Krystal Surles in an interview with 48 Hours Live to Tell

It was the 31st of December 1999, when serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells entered the trailer home of Terry Harris early in the morning. Sells was armed with a butcher knife and went into the room were 13-year old Kaylene (Katie) Harris and 11-year old Krystal Surles were sleeping in a bunk bed. Sells lay down next to Kaylene on the bottom bunk and began sexually assaulting her, Kaylene tried to get up but Sells stabbed her a total of 16 times while slitting her throat multiple times. She died almost instantly. Sells then remembered that Krystal was laying on the top bunk and quickly slashed her throat before leaving the trailer home.

Krystal pretended to be dead, but got up after a while to look for help at a neighbor’s house. She survived the attack and identified Tommy Lynn Sells as the killer.

Tommy Lynn Sells was sentenced to death on the 8th of November 2000, and was executed by lethal injection on the 3rd of April 2014.

Terry and Crystal Harris lived with their son and two daughters in a trailer home west of San Antonio. They attended Grace Community Church, where they made the acquaintance of Tommy Sells, a used car salesman, and his wife. Sells visited the Harris home several times, asking Terry for counseling about his marital difficulties. Terry assisted Surles, a family friend, and traveled to Kansas to get their belongings for a move to Texas. Left at home were Terry's wife and children, and the Surles children. After closing time at a local bar, Sells made his way to the Harris home and entered through an open window. He went to a bedroom, where he saw Kaylene "Katy" Harris, 13, sleeping in the bottom bunk. 10 year old Krystal Surles was sleeping in the top bunk. Sells put his hand over Katy's mouth and brandished a 12-inch boning knife he had brought with him. He sliced off Katy's shorts and underwear and began fondling her. She wiggled free, stood up and screamed. Sells then turned on the light and moved to block the door. Katy saw herself bleeding and said, "You cut me!" Sells then moved behind her, put his hand over her mouth, and sliced her throat twice. Katy dropped to the floor and gurgled. Sells stabbed her 16 more times. "I'll be quiet, I promise. I won't say anything," Krystal said as Sells moved toward her. He reached over and sliced her throat. She fell to the ground, pretending to be dead as Sells walked out the front door. Assuming that everyone in the house had been killed, Krystal ran outside to a neighbor's house and police were called. Krystal survived the attack, identified Sells from a photopack, and testified at trial. Sells confessed to killing Katy Harris and attacking Krystal Surles. He went with police to the residence and gave a videotaped re-enactment of the crime, which aligned with Krystal's account.

This confession was only the beginning, however. Over the next few months, Sells confessed to a string of murders all over the United States, spanning three decades. He used the nickname "Coast to Coast" for himself to describe both his migratory lifestyle and his trail of killings. He traveled by hopping trains and stealing vehicles and made money by working, panhandling, or stealing.

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