KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The East Tennessee man convicted of raping and murdering 7-year-old Paula Dyer in 1985 is dead. Billy Ray Irick was executed by means of lethal injection the night of Aug. 9. His ...

Nashville — Thirty-three years after he raped and killed a little Knoxville girl, Billy Ray Irick took his last, loud breaths in Tennessee’s execution chamber. And I watched. As a WBIR journalist, I ...

Billy Ray Irick, the death row inmate executed by the state last week, should not receive an autopsy because it would violate his religious beliefs, a Nashville judge ordered. Irick sued to block the ...

Death row inmate Billy Irick was arrested in 1985 and convicted in 1986 for the murder and rape of 7-year-old Paula Dyer. This timeline highlights milestone dates in a case that has now spanned more ...

Until late Monday afternoon, there was still a chance the Tennessee Supreme Court would prevent Billy Ray Irick from receiving a lethal injection on Thursday. But the high court did not issue a stay ...