Sheriff Terry Ashe
From the busting up of illegal gambling and bootlegging operations to reopening and solving cold cases inherited from his predecessors, Sheriff Terry Ashe has depended upon his sharply-honed investigative instincts to bring scores of dangerous criminals to justice during his more than 40 years in law enforcement.
Ashe was born and raised on a farm outside of Lebanon where he now serves as Wilson County Sheriff, the career he aspired to as a child. He served with the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War and was awarded three Purple Hearts, The Bronze Star, and The Cross of Gallantry, among many other honors for his heroic service as a paratrooper and reconnaissance scout.
Following his tour of duty, Ashe came back to Lebanon, Tennessee to begin his extensive career in public service; from serving as a sheriff’s deputy, to cutting his investigative teeth as Chief Detective for the Lebanon Police Department. As Chief Detective, the high-profile cop led a top-notch investigative team to solve dozens of puzzling crimes. Among those was the high-profile case of the elusive “Southside Rapist” and the brutal Melrose murders featured on the hit television show America’s Most Wanted.
Once he became Sheriff, Terry Ashe’s war against crime gained steam and hasn’t let up.
Sheriff Ashe is perhaps best known for his unorthodox cleanup of the infamous Bluebird Road which was a playground for organized crime, drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling from the late 1950s to the time he first pinned on his badge. A $50,000 contract on his life made news headlines in the mid 1980s as he fought successfully to save the county from a potential gang war.
Most recently, Ashe and his team re-opened and solved a 40-year-old cold murder case, utilizing the expert forensic team in the anthropology department at the University of Tennessee. As a testament to his abilities, Sheriff Ashe’s constituents have re-elected him for eight consecutive terms since his first run for office in 1982, making him one of the longest serving sheriffs in the nation.
While Ashe has always managed to track down the bad guys and bring them to justice, he’s been even more successful in his fight with nature’s forces. He has survived 3 lightning strikes, suffering only minor injuries.