NBC’s “Dateline” is putting the spotlight on the high profile 1996 murder case of Atlanta entrepreneur Lance Herndon on Nov. 22.
Herndon had run a successful IT consulting firm with clients like BellSouth, Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines. He collected fancy cars, flew planes and traveled the world. But in August 1996, he was bludgeoned to death in his own bed in his Roswell home.
His business had been slipping and he was in debt so investigators first considered a jealous business rival or debt collector might have killed him. But he also had plenty of women in his life and the way he was killed pointed to someone who knew him intimately. Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell, who was friends with Herndon, offered a $12,000 reward to someone who could point to the killer.
After many twists and turns, the police arrested one of Herndon’s girlfriends, Dionne Baugh, as the culprit.
NBC’s Andrea Canning interviewed Herndon’s son Harrison, a former employee, former executive district attorney in Fulton County Clint Rucker, retired Roswell police officer Tommy Williams and “Sinister” podcaster Ericka Bozeman.
Bozeman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she was drawn to the case by its fascinating back story and how the eventual murderer met Herndon at his glitzy 41st birthday party, then killed him in a calculated jealous rage four months later. “She felt entitled to his success after getting a taste of it,” she said.
Herndon’s close friend Talana Carraway spoke to “Dateline” in an exclusive interview that other true crime shows were unable to get.
The case is well chronicled. In 2022, both Court TV’s “Someone They Knew” and Oxygen’s “The Real Murders of Atlanta” aired episodes on the case. Rucker dutifully showed up to talk about the case for all three shows.
In 2023, BET+ also released an original scripted movie “Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy” starring Taye Diggs.
IF YOU WATCH
“Dateline NBC”
9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22 on NBC, available on Peacock the next day
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