The owner of a controversial Tennessee Halloween attraction featured in a Hulu documentary has been arrested for the rape and attempted murder of his girlfriend.
Russ Alan McKamey, the owner of McKamey Manor, was initially arrested on a domestic assault charge after he allegedly strangled his girlfriend on July 17, WKRN reported. The woman nearly lost consciousness. The incident took place at his home in Summertown.
McKamey was detained on a $1,000 bond and ordered not to contact the woman.
The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office then learned of another incident that happened the day McKamey was booked. He allegedly raped the woman and strangled her to the point where she nearly lost consciousness again.
McKamey was also charged with attempted second-degree murder and rape and his bond was increased to $100,000. According to the Lawrence County Jail, he posted bond and was released.
Newsweek reached out to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office for more information.
McKamey Manor was featured on the 2023 Hulu documentary “Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House.” Guests attending the attraction were asked to sign a waiver before undergoing several fear-inducing situations.
Brandon Vance spoke about his experience visiting the attraction on the documentary. He said he was locked in a cage and water was poured on him until he had almost no room to breathe.
After the documentary aired, the state’s Office of the Attorney General sent a letter to McKamey citing concerns about potential violations of consumer protection laws.
McKamey originally operated the attraction in California, but it was shut down due to “public outcry,” according to the letter. He opened the attraction in Tennessee in 2017.
The 2023 letter cites several concerns, including that staff do not honor or offer attendee’s request to stop the experience, participants cannot review the waiver before traveling to the attraction and an alleged $20,000 prize to participants who completes the experience “does not exist and/or is impossible to win.”
The attorney general’s office requested that McKamey send various documents and information about the operation. McKamey responded by suing the office claimed that the requests violated his constitutional rights.
He is also suing Hulu and one of the attraction’s attendees for $8.4 million in damages, according to The Tennessean.
Newsweek reached out to Hulu for comment.
Members of the public have called for the attraction to be shut down, with one online petition gathering nearly 200,000 signatures.
McKamey is expected to appear in court on August 6 before Lawrence County General Sessions Judge William Harris.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
