THE 2016 murder of a North Carolina plastic surgeon shocked the nation after it was revealed that his wife had committed the heinous crime.
Now, the story of Dr. Frank ‘Buddy’ McCutcheon will be told in an episode of NBC’s Dateline.
Dr. Frank McCutheon, who often went by the nickname Buddy, was known for his career as a plastic surgeon.
The Little Rock, Arkansas, native graduated with a degree from the medical school at the University of Arkansas in 1978 and went on to do residencies in Arkansas before opening up his own practice in North Carolina.
Outside of his work, he was known as a Civil War and U.S. History buff and also enjoyed music, according to his obituary.
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Buddy passed away on July 16, 2016, after he was brutally murdered by his wife, Brenda McCutcheon.
She shot her husband of 32 years in the head amid a state investigation into his practice for alleged embezzling.
At the time, Buddy and his wife, who worked at Cosmetic Surgery of Asheville, were being accused of keeping employees’ payroll withholdings and not paying them to the N.C. Department of Revenue as taxes, Citizen-Times reports.
Under North Carolina law, misuse of payroll withholdings is considered embezzlement, and the couple was served with court papers just days before his tragic passing.
It is still unclear if the embezzlement allegations were what led to his murder, but shortly after, Brenda was arrested and charged with his death.
In February 2020, a jury then found her guilty and sentenced her to life in prison at the age of 69.
“We are relieved the trial is over after three-and-a-half years. We loved our brother. He was a good doctor, a good friend,” Buddy’s brother John said after the verdict, via WLOS.
“For 34 years she (Brenda) was a very good sister-in-law, and then, what happened was, she snapped and murdered my brother. I’m just trying to absorb everything. But we’re glad the jury found her guilty, and the prosecutors did a good job.”
Despite being found guilty, Brenda has maintained her innocence and later appealed the verdict, claiming that the trial court “committed plain error by admitting testimony from Buddy’s brother concerning how Buddy’s death had affected him,” according to court documents obtained by ABC15 News.
However, a judge denied the appeal in December 2021.
NBC’s Dateline is a popular TV program that shows viewers real-life mysteries and in-depth investigations that have happened over the years.
Buddy’s episode is scheduled to have interviews with family members, law enforcement, and attorneys, as well as unseen footage of the investigation.
“After prominent plastic surgeon and local musician Dr. Frank ‘Buddy’ McCutcheon (Jr.) is murdered in his Asheville, North Carolina home, investigators uncover a trail of clues pointing to an unlikely killer,” the episode’s description reads, via Yahoo! News.
“New details come to light from never-before-seen police footage and exclusive TV interviews with insiders close to the case.”
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His episode will air on May 13, 2022, at 11pm EST on NBC.
It will also be available to stream through Hulu and Peacock.
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