tennessee in the 1980s,” attributing that assertion to law-enforcement confirmations he had cited to the board.

Students who participated described the impact of the work on them. An unnamed student said the project taught them to leave their comfort zones and engage with the community. Emma Wuben, a 2025 Elizabethton High School graduate, said the class helped students provide closure to families and was not grade-driven: “We were really helping these people and bringing closure to families that hadn't had any kind of answers for years.” Riley Witson, who said she interned with KT Studios, said the project showed students “there is always someone that cares, someone that is willing to help, someone that wants to hear your story.”

Campbell told the board the finished episodic documentary will stream on Amazon Prime on July 6 under the title The Secret, and he said the project’s producers had pursued a Sundance premiere because they were proud of the students’ work.

The board’s recognition included thanks from administrators and a request that community members review archival footage available at the high school. The meeting proceeded after a brief photo session with the students.

The board did not take any formal action related to the documentary during the recognition segment; the item was presented for acknowledgment and community recognition.