MEMPHIS, Tenn. — NEWS RELEASE FROM SHELBY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE
Apartment Neighbor Indicted Man’s Death
June 14, 2021 – A Frayser-area man has been indicted on second-degree and other felony charges related to the death of an apartment neighbor last year whose decomposed body was found beneath a pile of clothes in a bedroom closet, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.
A grand jury indicted 62-year-old James Trigg on additional charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. He is being held on $100,000 bond.
On April 14, 2020, police were called to an apartment in the 2900 block of Northill Cove where they discovered the body of 55-year-old resident Oliver Shanks in a bedroom closet. He had been stabbed multiple times. Investigators said surveillance video showed Trigg entering the apartment with the victim the night of March 30, 2020, and then leaving alone early the following morning. The video also showed Trigg entering and leaving the apartment several more times before the body was discovered two weeks later.