Nashville police scrambled to catch a knife-wielding assailant. But they would quickly discover David "Skull" Schulman was killed by a blow to the skull. One of their early suspects was serial killer Paul Dennis Reid (The Fast Food Killer), who was already in custody at the time of Skull's murder. The investigators were baffled.

In the last moments of his life, David "Skull" Schulman opened the Rainbow Room like he had done every day for 50 years. He was wearing his Hee Haw overalls when he was brutally attacked. Police said robbery was the motive, but an examination of the evidence shows how much of a reach that was.

Police found that David "Skull" Schulman had borrowed a lot of money from a Nashville music business icon. And the Rainbow Room was getting threatening calls about Skull repaying that money in the week before he was murdered.

David "Skull" Schulman was an outlaw in a world of musical outlaws. Friends with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, Skull was constantly getting arrested in his early days for overseeing illegal gambling, drinking and nudity in the Rainbow Room.

Coming Oct. 7

Murder on Music Row Season 2: The Skull at the End of the Rainbow" is an 8-part deep dive, narrative podcast that focuses on the 1998 murder of David "Skull" Schulman, an iconic Nashville figure who owned the Skulls Rainbow Room strip club/country music bar for 50 years. The police may have botched the investigation. The prosecutor didn't believe he would get a conviction. And the Tennessee Innocence Project has looked into the case. Hosts Keith Sharon and Kirsten Fiscus uncovered new evidence that may upend long-held beliefs about Skull's murder.

On Sept. 3, you’ll be able to binge the entire season of USA TODAY's new show "Untested" – for free. As the story unfolds, you’ll get an insider’s view of how Marshawn Curtis sweet-talks cops in multiple states, avoiding arrest and terrorizing more women.

Ten years later, a new detective picks up the trail. But will her efforts be enough to put him behind bars? To find out, subscribe to Untested from USA TODAY.

All you need to con your way into a NASCAR race is a car, money and the guts of a snake wrangler. In 1982, a man named L.W. Wright showed up in Nashville trying to talk his way into Talladega. 

Read the series

• Part 1: How L.W. Wright talked his way onto NASCAR's fastest track
• Part 2: Could L.W. Wright drive as fast as he could talk?
• Part 3: After getting a black flag, would LW Wright outrun the law?

Could L.W. Wright drive a race car faster than 180 miles per hour? That's what he set out to do. If he could qualify, he would earn a spot on the starting line at Talladega, arguably the fastest, most dangerous NASCAR race in America. 

Read the series

• Part 1: How L.W. Wright talked his way onto NASCAR's fastest track
• Part 2: Could L.W. Wright drive as fast as he could talk?
• Part 3: After getting a black flag, would LW Wright outrun the law?

With Talladega in his rearview mirror, L.W. Wright was on the run. He had several people in Nashville, those he conned out of money, and several NASCAR officials trying to find him. Could he go fast enough to drop out of sight forever?

Read the series

• Part 1: How L.W. Wright talked his way onto NASCAR's fastest track
• Part 2: Could L.W. Wright drive as fast as he could talk?
• Part 3: After getting a black flag, would LW Wright outrun the law?

A detective’s dogged pursuit of justice links two rape accusations 800 miles apart, and puts her on the path to catch a sexual predator. She’ll bring listeners along on her quest in the new exclusive true crime podcast series from WITNESS and USA TODAY, Untested. Here’s the first episode.

Subscribe for $4.99 to binge the entire season ad-free now.