A convicted felon wildly claimed he was a confidential FBI informant working to take down drug smugglers and corrupt cops when his cover was blown and he was subsequently framed for murdering four members of the same Tennessee family.
Austin Drummond, 28, said prosecutors recruited him following an arrest earlier this year to help crack down on illicit activities in the state’s corrections system — months before he was busted in the woods of Jackson, Tenn., on Aug. 5, WTVF reported.
The alleged mass murderer claimed his undercover work was in coordination with the FBI, who oversaw him in his efforts to arrest drug dealers, corrupt police officers, and high-ranking gang members.
“During my time working with them, I helped uncover drug dealers selling multiple kilos of cocaine, also drug traffickers delivering pounds of meth,” Drummond told the outlet as he spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest over the slayings.
“We identified dirty law enforcement and correctional personnel.”
Drummond also said he became a member of the Vice Lords — one of the oldest and largest prison and street gangs in the nation — tapping the phones of their leadership.
However, he said his cover was blown on July 29, when Matthew Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Braydon Williams, 15; and Cortney Rose, 38, were murdered in Tiptonville.
In turn, he was labeled as the suspected killer — prompting him to run in fear for his life.
Drummond admits that he did not handle the “situation right by running,” but was “afraid” due to his work as an alleged informant.
“I’m not an innocent man, but I am not guilty of what they charged me with,” he said. “I had no reason to hurt these people. They were my girlfriend’s family, who became my family.”
However, Drummond revealed that he was “somehow directly involved” in the killings — but did not go into detail as to how.
Drummond also declined to discuss why Wilson and Williams’ seven-month-old daughter was discovered abandoned in a car seat in a front yard in Tigrett.
Lake County District Attorney Danny Goodman Jr. told WTVF that there was “no doubt in his mind” that Drummond committed the murders and that there is a “clear motive.”
Drummond has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, one count of kidnapping, and five separate gun charges. He is currently being held without bond.
Goodman Jr. previously stated that his office plans to seek the death penalty.
At the time of the quadruple homicide, Drummond was also out on bond after being charged with attempted murder from his stint in prison.
It was also revealed that Drummond was dating a state corrections officer, Kaitlyn Speed, who is the sister of one of the victims, Cortney Rose, and is expecting to give birth to his son on Oct. 20, The Sun reported.
Speed was a correctional officer at the Northwest Correctional facility, where Drummond was serving a 13-year sentence for aggravated robbery.
However, it’s unclear if the two were dating before or started during his time behind bars.
She was later fired from her job over the relationship.
Speed has not been charged in connection with the killings or the weeklong manhunt for Drummond, Fox 13 Memphis reported.
Goodman Jr. stressed there is no evidence linking her to the murders. He also said the two were on “bad terms until after this incident.”
Drummond’s court-appointed attorney asked the judge to remove a restraining order put out against him by Speed so that his client could speak with her during his court appearance on Aug.14.
The judge declined to amend the restraining order.
Drummond is set for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 4.
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