A man who is serving time in the Putnam jail for pouring gasoline on a woman and chasing her with a cigarette lighter in Cookeville a couple of years ago will go to prison for a Rutherford County murder when he finishes his sentence.

David Wayne Newcomb, 45, recently entered a no-contest plea to second degree murder in Rutherford County in the death of Rhonda Sue Bailey, 29, of Georgia, officials said. He was sentenced to 15 years in the case.

Bailey’s body was found in a creek bed in Rutherford County back in 1994, and detectives had known that Newcomb was an acquaintance of the woman, but it was not until 2009 that new information led them to Newcomb as a suspect in the drowning death of the woman.

By that time, Newcomb was in trouble in Cookeville over a violent incident that took place at his Scenic Drive residence in September of 2009.

Newcomb and his girlfriend of that time got into an argument, and he threw gasoline on her and chased her with a cigarette lighter, police said.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found Newcomb holding a gas can in one hand and a lighter in the other, and he threw gas on one officer and continued splashing gas around the place as the officers struggled to arrest him.

Newcomb later pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault in the case, but a charge of attempted murder was dropped in a plea deal.

Upon his plea of guilty, Newcomb was sentenced to six years in jail.

Deputy District Attorney Tony Craighead said at the time that Newcomb had a record of domestic assault in other counties.

When Rutherford County detectives came to the Putnam jail to interview Newcomb about the murder in that county, he at first denied any involvement. But he was charged with first degree murder anyway, and as the case moved toward the trial stage, he decided to enter a plea to a lesser charge.

That plea of guilty to second degree murder in the Rutherford County case was entered two weeks ago in exchange for the 15-year prison sentence.

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A Rickman woman injured in a traffic crash caused by a thunderstorm in Overton County on February 29 has died, and a Sparta man was killed in a wreck in White County Monday, March 5, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Letha M. Lee, 85, of Curtis Norrod Road, Rickman, died in Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville March 5 from injuries she suffered in a traffic crash on Highway 111 on February 29, according to THP.

William R. Caldwell, 43, of Gum Springs Mountain Road, Sparta, was killed in a traffic accident in White County, troopers said.

The Overton County accident happened on Highway 111 in the Rickman area at 3:25 p.m. Wednesday, February 29, says a report by Trooper Marty Philpot.

Jessica Subic, 21, of Zion Hill Road, Cookeville, was driving a 1999 Pontiac south on Highway 111 during a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain and lost control of the car, which traveled through the grass median and into the northbound lanes of Highway 111 and struck a northbound vehicle head-on, the report says.

The other vehicle was a 2002 Kia Sportage being driven by Ellen M. Bilbrey, 53, of Windle Community Road. Letha M. Lee was a passenger in Bilbrey’s vehicle, and so was Robert L. Gore, 54, of Windle Community Road. All three were injured.

Jessica Subic and the passengers in her vehicle, a one-year-old infant and Cody J. Hayes, 25, of Sparta, were also injured in the crash, the trooper’s report says.

In the White County accident, which happened early Monday morning, March 5 on Frank’s Ferry Road, William R. Caldwell, 43, was driving a 1992 Chevrolet pickup at a high rate of speed, says a report by Trooper Ronnie Hale.

While negotiating a curve, Caldwell’s truck crossed over both highway lanes and entered the northbound ditchline, where it struck a driveway culvert and went airborne for 147 feet, the report says.

The truck landed on its top, rolling and ejecting the driver, then continuing to roll and coming to final rest in an upright position.

Caldwell was not using a seatbelt, and in the opinion of the trooper, use of a belt might have made a difference in the outcome of the crash.