Women Behind Bars Tuesdays at 10p|9c

Denise Holsinger


Inmate Name: Denise Holsinger Charge: Murder Sentence: Life in Prison Prison: Fluvanna Correctional Center, Virginia Denise Holsinger was born in Lexington, Missouri in 1964. Her parents separated when she was a still a baby. Her mother remarried twice and two younger brothers were born. When she was 11, the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. At 13, she started running away from home. She lived on the streets, off and on, doing drugs and hanging out with a bad crowd. Denise says she was raped three separate times. At 19 years old, she moved to Tennessee, where she met Randall Holsinger who was in the Navy. Denise and Randall married in 1984, and the newlyweds moved to California where Randall was stationed. One year into the marriage, Denise gave birth to a baby girl but Denise continued to gain weight, which made her self-esteem plummet. Two years later, in 1987, she gave birth to another daughter, and then a son in 1989. Denise admits she was overwhelmed as a mother, and struggled with alcohol and a prescription drug addiction that fueled terrible fights with her husband. In 1992, Randall was transferred to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Shortly after moving to Virginia Beach, Denise underwent surgery to have her stomach stapled. In March 1994, 29-year-old Denise separated from her husband for the last time. She landed a job as a bartender and waitress at the Witchduck Inn, owned by Lam Van Son, a Vietnamese immigrant who had come to the United States to live the American Dream. While working at the Witchduck Inn, Denise met a frequent customer of the bar, 32 year old Michael Clagett. He lived in an apartment complex next to the tavern and the two soon became romantically involved. Just two months into the job, Denise was caught stealing. She says it was to help Michael who needed cash. The bar owner fired her but allowed her to come back and be a customer. On June 30th 1994, Clagget’s birthday, Denise and Michael spent the day drinking and doing drugs. Around 11 that night, at Clagett’s apartment, Denise claims Michael suggested they rob the Witchduck Inn. Michael had a .357 revolver that he had stolen from his roommate. In the bar that night were the owner, Lam Van son; a part-time cook, Wendell Parrish; a customer named Abdelaziz Gren; and the new bartender, Karen Rounds. Asleep in the back office, was Lam’s five-year-old son, Joshua. Denise and Michael entered the bar and Michael fatally shot all four of the adults. Surprisingly, the five-year-old son of Lam slept through the entire shooting. While investigators combed the crime scene, Denise and Michael joined the crowd of onlookers outside the Witchduck Inn. When police learned Denise had recently been fired from the bar, she became their number one suspect. 17 hours after the murders, Denise was brought in for questioning. Nearly 24 hours after the murders, police apprehended Michael Clagett. The interrogations of Denise and Michael yielded more than enough evidence to put the two killers away. Though Michael admitted to being the shooter and begged to be given the death penalty, he claimed it was all Denise’s idea. Michael told police he hesitated outside the Witchduck Inn, having second thoughts. Denise, however, still insists to this day that she wasn’t the mastermind that Clagett made her out to be. Virginia’s law in 1995 protected Denise from the possibility of the death penalty because she did not pull the trigger. Michael got the death penalty and was executed. Denise is serving her life sentence at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women.She volunteers for jobs that will help others, such as transcribing books into Braille for the blind. Denise has no contact with her three children or ex-husband, Randall.