Southern Mysteries Podcast: Recent Episodes

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At the bottom of West Virginia’s New River Gorge, the nearly abandoned railroad town of Thurmond hides a history of coal wealth, rival businessmen, gambling, violence and suspicious deaths. This episode traces the rise of Thurmond and the infamous Dun Glen Hotel, the crimes that earned the area a lawless reputation, and the town’s transformation from a booming C&O railroad center into a preserved part of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

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Episode Sources

• “Thurmond.” National Park Service, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. https://www.nps.gov/neri/learn/historyculture/thurmond.htm
• “Thurmond Walking Tour.” National Park Service, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, Jan. 6, 2020. https://www.nps.gov/neri/learn/historyculture/thurmond-walking-tour.htm
• “Gambling at the Dunglen Hotel.” National Park Service, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. https://www.nps.gov/neri/learn/historyculture/gambling-at-the-dunglen-hotel.htm
• “Thurmond Passenger Depot.” National Park Service, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
• “New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.” National Park Service. Background on the 1978 establishment of New River Gorge National River and the 2020 redesignation as a national park and preserve.
• Harper, R. Eugene. “Thurmond Historic District.” National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Sept. 15, 1983. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/fayette/84003520.pdf
• National Park Service. “Thurmond Historic Structures Assessment: New River Gorge National River, West Virginia.” http://www.quid-tum.com/documents/thurmond_assessment_report.pdf
• Cox, W. Eugene. “Dun Glen Hotel.” The West Virginia Encyclopedia, April 23, 2019. https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1973
• “Burning of the Dunglen Hotel.” West Virginia Archives and History, July 23, 1930. http://www.wvculture.org/history/businessandindustry/dunglen01.html
• Knight, Wallace E. “Dunglen Hotel.” West Virginia Archives and History, May 4, 1952. http://www.wvculture.org/history/businessandindustry/dunglen02.html
• “July 22, 1930: Fayette County’s Dun Glen Hotel Destroyed by Arson.” West Virginia Public Broadcasting, July 22, 2020. https://www.wvpublic.org/radio/2020-07-22/july-22-1930-fayette-countys-dun-glen-hotel-destroyed-by-arson
• “The Dunglen Hotel: The Historic Hotspot for Trouble.” New River Gorge Convention and Visitors Bureau, Oct. 22, 2014. https://newrivergorgecvb.com/dunglen-hotel/
• Hufford, Mary. “Breaking the Time Barrier: Folklife and Heritage Planning in Southern West Virginia.” Folklife Center News, vol. 15, nos. 3-4, July 1, 1993.
• Tabler, Dave. “Women, Booze, Dice and Cards.” Appalachian History, July 23, 2019. https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2019/07/women-booze-dice-and-cards.html
• Schnur, Leisa. “Historic Dun Glen Hotel Site Soon Accessible.” Haunt Jaunts, Jan. 2, 2019. https://www.hauntjaunts.net/historic-dun-glen-hotel-site-soon-accessible/
• Poillio, Carol. “Haunted National Parks: The ‘Dodge City of the East.’” Intuitive Investigations. https://www.intuitive-investigations.com/single-post/2016/04/12/haunted-national-parks-the-dodge-city-of-the-east
• “Longest Poker Game Ever.” Better Poker News. https://betterpokernews.com/betterpokernews-com-longest-poker-game-ever/
• Amtrak. “Thurmond, West Virginia.” Station information for the Cardinal route. https://www.amtrak.com/stations/thn
• Amtrak. “Cardinal.” Route information for passenger service between New York and Chicago.
• “Thurmond, West Virginia.” Historical documentary detailing William Dabney Thurmond, Thomas Gaylord McKell, the development of the C&O railroad junction, Glen Jean, the Dun Glen Hotel and the south-side entertainment district. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwcFcuj-eJ0
• “Thurmond.” The Fayette Journal, Nov. 2, 1911, p. 67. Profile of the town, its railroad business, banks, businesses and prominent residents. Newspapers.com.
• “Dunglen Hotel, Thurmond, W. Va.” The Fayette Journal, Nov. 2, 1911, p. 68. Newspapers.com.
• “Mankin Drug Company, Thurmond, W. Va.” and “The New River Banking and Trust Company, Thurmond, W. Va.” The Fayette Journal, Nov. 2, 1911, p. 69. Newspapers.com.
• “National Bank of Thurmond.” The Fayette Journal, Nov. 2, 1911, p. 70. Newspapers.com.
• “New C&O Station.” The Leader, Jan. 23, 1947, p. 3. Report on a proposed modern station, passenger and freight traffic, and Thurmond’s reputation as a riotous railroad town. Newspapers.com.
• “New Witness in Beckley Kidnap Case Is Found.” Hinton Daily News, Nov. 26, 1943, p. 8. Account involving a Thurmond railroad worker who encountered a kidnapped girl aboard a freight train. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/47911258/?match=1&terms=thurmond%20railroad
• “Town of Thurmond Once Was East’s ‘Little Monte Carlo.’” Historical newspaper feature detailing the Dun Glen Hotel, gambling and stories associated with Thurmond’s violent reputation. Newspapers.com.
• “Thurmond Reawakened: It’s Not the Same Type of Town It Used to Be.” The Raleigh Register, Nov. 10, 1977, p. 20. Newspapers.com.
• “Fire Across From Thurmond Causes Loss of $25,000.” The Independent-Herald, Jan. 30, 1908, p. 1. Report on the fire that destroyed two stores and a residence and threatened the Dun Glen Hotel. Newspapers.com.
• “Old ‘Dodge City of East,’ Thurmond, Comes Full Circle.” Sunday Gazette-Mail, June 20, 1976, p. 12. Report on the Bankers Club, the Pugh family and new tourism businesses in Thurmond. Newspapers.com.
• “Coal Baron’s Dream Railroad Rusting, Awaits Dismantling.” Sunday Gazette-Mail, Aug. 4, 1974, p. 20. Account of the abandoned Arbuckle Creek railroad and Thurmond’s deterioration. Newspapers.com.
• “Thurmond, the ‘Dodge City of the East,’ Is Thriving Again.” Beckley Post-Herald/The Raleigh Register, July 31, 1977, p. 1. Report on rafting, tourism and renewed interest in Thurmond. Newspapers.com.
• “Mayor Fined Suicide.” The Fairmont West Virginian, June 14, 1904, p. 4. Reprinted account credited to the Huntington Herald concerning the drowning near Thurmond and the mayor’s reported five-dollar fine.
• Account of the drowned man fined for violating a town ordinance against suicide. Shepherdstown Register, June 16, 1904, p. 2. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/375523925/?match=1&terms=thurmond%20railroad
• “Conductor Killed.” Hinton Daily News, Aug. 10, 1904, p. 1. Report on C&O conductor J.G. McKenzy, whose body was found on the tracks under circumstances that led residents to suspect murder. Newspapers.com.
• “Lawlessness at Thurmond.” Hinton Daily News, June 8, 1903, p. 1. Report on Baldwin detective J.W. Nelson’s alleged blackjack assault on railroad engineer Doggett. Newspapers.com.
• “Foolish Girl Lured to Thurmond to Marry a Man Whom She Had Never Seen.” The Independent-Herald, April 24, 1902, p. 3. Newspapers.com.
• “Three Miners Are Killed.” Martinsburg Herald, Feb. 2, 1907, p. 7. Report on the mine explosion near Stuart on Loop Creek that killed three miners. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/884926213/?match=1&terms=thurmond%20railroad
• “Arrest Two at Thurmond for Burdette Hold-Up.” Hinton Daily News, April 25, 1925, p. 1. Newspapers.com.
• “Traveling Man Shot at Thurmond.” Hinton Daily News, Feb. 9, 1903, p. 1. Report on the fatal shooting of J.H. Arrington by Walter Smith at the Dun Glen Hotel. Newspapers.com.
• “His Throat Cut.” The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, Aug. 26, 1893, p. 1. Report on Robert Baines, who was found near Arbuckle Creek with his throat cut and accused Henry Caldwell of the attack. Newspapers.com.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In February 1893, Atlanta endured a week of financial scandal, suicide and shocking violence that newspapers would later remember as Black Week. The darkest chapter unfolded inside the home of one of the city's most respected families, where two sisters were murdered and a third calmly confessed. Through contemporary accounts and Julia Force's own writings, this episode explores one of Georgia's most haunting nineteenth-century murder cases and the mystery that still surrounds it.

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Episode Sources

• Langley, Lee. Inside Scenes of Atlanta's Black Week: A Series of Social Sensations and a Carnival of Crimes. Atlanta: Franklin Printing and Publishing Company, 1893.
• "A Carnival of Crime." The True Citizen (Waynesboro, Georgia), March 4, 1893.
• "The Trial of Julia Force." The True Citizen (Waynesboro, Georgia), July 1, 1893.
• "Miss Julia Force Indicted." The Weekly Banner (Athens, Georgia), March 14, 1893.
• "Julia Force Declared Insane." The Hartwell Sun (Hartwell, Georgia), July 7, 1893.
• "Julia Force Sent to the State Sanitarium." The Union Recorder (Milledgeville, Georgia), July 11, 1893.
• "Thomas Cobb Jackson's Suicide." The Montgomery Monitor (Mount Vernon, Georgia), March 2, 1893.
• "Force, Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Boots and Shoes." The Daily Intelligencer (Atlanta, Georgia), Dec. 22, 1865.
• "Bankruptcy Notice of Benjamin W. Force." The Daily Opinion (Atlanta, Georgia), Oct. 24, 1867.
• The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia), coverage of the Lewis Redwine scandal and Atlanta's Black Week, 1893-1894.
• The Atlanta Journal (Atlanta, Georgia), coverage of the Force murders and trial, 1893.
• Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu
• New Georgia Encyclopedia. "Fulton County." https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
• New Georgia Encyclopedia. "Henry W. Grady." https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
• Your Peachy Past. https://peachypast.blogspot.com
• Find a Grave. "Julia H. Force." https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144555327/julia-h-force
• Friends of Memory Hill Cemetery. https://friendsofcems.org

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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For more than two centuries, a hidden society existed in one of the most unforgiving landscapes in the American South. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, explore the remarkable history of the Great Dismal Swamp maroons, one of the longest-lasting acts of resistance to slavery in American history. Through historical records, firsthand accounts and modern archaeology, this forgotten chapter of Southern history reveals how an entire community survived in plain sight and why so few people have heard their story.

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Episode Sources

• “The Hidden Black Society They Don’t Teach You About” — In the Margins, PBS. Overview of the Great Dismal Swamp maroons, including interior, fringe and canal communities; the stories of Harriet Jacobs, Venus and Jack; the canal labor economy; and the Easter Conspiracy.
• “The Great Dismal Swamp” — 99% Invisible. Podcast episode exploring the landscape, history and archaeology of the swamp’s maroon communities.
• “Tom Copper’s Rebellion and Great Dismal Marronage” — National Park Service. Detailed history of Tom Copper, Mingo, New Begun and the alleged Easter Conspiracy of 1802.
• “Anthropologist Daniel Sayers on the Maroons Who Found Freedom in the Great Dismal Swamp” — National Endowment for the Humanities. Interview about Sayers’ archaeological research and the evidence of long-term maroon settlements.
• “The Dismal Swamp: One Road Out of Slavery Took You Straight to the Boggiest Place You’ve Ever Been” — National Endowment for the Humanities. Background on the landscape, archaeology and people who sought freedom inside the swamp.
• “Deep in the Swamps, Archaeologists Are Finding How Fugitive Slaves Kept Their Freedom” — Smithsonian Magazine. In-depth account of Daniel Sayers’ excavations and the evidence uncovered at interior maroon sites.
• A Desolate Place for a Defiant People: The Archaeology of Maroons, Indigenous Americans, and Enslaved Laborers in the Great Dismal Swamp — Daniel O. Sayers. Archaeological study of Indigenous occupation, enslaved labor and maroon resistance within the swamp.
• Dismal Freedom: A History of the Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp — J. Brent Morris. History of the maroons and the ways they created independent lives beyond white-controlled society.
• City of Refuge: Slavery and Petit Marronage in the Great Dismal Swamp, 1763–1856 — Marcus P. Nevius. Study of temporary and long-term escape, informal labor networks and the connections between maroons and the swamp’s commercial economy.
• “A History of the Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp” — Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Program featuring historian J. Brent Morris and his research into the swamp’s maroon communities.
• “Gabriel’s Conspiracy” — Encyclopedia Virginia and Virginia Humanities. Historical overview of Gabriel’s planned 1800 uprising near Richmond.
• “Letter from Mosby Sheppard to James Monroe, Aug. 30, 1800” — Encyclopedia Virginia and the Library of Virginia. Primary-source warning sent to Virginia’s governor after the planned uprising was revealed.
• “Testimony in the Trial of Gabriel, Oct. 6, 1800” — Encyclopedia Virginia and the Library of Virginia. Surviving testimony from Gabriel’s prosecution.
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl — Harriet Jacobs, available through Documenting the American South at the University of North Carolina. Jacobs’ firsthand account of her escape from slavery and the time she spent hiding in a swamp.
• Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, Late a Slave in the United States of America — Moses Grandy, available through Documenting the American South. Firsthand account of slavery, waterway labor and the economy surrounding the Great Dismal Swamp and its canal.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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This Southern Mysteries Classic revisits a chilling historical true crime case from the Kentucky mountains. In February 1933, a church service ended with the death of 72-year-old Lucinda Mills. Nine of her relatives were jailed and accused of murder, while the national press labeled the case a human sacrifice. Decades later, the question remains: what really happened inside that cabin?

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Episode Sources

• Laben T. Mills Obituary. Big Sandy News. July 31,1914
• Lucinda Ward Mills. Find A Grave. [Lucinda’s age listed as 65 here but based off of census records she was believed to have been 72]
• Burning of Body on Altar Halted by Inez Police. The Owensboro Inquirer. February 9, 1933
• Cult Victim Held Willing Sacrifice. The Courier-Journal. February 10, 1933
• Insanity Plea Planned in Cult Slaying Case. The Courier-Journal. February 11, 1933
• Bare Details of ‘Sacrifice’ Death Scene. Indianpolis Times. February 11, 1933
• Mills Held Without Bond for Slaying Mother in Cult ‘Sacrifice’. The Lexington Herald. February 12, 1933
• Nine Relatives of Cult Victim Are Indicted. The Owensboro Messenger. April 5, 1933
• Insanity Held Slaying Cause. The Courier-Journal. April 7, 1933
• Two Relative Freed In Cult Slaying Trial. The Lexington Leader. April 9, 1933
• Prosecutor Contends Slayers of Mrs Mills Cold Blooded Murderers. The Courier-Journal. April 10, 1933
• Mills Kneeling on Mother’s Body Fought Deputies. The Owensboro Inquirer. April 11, 1933
• Cult Case Goes to Jury. The Courier Journal. April 12, 1933
• Cult Leader Is Given Life Term for Matricide. The Courier-Journal. April 12, 1933
• Blaine McGinnis is Given Pardon. Lexington Herald-Leader. November 3, 1933
• Odd Fellows Have Skeletons in Their Closets--and Their Walls and Attics. Los Angeles Times. April 2001.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In the 1880s, Rowan County, Kentucky, became known as “Bloody Rowan” after politics, old grudges and personal revenge led to one of the state’s deadliest feuds. This episode traces the Rowan County War from an Election Day shooting in Morehead to three years of ambushes, militia intervention and a final armed showdown that ended the violence, but not through justice.

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Episode Sources

• Pearce, John Ed. Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky, 1994.
• Blair, Juanita and Brown, Fred Jr. Days of Anger, Days of Tears: Rowan County, Kentucky, 1884–1887. 1984. Morehead State University Rowan County War Collection.
• Morehead State University Rowan County War Collection. scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/rowan_county_war
• Kentucky Historical Society. Rowan County War historical marker, Morehead, Kentucky.
• The New York Times. “The Rowan County War: Two Factions Thirsting for Each Other’s Blood.” July 6, 1885.
• The New York Times. Coverage of the reported Grace Martin and Frank Tolliver marriage. 1889.
• Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin. “Bloody Election Day.” August 6, 1884.
• Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin. “A Train Stopped and a Murderer Riddled with Bullets.” December 1884.
• Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin. “Deadly Feud Ended in Marriage.” 1889.
• Louisville Courier-Journal. “The Rowan County War.” April 4, 1885.
• Louisville Courier-Journal. “Rowan County: A Three-Years’ History Written in the Blood of Seventeen Murdered People.” June 12, 1887.
• Coats, Harold Wilson. “The Man Unafraid,” from Stories of Kentucky Feuds.
• U.S. Forest Service historical account of the Daniel Boone National Forest, Chapter 23.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1912, 18-year-old Ella Barham left her family’s farm near Pleasant Ridge, Arkansas, on an ordinary errand and never came home. Her brutal murder shocked Boone County and led authorities to a neighbor accused of killing her after years of rejected romantic interest. More than a century later, Ella Barham’s murder remains one of Arkansas’ darkest and most troubling true crime stories.

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Episode Sources

• Gould, Nita. Remembering Ella: A 1912 Murder and Mystery in the Arkansas Ozarks. Butler Center Books / University of Arkansas Press, 2018. (rememberingella.com)
• Barham, Ella (Murder of) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas
• Gould, Nita, ed. The 1913 Trial of Odus Davidson: The Official Witness Testimony. Companion volume to Remembering Ella.
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas — 'Barham, Ella (Murder of)' (encyclopediaofarkansas.net)
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas — 'Davidson, Odus' (encyclopediaofarkansas.net)
• Find a Grave — Ella Lillian Ethel Barham (memorial #40832262)
• Find a Grave — Odus Davidson (memorial #31134642)
• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette — 'The verdict: Guilty of murder' (review of Remembering Ella by Tom Dillard, December 9, 2018)
• AY Magazine — 'Murder Mystery: In Memoriam: Ella Barham' (aymag.com)
• Case file: State v. Davidson, No. 183 (Ark. Cir. Ct. 1913). Boone County Circuit Clerk's Office, Boone County Courthouse, Harrison, Arkansas.
• Case file: Davidson v. State, 108 Ark. 158, S.W. 1103 (1913). University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law / Pulaski County Law Library, Little Rock, Arkansas.
• Boone County Court Record Book L, County Clerk's Office, Boone County Courthouse, Harrison, Arkansas.
• Lead Hill, Arkansas newspaper, November 22, 1912 — first published account of the murder (via Chronicling America, Library of Congress, loc.gov)
• Batesville Daily Guard — editorial on circumstantial evidence and the Davidson verdict
• Shiloh Museum of Ozark History — 'Scenes of Boone County' (shilohmuseum.org)

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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One of the Civil War’s most controversial events unfolded on June 11, 1863, when Union forces entered Darien, Georgia, an undefended town of little strategic importance, and left it in flames. Homes, churches, businesses and one of the oldest Black congregations in the South were destroyed. The troops ordered to take part included the famed 54th Massachusetts, one of the first official Black regiments of the Civil War. But the story of who set the destruction in motion is more complicated than many people came to believe.

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Episode Sources

• Burchard, Peter. “One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment.” St. Martin’s Press, 1965.
• Burchard, Peter. “We’ll Stand by the Union: Robert Gould Shaw and the Black 54th Massachusetts Regiment.” Facts on File, 1993.
• Coulter, E.M. Writings on the burning of Darien, including his characterization of the destruction as a “barbaric act” and “wanton vandalism.”
• Duncan, Russell, editor. “Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.” University of Georgia Press, 1992.
• Duncan, Russell. “Where Death and Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.” University of Georgia Press, 1999.
• Emilio, Luis F. “A Brave Black Regiment: History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865.” Boston Book Co., 1894.
• Francis Lieber, “Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field,” General Orders No. 100, April 24, 1863.
• Georgia Historical Society historical marker, “The Burning of Darien,” erected in 2001.
• Historical Marker Database, “The Burning of Darien,” marker transcription and location information.
• King, Spencer Bidwell Jr. “Darien: The Death and Rebirth of a Southern Town.” Mercer University Press, 1981.
• Levin, Kevin M. “James Montgomery, the Burning of Darien, and the Innocence of Robert Gould Shaw.” “Civil War Memory,” Oct. 23, 2023.
• Levin, Kevin M. “Vindicating Col. Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th.” “Civil War Memory,” May 19, 2013.
• Massachusetts Historical Society, “The Destruction of Darien, Georgia,” “The Beehive,” Oct. 25, 2017.
• National Museum of African American History and Culture, “The Combahee Ferry Raid.”
• National Museum of the United States Army, “Robert Gould Shaw.”
• National Park Service, “54th Massachusetts Regiment.”
• National Park Service, “Combahee River Ferry & Harriet Tubman Bridge.”
• National Park Service, “We Called Ourselves Combee: Freeing the Enslaved People of the Combahee River.”
• Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume XIV.
• Shaw-Minturn family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, including Robert Gould Shaw’s June 1863 letters describing the burning of Darien.
• St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Darien, Georgia, church history materials.
• “Written in Glory: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment,” entries related to June 1863, July 1863 and the burning of Darien.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In July 1911, Louise Beattie was found mortally wounded after a late-night drive outside Richmond, Virginia, and her husband insisted a stranger had stepped from the darkness and fired the fatal shot. But the story he told began to crack almost as soon as investigators looked more closely at the road, the evidence, and the life he had been hiding. What followed was a murder case filled with scandal, deception, and testimony that gripped the nation. In this episode, Southern Mysteries examines the death of Louise Beattie and the trial that turned a Virginia killing into one of the most infamous crimes of its time.

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Episode Sources

• Style Weekly Richmond — 'Finding Beulah' (styleweekly.com)
• Virginia Chronicle Digital Newspaper Archive — The News Leader, September 7, 1911 (virginiachronicle.com)
• San Francisco Call — August 29, 1911 — Paul Beattie testimony (California Digital Newspaper Collection, cdnc.ucr.edu)
• Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection — Rocky Mountain News, September 9, 1911
• Pottsville Republican — November 24, 1911 — Beattie confession and execution (newspapers.com)
• Old Songs — Henry Clay Beattie folk ballad, Kelly Harrell 1927 recording (lizlyle.lofgrens.org)
• Find a Grave — Henry Clay Beattie Jr. (memorial #11571632), Louise Wellford Owen Beattie (#11571649), Henry Clay Beattie Sr. (#11571129)
• WikiTree — Henry Clay (Beattie) Owen — Wellford Beattie name change record
• William & Mary Law School Digital Repository — A Full and Complete History of the Great Beattie Murder Case (scholarship.law.wm.edu)
• Trotti, Michael Ayers. The Body in the Reservoir: Murder and Sensationalism in the South (University of North Carolina Press, 2014)
• Grossman, Mark. The Trunk Dripped Blood: Five Sensational Murder Cases of the Early 20th Century (Exposit Books, 2018)
• A Full and Complete History of the Beattie Case, Most Highly Sensational Tragedy of the Century (Phoenix Publishing Co., 1911) — Harvard CURIOSity Digital Collections and WorldCat
• Virginia Museum of History & Culture — Richmond automobile culture and Kline Kar history, 1911 (virginiahistory.org)
• Venture Richmond / Wikipedia — Manchester neighborhood history and 1910 consolidation with Richmond
• Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia — Russ Lescault, board member, quoted in Style Weekly

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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On a quiet night in October 1973, two men fishing along the Pascagoula River in Mississippi walked into the sheriff’s office with a story that would follow them for the rest of their lives. Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claimed they were taken aboard a strange craft and examined by beings they could not explain. This episode of Southern Mysteries, explores the Pascagoula Incident, the fear and fallout that shaped both men’s lives, and why this Mississippi case still raises questions more than 50 years later.

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Episode Sources

• Reuters. “Mississippi man who said he was abducted by aliens dies.” Sept. 13, 2011. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/uk/mississippi-man-who-said-he-was-abducted-by-aliens-dies-idUSTRE78C66R/
• WLOX. “Calvin Parker, who claimed he was abducted by aliens in Pascagoula in 1973, has died.” Sept. 2, 2023. https://www.wlox.com/2023/09/02/calvin-parker-who-claimed-he-was-abducted-by-aliens-pascagoula-1973-has-died/
• WLOX. “Coast Life: Alleged Pascagoula River Alien Abduction 50-years later.” Oct. 16, 2023. https://www.wlox.com/2023/10/17/coast-life-alleged-pascagoula-river-alien-abduction-50-years-later/
• Country Roads Magazine. Alexandra Kennon Shahin, “The Pascagoula Abduction.” Sept.21, 2021 https://countryroadsmagazine.com/art-and-culture/people-places/the-pascagoula-abduction/
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence. “2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.” Jan. 12, 2023. https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/reports-publications/reports-publications-2023/3667-2022-annual-report-on-unidentified-aerial-phenomena
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence. “ODNI Releases Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.” Jan. 12, 2023. https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2023/3668-odni-releases-annual-report-on-unidentified-aerial-phenomena
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence. “2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (PDF). https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Unclassified-2022-Annual-Report-UAP.pdf
• U.S. Department of Defense. “Department of Defense Releases the Annual Report on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.” Nov. 14, 2024. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/article/3964824/department-of-defense-releases-the-annual-report-on-unidentified-anomalous-phen/

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In February 1975, nine-year-old Marcia Trimble vanished while delivering Girl Scout cookies in Nashville’s Green Hills neighborhood, shattering the sense of safety surrounding one of the city’s most affluent communities. Her disappearance and murder became one of Tennessee’s most haunting cold cases, marked by suspicion, unanswered questions, and a mystery that lingered for decades.

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Episode Sources

• The Tennessean archival reporting on the disappearance, search, and investigation of Marcia Trimble (1975–2009): https://www.tennessean.com/
• Nashville Banner historical coverage via Nashville Public Library Digital Collections: https://digital.library.nashville.org/ (digital.library.nashville.org in Bing)
• Metro Nashville Police Department public statements and case summaries related to the Trimble investigation: https://www.nashville.gov/departments/police (nashville.gov in Bing)
• Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals opinion in State of Tennessee v. Jerome Sydney Barrett (2009): https://www.tncourts.gov/
• Davidson County Criminal Court filings and docket information for Barrett’s prosecution: https://sci.ccc.nashville.gov/ (sci.ccc.nashville.gov in Bing)
• Vanderbilt University archives documenting the murder of Sarah Des Prez and Barrett’s connection: https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/speccol/
• Belmont University reporting and campus safety archives referencing the February 1975 assault linked to Barrett: https://www.belmont.edu/
• A&E Cold Case Files episode “The Girl Scout Murder” (Marcia Trimble case): https://www.aetv.com/shows/cold-case-files (aetv.com in Bing)
• Nashville Scene long‑form reporting on the Trimble case and the Womack investigation: https://www.nashvillescene.com/
• Interviews with Jeffrey Womack published across multiple decades, including retrospective reporting by The Tennessean: https://www.tennessean.com/
• Nashville Public Library Metro Archives: Belle Meade and Green Hills neighborhood development history, maps, and planning documents: https://library.nashville.org/research/metro-archives (library.nashville.org in Bing)
• U.S. Census Bureau demographic data for Nashville and Davidson County (1960–1980):
• Historical accounts of Belle Meade’s origins and incorporation as an independent city: https://www.citybellemeade.org/
• Reporting on the 1979 grand jury indictment of Jeffrey Womack via The Tennessean archives: https://www.tennessean.com/
• Coverage of the 2008–2009 DNA breakthroughs and Barrett’s prosecution from The Tennessean and AP News: https://apnews.com/
• Academic research on investigative tunnel vision and wrongful suspicion in 1970s policing (National Criminal Justice Reference Service): https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs
• Oral histories and interviews with Nashville residents who participated in the 1975 search efforts (Nashville Public Library Oral History Collections): https://library.nashville.org/research/oral-history (library.nashville.org in Bing)
• Contemporary reporting on changes in Tennessee missing‑child protocols influenced by the Trimble case (TBI & state legislative archives): https://www.tn.gov/tbi

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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A storm‑tossed blockade‑runner, a satchel of Confederate gold, and a woman whose secrets shaped the early days of the Civil War—this episode uncovers the life of famed spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow. From Washington parlors to prison cells to the dark waters off Fort Fisher, her story reveals the hidden world of Southern espionage and the final choice that bound her to the cause she refused to abandon.

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Episode Sources

• Greenhow, Rose O’Neal. My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington. London: Richard Bentley, 1863.
• Pinkerton, Allan. The Spy of the Rebellion: Being a True History of the Spy System of the United States Army During the Late Rebellion. New York: G.W. Carleton & Co., 1883.
• Boyd, Belle. Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1865.
• Van Lew, Elizabeth. Papers and correspondence, 1860–1870. Library of Virginia, Richmond.
• Davis, Jefferson. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1881.
• U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
• National Archives and Records Administration. “Old Capitol Prison Records,” Record Group 393.
• Blanton, DeAnne. “Women Soldiers, Spies, and Patriots of the Civil War.” National Archives, 1993.
• Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999.
• Wheeler, Richard. Voices of 1861. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1961.
• Clinton, Catherine. Southern Women in the Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
• Browning, Robert M. From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron During the Civil War. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1993.
• Fonvielle, Chris E. The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays of Departing Hope. Campbell, CA: Savas Publishing, 1997.
• “Wilmington Daily Journal,” October 1864. Coverage of the wreck of the Condor and the death of Rose O’Neal Greenhow.
• “Richmond Enquirer,” 1861–1862. Reports on the arrest and imprisonment of Rose O’Neal Greenhow.
• “The New York Times,” August–September 1861. Coverage of Greenhow’s arrest and Pinkerton’s investigation.
• Library of Congress. “Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints,” Prints and Photographs Division.
• National Park Service. “First Battle of Manassas: Intelligence and Espionage,” Manassas National Battlefield Park.
• Sutherland, Daniel E. A Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
• Fishel, Edwin C. The Secret War for the Union: The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
• Bakeless, John. Spies of the Confederacy. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1970.
• Horan, James D. Confederate Agent: A True Story of the Civil War. New York: Crown Publishers, 1954.
• Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Series I, Vol. 10. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900.
• North Carolina Office of Archives and History. “Fort Fisher and the Blockade Runners,” Raleigh, NC.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1970, Thomas Gilmore became the first Black sheriff in rural Greene County, Alabama. He refused to carry a gun. How did a man of peace earn the trust to enforce the law in a place shaped by deep racial divides? And why does his story remain largely unknown?

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Episode Sources

• Richard Bailey — Neither Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags: Black Officeholders During the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867–1878. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1572687
• Eric Foner — Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction . https://uncpress.org/book/9780807858863/freedoms-lawmakers/
• Alabama Department of Archives & History — Reconstruction‑era election record. https://archives.alabama.gov
• Greene County Historical Society. https://www.greenecountyhistoricalsociety.org
• University of Alabama — Black Belt Heritage Collections. https://guides.lib.ua.edu/blackbelt
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute — Oral Histories. https://www.bcri.org/oral-history-project
• U.S. Department of Justice — Voting Rights Act historical materials. https://www.justice.gov/crt/voting-rights-act-1965
• Frye Gaillard — Cradle of Freedom: Alabama and the Movement That Changed America . https://ugapress.org/book/9780820324722/cradle-of-freedom
• Marshall Frady — The Southerner . https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1358422
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference Archives. https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/southern-christian-leadership-conference-sclc
• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Digital Gateway. https://snccdigital.org
• Birmingham News (historical archives). https://www.newspapers.com/paper/the-birmingham-news/268/
• Tuscaloosa News (historical archives). https://www.newspapers.com/paper/the-tuscaloosa-news/2681/
• Equal Justice Initiative — Historical reports on policing in Alabama. https://eji.org/reports/
• Douglas A. Blackmon — Slavery by Another Name. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/18327/slavery-by-another-name-by-douglas-a-blackmon/
• Isabel Wilkerson — The Warmth of Other Suns. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/19076/the-warmth-of-other-suns-by-isabel-wilkerson/
• This Man Stands Alone (film about Thomas Gilmore). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250463/

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In June 1948, 21-year-old Mary Virginia Carpenter left Texarkana for college in Denton, Texas. She was last seen after a taxi dropped her near Brackenridge Hall at Texas State College for Women. The letter she promised her mother never came, and neither did Virginia. More than 70 years later, her disappearance remains one of Denton’s quiet, enduring mysteries.

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Episode Sources

• Denton Record‑Chronicle. Coverage of the disappearance of Virginia Carpenter. https://dentonrc.com
• Texarkana Gazette. Reporting on the Carpenter case and related community response. https://www.texarkanagazette.com
• Texas Woman’s University Libraries, Special Collections. Historical information on TSCW campus life and 1940s dorm policies. https://twu.edu/library/special-collections/ (twu.edu in Bing)
• Texas Rangers Hall of Fame and Museum. Background on Ranger Lewis C. Rigler and investigative practices. https://www.texasranger.org
• The Charley Project. “Mary Virginia Carpenter.” https://charleyproject.org/case/mary-virginia-carpenter (charleyproject.org)
• The Doe Network. Case File 1198DFTX. https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1198dftx.html (doenetwork.org in Bing)
• Unsolved Mysteries Wiki. “Virginia Carpenter.” https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Virginia_Carpenter
• Texas Monthly. “The Phantom Killer.” https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-phantom-killer/
• FBI Vault. Archival documents related to mid‑20th‑century missing persons investigations. https://vault.fbi.gov
• Newspapers.com. Digitized historical newspapers used for timeline verification. https://www.newspapers.com
• Ancestry.com. U.S. Census and public records consulted for background verification. https://www.ancestry.com

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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Off the coast of South Carolina, on Edisto Island, a mausoleum at the back of an old churchyard has become the center of one of the state’s most persistent ghost stories. The name “Legare” is carved over the entrance, and for generations people have whispered that a young woman named Julia was buried alive inside. This episode follows the legend to the historical record and asks what we can really know about the woman whose name turned a family tomb into one of South Carolina’s most talked-about hauntings.

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Episode Sources

• "Tomb of Julia Legare." South Carolina Picture Project. https://www.scpictureproject.org/charleston-county/tomb-of-julia-legare.html
• "The Legend of Julia Legare." Edisto Beach. https://edistobeach.com/the-legend-of-julia-legare/
• "Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island." South Carolina Picture Project. https://www.scpictureproject.org/charleston-county/edisto-island-presbyterian.html
• Jaime Rubio. "The True Legend of Julia Legare – Fact vs Fiction." Dreaming Casually, Aug. 7, 2014. https://dreamingcasuallypoetry.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-true-legend-of-julia-legare-fact-vs.html
• "Julia Georgiana Seabrook Legare (1829–1852)." Find a Grave memorial 65651815. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65651815/julia-georgiana-legare
• "Hugh Swinton Legare (1847–1854)." Find a Grave memorial 65655039. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65655039/hugh-swinton-legare
• "Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island Cemetery." RootsWeb transcription https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~cemphoto/history/sc/charleston/edisto/scehmedtall.html
• "Julia Georgianna (Seabrook) Legaré (1829–1852)." WikiTree profile Seabrook-911. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Seabrook-911
• "Julia Georgiana Seabrook (1829–1852)." FamilySearch. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/M4KR-51C/julia-georgiana-seabrook-1829-1852
• "William Seabrook (1773–1836)." FamilySearch. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LKLK-T93/william-seabrook-1773-1836
• "Robert Chisholm Seabrook (1821–1852)." FamilySearch. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/MZJY-FBZ/robert-chisholm-seabrook-1821-1852
• "Seabrook Plantation – Edisto Island – Charleston County." .https://south-carolina-plantations.com/charleston/seabrook.html
• "Cassina Point Plantation." South Carolina Picture Project. https://www.scpictureproject.org/charleston-county/cassina-point-plantation-2.html
• Historic Houses of South Carolina. J. H. Easterby et al. (PDF). https://archive.org/download/historichousesof00leid/historichousesof00leid.pdf
• "The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. XVII." (PDF). https://www.carolana.com/SC/eBooks/SCHGM/The_South_Carolina_Historical_and_Genealogical_Magazine_Volume_XVII.pdf
• "James Hopkinson Papers, 1847–1921." ArchiveGrid / WorldCat summary. https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/archiveComponent/41963032
• "Slaves of James Hopkinson (1810–1875), South Carolina." https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Slaves_of_James_Hopkinson_%281810_-_1875%29%2C_South_Carolina
• "1865 List of Abandoned Plantations, Edisto Island, South Carolina." https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:1865_List_of_Abandoned_Plantations_Edisto_Island%2C_South_Carolina
• "Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands – Berwick Legare, Edisto Island." Smithsonian NMAAHC Freedmen’s Bureau Digital Records. https://nmaahc.si.edu/freedmens-bureau/record/fbs-1662423774659-1662426204172-3
• "Lowcountry Ghost Stories." South Carolina Lowcountry Tourism. https://southcarolinalowcountry.com/lowcountry-ghost-stories/
• "Old Churchyard Cemetery" brochure, Parish Church of St. Helena, Beaufort (PDF). https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/09fbc323/files/uploaded/Churchyard%20Brochure-website.pdf
• "Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor." National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/places/gullah-geechee-cultural-heritage-corridor.htm
• "Port Royal Experiment." South Carolina Lowcountry Tourism. https://southcarolinalowcountry.com/beaufort-the-port-royal-experiment/
• "Emancipation Day: The Freed People of Port Royal." South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium.https://www.scseagrant.org/emancipation-day-the-freed-people-of-port-royal/

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In the summer of 1924, a railroad worker was found dead near tracks in Little Rock. Weeks later, his wife was found dead in another state. What followed was a series of headlines that pointed to one woman—Winona Spriggs. Her name would appear again and again over the next fifty years, linked to crime, escape, and murder. This is the story of a family broken, and of the woman who never stopped running.

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Episode Sources

• Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR), 1924–1974
• Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, AR), 1924–1954
• The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), 1924–1954
• Tulsa Tribune (Tulsa, OK), 1924–1948
• Miami News-Record (Miami, OK), August 1946
• The Salinas Californian (Salinas, CA), 1953–1954
• The San Bernardino Sun (San Bernardino, CA), October–November 1974
• The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), March 16, 1954
• Associated Press (AP) wire reports, 1924–1954
• Pulaski County Circuit Court records (Arkansas)
• Oklahoma criminal investigation records (Miami, OK)
• California Superior Court records (Salinas, CA), 1954
• Arkansas State Penitentiary records and parole files
• Oklahoma Department of Corrections records
• California Department of Corrections records
• U.S. Census records (1910, 1920, 1930, 1940)
• Marriage and divorce records for Winona Spriggs / Winona Green / Winnie Ola Freeman
• Death records for J.R. Green, Lena Green, Robert Sheldon Wilkinson, Harold Jonassen, and Winnie Ola Freeman
• Library of Congress, Chronicling America newspaper archive
• Newspapers.com archival database
• Ancestry.com historical records
• Unknown Misandry blog: “Winnie Ola Freeman (Winona Green): The Cat Woman” (2014)

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In December 1968, Barbara Jane Mackle was kidnapped from a motel room outside Atlanta, Georgia. The circumstances surrounding her abduction were so strange, investigators could barely make sense of them. The search for twenty year old Barbara Jane Mackle became a race against time that gripped her family and drew national attention.

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Episode Sources

• Miller, Gene. 83 Hours Till Dawn. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.
• “FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives: Ruth Eisemann-Schier, 1969.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ten Most Wanted Program Archives.
• “Kidnapped Heiress Rescued from Buried Box.” The Miami Herald, December 21, 1968.
• “Barbara Mackle Found Alive.” The Atlanta Constitution, December 21, 1968.
• “Agents Seize Suspect in Mackle Kidnapping.” The Miami Herald, December 21–23, 1968.
• “Man Held in Heiress Kidnap Case.” The New York Times, December 22, 1968.
• “Girl in Box Case.” Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1968.
• “Suspect Caught in Marsh After Days on the Run.” Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), December 1968.
• “Woman on FBI List Seized in Oklahoma.” The Oklahoman, February 8, 1969.
• United States v. Gary Steven Krist, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1969.
• United States v. Ruth Eisemann-Schier, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1969.
• FBI, Supplemental Case Report: Kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle, December 1968 (declassified portions).
• Jordan, C.D. “Account of the Mackle Kidnapping Rescue.” Interview, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 1970.
• Associated Press. “Heiress Found Alive in Buried Box; Ransom Paid.” December 21, 1968.
• United Press International. “Search Intensifies for Kidnappers After Ransom Drop Fails.” December 1968.
• “Krist Granted Medical License Despite Record.” The Indianapolis News, July 23, 1985.
• U.S. Department of Justice. “South Florida Man Sentenced in Cocaine Trafficking Case.” DOJ Press Release, 2006.
• “Eisemann-Schier Paroled and Deported.” The Miami Herald, 1973.
• Emory Wheel (Emory University). “Student Kidnapped from Decatur Motel.” December 18–22, 1968 coverage.
• “The Mackle Kidnapping Revisited.” People Magazine (retrospective feature), 1998.
• “Buried Alive: The 1968 Abduction of Barbara Mackle.” CNN.com, Crime Retrospective Series, 2003.
• “83 Hours in the Earth.” CBS News Sunday Morning, archival retrospective segment.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1877, a young woman arrived in Jefferson, Texas, wearing diamonds and traveling with a man who claimed to be her husband. Days later, her body was found in the woods, and her name was unknown. She became known as Diamond Bessie, and her death led to one of the most sensational murder trials in Texas history. This episode of Southern Mysteries explores her life, the circumstances of her murder, the trials of Abe Rothschild, and the legacy of a woman the town refused to forget.

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Episode Sources

• Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) entry on "Diamond Bessie"
• Handbook of Texas Online
• Library of Congress Newspaper Archives
• “East Texas in the 1800s: Jefferson and the Murder of Diamond Bessie,” Jefferson Historical Society
• Oakwood Cemetery, Jefferson Texas burial records
• University of North Texas Portal to Texas History
• The Diamond Bessie Murder Trial – Jefferson Playhouse historical archives
• “The Jefferson Murders” — archived article from The Dallas Morning News
• East Texas Tales by Bob Bowman
• Chronicling America – Historical newspaper records (Library of Congress)
• Marshall, Texas Capitol Hotel registration archives (via local historical society)
• “Diamond Bessie Reenactment Keeps History Alive” — Texas Highways
• Ancestry records and obituaries (Watertown, NY) for Annie Stone / Bessie Moore
• Archives of the Rothschild family business in Cincinnati (local historical collections)

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1905, eight-year-old Kenneth Beasley, the son of North Carolina State Senator Samuel Beasley, walked out of his one-room schoolhouse in Poplar Branch, Currituck County—and vanished. What followed was one of the most haunting and controversial cases in North Carolina history. A bitter feud between two respected families, a trial built on circumstantial evidence, and a man’s death that left more questions than answers. Over a century later, the disappearance of the senator’s son remains unsolved. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, explore the loss, suspicion, and silence that still echo through the story of Kenneth Beasley—a mystery that has never let go of the Carolina coast.

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Episode Sources

• State v. Harrison, 146 N.C. 540 (1907) – Official North Carolina Supreme Court opinion detailing the 1907 conviction of Joshua T. Harrison for the kidnapping of Kenneth Beasley; includes procedural history, evidence summary, and court rulings.
• The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), February 1905 – Original newspaper publication of the anonymous letter alleging a man seen with a crying boy in a buggy near Barco on the day Kenneth Beasley disappeared.
• The Elizabeth City Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.), March 1907 – Contemporary reporting on the Pasquotank County trial of Joshua Harrison; includes witness testimony summaries and public reaction to the guilty verdict.
• The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.), September 1907 – Coverage of Joshua Harrison’s suicide at the Gladstone Hotel following the Supreme Court’s decision; includes mention of the suicide note claiming innocence.
• The Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.), September 19, 1907 – Regional coverage of Harrison’s death and aftermath, quoting Senator Beasley’s reaction that Harrison “took his secret to the grave.”
• The Atlanta Georgian, September 1907 – Additional newspaper reporting on Harrison’s suicide, reprinting statements from North Carolina officials regarding the case outcome.
• Currituck County, North Carolina GenWeb Archives – Miscellaneous Newspaper Articles – Digitized transcriptions of early 20th-century reports on the Beasley case, including disappearance coverage, Harrison’s indictment, and excerpts from the Supreme Court opinion.
• Beach Glass Books – The Senator’s Son: The Shocking Disappearance of Kenneth Beasley, and the Trials of Joshua Harrison by Charles Oldham (2018) – Modern historical investigation into the case; draws from court records, newspaper archives, and local oral history.
• Most Notorious Podcast – Interview with Charles Oldham (December 7, 2023) – Discussion of the Beasley disappearance and Harrison’s trial; includes historical context on Currituck County politics and the culture of the early 1900s.
• Strange Company Blog – “Where is Kenneth Beasley?” (January 6, 2020) – Summary of the case using verified newspaper accounts; cites the News and Observer letter and the 1907 court proceedings.
• Find a Grave – Senator Samuel Mordecai Beasley (1863–1910) – Burial information and biographical details confirming Beasley’s death in Norfolk, Virginia.
• Find a Grave – Joshua Thomas Harrison (1839–1907) – Burial and genealogical data, confirming Harrison’s identity, family connections, and date of death.
• Currituck County Historical Society Records – Local archival notes and oral tradition references to the Beasley disappearance; confirm the location of Poplar Branch schoolhouse and family properties.
• North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources – State Archives, Raleigh – Holding references for Beasley and Harrison court and legislative documents, including the 1906–1907 Currituck Superior Court docket entries.
• U.S. Census Records, Currituck County (1900 & 1910) – Verification of Beasley and Harrison family members, occupations, and ages.
• Elmwood Cemetery Records (Norfolk, Virginia) – Burial registry confirming interment of Senator Samuel M. Beasley, 1910.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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Across the South, the word witch has been used to explain what people fear and cannot control. For generations, healers, midwives, conjurers and root workers carried knowledge their communities needed, yet often faced suspicion when tragedy struck. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, we explore the real lives and southern legends behind those branded as witches. From colonial courts to mountain cabins and coastal swamps, these stories reveal how the line between healing and haunting has always been thin and how fear can turn ordinary people into figures of folklore.

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Episode Sources

• Anderson, Jeffery E. Conjure in African American Society. Louisiana State University Press, 2005.
• American Folklife Center, Library of Congress — regional oral history collections on conjure, hoodoo, and midwifery.
• Anniston Hot Blast and Birmingham Age-Herald (Alabama newspapers), 1880s witchcraft coverage.
• Deep South Magazine. “Julia ‘Aunt Julie’ Brown: Debunking Her Voodoo Priestess Mythos.”
• Encyclopedia of Louisiana. “Marie Laveau.” Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
• Encyclopedia Virginia. “Sherwood, Grace (ca. 1660–1740).”
• Federal Writers’ Project. South Carolina Slave Narratives. Library of Congress, 1938.
• Ferry Plantation House Museum archives, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
  Fett, Sharla M. Working Cures: Healing, Health, and Power on Southern Slave Plantations. University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
• Foxfire 2: Houses and Appalachian Traditions. Edited by Eliot Wigginton. Anchor Books, 1973.
• Historic New Orleans Collection. “Julia Brown: Hoodoo, Hurricanes, and a Storm-Swamped Ruddock.”
• L’Observateur (St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana). “Voodoo Queen and Forces Unseen.”
• Library of Virginia. “The Case of Grace Sherwood, 1706.” Princess Anne County Court Records.
• Louisiana State Museum archives, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Long, Carolyn Morrow. A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau. University Press of Florida, 2006.
• Martha Ward. Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau. University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
• McTeer, J.E. Fifty Years as a Low Country Witch Doctor. University of South Carolina Press, 1971.
• Mental Floss. “The Legend and Truth of the Voodoo Priestess Who Haunts a Louisiana Swamp.”
• Milnes, Gerald. Signs, Cures, and Witchery: German Appalachian Folklore. University of Tennessee Press, 2007.
• National Park Service. “Marie Laveau’s Tomb – St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.”
• Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. Vintage Books, 2003.
• Princess Anne County Order Book, 1695–1709. Virginia State Library microfilm collection.
• Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. “Granny Women: Healers of the Southern Appalachians.”
• South Carolina Encyclopedia. “Dr. Buzzard.”
• South Magazine. “Lowcountry Root Doctors.”
• The State (Columbia, South Carolina). “In the mid-20th century, even the county sheriff was a witch doctor.”
• Swannanoa Valley Museum. “Mary Stepp Burnette Hayden: Midwife and Healer of Western North Carolina.”
• The St. John the Baptist Pioneer, October 1915, hurricane coverage.
• The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), October 1–3, 1915, storm and casualty reports; obituary, June 17, 1881.
• Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia. “Good Witch or Bad Witch? The Grace Sherwood Trial and Pardon.”
• Ward, Martha. Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau. University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
• Western Carolina University Digital Humanities Project. “Midwives and the Medicalization of Birth in Appalachia.”
• Wikipedia (used for verification of geography and storm data): “Frenier, Louisiana” and “1915 New Orleans Hurricane.”
• Wigginton, Eliot, ed. Foxfire 2: Houses and Appalachian Traditions. Anchor Books, 1973.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1872, the quiet Georgia town of Surrency became the center of one of America’s strangest mysteries. Inside the home of Allen Powell Surrency, glass shattered, clocks ran backward, and furniture moved without a hand touching it. The events drew scientists, skeptics, and spiritualists, including one from Salem, Massachusetts. Was it a hoax, hysteria, or something that defied explanation? In this episode of Southern Mysteries, uncover the story of the Surrency family and the haunting that shook a town, blurred the line between faith and fear, and became one of the most documented poltergeist cases in U.S. history.

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Episode Sources

• The Savannah Morning News (Oct–Dec 1872) – Coverage of the Surrency disturbances
• The Atlanta Constitution (Nov 1872–Jan 1873) – Reports on the “Surrency Mystery”
• The Augusta Chronicle (Oct 1872) – Editorial accounts of the Surrency haunting
• The New York Times (Dec 4 1872) – “Spiritual Manifestations in Georgia”
• The Albany Patriot – Reprinted witness letters and commentary, 1872
• The Philadelphia Inquirer (1872–1873) – Syndicated reports on the haunting
• Harper’s Weekly (1873) – “Poltergeists and the Marvels of Surrency”
• John W. Truesdell, The Bottom Facts Concerning the Science of Spiritualism (1873)
• The Boston Globe (1872–1873) – Reports on Charles H. Foster
• Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. 47 (1963) – “The Surrency Ghost: A Georgia Poltergeist Reexamined”
• The Georgia Encyclopedia – Entry on Surrency, Appling County
• Alan Brown, Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State (2008)
• Charles Elliott, Strange Tales of the South: Haunted Houses and Ghost Legends (1974)
• Dennis William Hauck, Haunted Places: The National Directory (2002)
• Jim Miles, Haunted South Georgia (2017)
• J. Michael Norman, Spirits of the Southeast (2010)
• Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, 3rd Ed. (2007)
• Tiya Miles, Phantoms of the Past: The American South and the Supernatural (2021)
• Alan Gauld & A.D. Cornell, Psychical Research and the Poltergeist (1979)
• Michael Norman & Beth Scott, Haunted America (1988)
• Nancy Roberts, Haunted Houses: Tales from the American South (1972)
• Jim Miles, Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Legends of the Peach State (2010)
• Randy Russell & Janet Barnett, Spirits of the South: Ghost Stories of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi (2000)
• Alan Dundes, Dictionary of American Folklore (1993)
• William G. Roll, The Poltergeist Phenomenon (2012)
• Nancy Roberts, Haunted Houses: Where Ghosts Still Roam (1979)
• Kathryn Tucker Windham, Southern Spirits: Tales of the Supernatural from the Deep South (1983)
• Ann Braude, The American Spiritualist Movement, 1848–1920 (2001)
• Muriel V. Murphree, Mysteries and Legends of Georgia (2009)
• Georgia Public Broadcasting (2021) – “The Surrency Poltergeist: Georgia’s Most Documented Haunting”
• Georgia Archives – Appling County records and land grants, Allen P. Surrency estate (1870s–1880s)
• U.S. Census Records – Appling County, Georgia (1870–1880)
• Library of Congress Chronicling America – Digitized newspaper archives, 1872–1873
• Frank Podmore, The Poltergeist in History (1896)
• American Hauntings Podcast, Season 4, Episode 14 – “The Surrency Ghost”
• Beast of Bladenboro – “The Surrency Haunting: Georgia’s Most Infamous Poltergeist”
• Otherworldly Oracle – “The Surrency Ghosts: True Terrifying Tales of Haunted Georgia”
• PANICd.com – “ParaPedia: The Surrency Family Poltergeist”
• US Ghost Adventures – “The Poltergeist of Phelps Mansion”
• Paranormal Research Society of New England – “Phelps Mansion”
• American Hauntings Ink – “The Stratford Poltergeist”

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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Across the South, battlefields and forts still bear the weight of the wars fought upon them. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, explore the haunting history of places like Shiloh, Franklin, Vicksburg, and Fort Morgan. From phantom soldiers and restless spirits to the families forever changed by the fighting, these are the stories where Southern history and haunting meet, and where the echoes of war still move through the land.

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Episode Sources

• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – Bivouac of the Dead poem and history
• Emerging Civil War – “Bivouacs of the Dead” and its legacy on battlefields
• Wikipedia – Theodore O’Hara biography and authorship of Bivouac of the Dead
• National Park Service – Shiloh National Military Park history and visitor resources
• American Battlefield Trust – Battle of Shiloh Overview
• National Park Service – Battle of Stones River history and maps
• Murfreesboro Historical Association – Legends of the Headless Horseman of Stones River
• Find a Grave / Military Memorials – Lt. Col. Julius Peter Garesché burial and biographical record
• National Park Service – Battle of Franklin: Carter House and Lotz House history
• Battle of Franklin Trust – Carnton Plantation and the McGavock Confederate Cemetery
• Tennessee Encyclopedia – Carrie McGavock, “Widow of the South”
• American Battlefield Trust – Battle of Franklin Overview
• National Park Service – Vicksburg National Military Park history
• National Park Service – The Shirley House and the Siege of Vicksburg
• Library of Congress – Civil War Diaries: Emma Balfour of Vicksburg
• American Battlefield Trust – Battle of Vicksburg Summary
• Encyclopedia of Alabama – Fort Morgan: History and Civil War significance
• Alabama Historical Commission – Fort Morgan Historic Site visitor and preservation info
• Legends of America – Ghosts of Fort Morgan, Alabama
• Alabama News Center – Fort Morgan’s haunted reputation and legends
• National Park Service – Fort Monroe National Monument history
• Encyclopedia Virginia – Fort Monroe during the Civil War and the “Contraband Decision”
• Fort Monroe Authority – Historic resources and preservation efforts
• American Battlefield Trust – Fort Monroe overview and historical context
• Virginia Department of Historic Resources – Fort Monroe National Historic Landmark documentation

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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Across the South, asylums were built with the promise of healing — but inside their walls, countless lives were marked by fear, neglect, and cruelty. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, explore the haunting history of institutions like Broughton Hospital, Cherry Hospital, Central State, and Bryce. From mysterious deaths and forced sterilizations to the tragedy of the Eller twins and the lifetime confinement of Junius Wilson, these are the real horrors that gave rise to Southern asylum ghost stories — and the suffering that still echoes through their halls.

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Episode Sources

• Associated Press coverage, April 1962 — “Twin Sisters Die Together in Asylum.”
• Winston-Salem Journal, April 1962 (coverage of coroner Dr. John C. Reece’s statements).
• Morganton News Herald, April 1971 coverage of Dr. Paul Douglas Boyles and Betty Cheek Yarborough.
• Associated Press regional wire, April 14–15, 1971.
• Find a Grave – Betty Jo Eller & Bobbie Jean Eller memorials.
• Southern Spirit Guide: “Ill Defined and Unknown Cause of Morbidity and Mortality.”
• Asheville Terrors: “Broughton Hospital.”
• Schoen, Johanna. Choice and Coercion: Birth Control, Sterilization, and Abortion in Public Health and Welfare. University of North Carolina Press, 2005.
• Segrest, Mab. Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum. New Press, 2020.
• Pennsylvania Hospital Archives – Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride papers.
• Grob, Gerald N. The Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America’s Mentally Ill. Harvard University Press, 1994.
• Yanni, Carla. The Architecture of Madness: Insane Asylums in the United States. University of Minnesota Press, 2007.
• “Central State Hospital Cemetery Restoration Project.” Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution archival coverage on Central State Hospital.

• The Crimson White (University of Alabama student paper):

  • “The Hidden History Behind Bryce Hospital” (2023).
  • “Bryce Uncovered: A Look at the Asylum’s Short-Lived Newspaper” (2017).
  • Wyatt v. Stickney, 325 F. Supp. 781 (M.D. Ala. 1971).
  • Alabama Department of Mental Health archives.
  • HauntedPlaces.org – “Bryce Hospital.”
  • Ghost Hunts USA – “Bryce Hospital.”
  • Ghost City Tours – “Central State Hospital.”
  • US Ghost Adventures – “Central State Hospital.”
  • UNC–Chapel Hill Southern Oral History Program — Junius Wilson case archives.
  • News & Observer (Raleigh) coverage of Junius Wilson’s release and life, 1990s–2000s.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1891, fear and anger in New Orleans boiled over after the murder of Police Chief David Hennessy. Within months, eleven Italian immigrants were dead, their lives taken by a mob in one of the darkest and most violent moments in American history. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, we revisit the events that led to the tragedy

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Episode Sources

• New Orleans Public Library – Records of the Board of Police Commissioners, 1890–1891 (detailing Hennessy’s murder, police leadership changes, and subsequent arrests).
• Library of Congress – Historic photographs of New Orleans docks and immigrant labor, 1891.
• Smithsonian Magazine – “New Orleans Apologizes for 1891 Lynching of Italian Americans” (April 2019).
• History.com – “The Grisly Story of America’s Largest Lynching” (2019).
• American Italian Cultural Center, New Orleans – Archival material on Italian immigration and the 2019 mayoral apology.
• New Orleans Times-Democrat, October 1890–March 1891 coverage (contemporary reporting on Hennessy’s murder, the trial, and the mob attack).
• United States Department of State – Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1891 (diplomatic correspondence with Italy following the lynchings).
• Reimagining Migration – “The Lynching of Italian Immigrants” (educational resource on anti-immigrant violence).
• Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA) – The 1891 New Orleans Project (materials on commemoration and memorial efforts).
• John V. Baiamonte Jr. – “The Mafia and the 1891 New Orleans Lynching: The Question of Criminal Conspiracy” (Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1980).
• Italian Sons and Daughters of America – “Our Darkest Hour: Anarchy, a Lynch Mob and 11 Souls Lost.”
• All That’s Interesting – “The Tragic Story of the 1891 New Orleans’ Lynchings of Italians.”

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In June 1955, Judge Curtis Chillingworth and his wife Marjorie vanished from their Manalapan, Florida, beach cottage. There were haunting clues, but no bodies were ever found. Their disappearance exposed corruption in Florida’s courts and led to the downfall of a fellow judge. Curtis was known for integrity, Marjorie for her quiet strength — together, they became the heart of one of Florida’s most infamous true crime cases. Their story, and its unexpected ties to the legend of Trapper Nelson, remains one of Florida’s most haunting mysteries.

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Episode Sources

• Palm Beach Bar Association. Memorial Resolution for Judge Curtis E. Chillingworth. (1965) palmbeachbar.org
• Florida Memory. Justice Curtis E. Chillingworth Temporary Appointment Bio. floridamemory.com
• The Charley Project. Curtis Eugene Chillingworth Case File. charleyproject.org
• The Charley Project. Marjorie McKinley Chillingworth Case File. charleyproject.org
• Crime + Investigation UK. Judge Joe Peel and the Chillingworth Murders. crimeandinvestigation.co.uk
• The Coastal Star. Manalapan 60 Years On: Chillingworth Murders Still Shocking. thecoastalstar.com
• Mental Floss. What Happened to Judge Curtis Chillingworth? mentalfloss.com
• Town of Manalapan. History of Incorporation and Harold S. Vanderbilt. manalapan.org
• Wikipedia. Curtis Chillingworth. wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Chillingworth
• Unlikely Friends — A municipal publication from Jupiter, FL, describing the unlikely friendship between Judge Curtis Chillingworth and Vincent “Trapper” Nelson.https://www.jupiter.fl.us/DocumentCenter/View/301/Judge-Chillingworth-Murder

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In February 1922, a road crew in rural Copiah County, Mississippi, stumbled upon a horrifying scene—a woman’s charred remains hidden in a ravine known as Dark Hollow. For two days, her identity was a mystery. When a child's discovery of a burned key ring offered a name, the investigation quickly escalated into one of Mississippi’s most shocking murder cases of the 1920s.

This episode of Southern Mysteries unravels the tragic life and violent death of Ada Drury Converse. From a difficult upbringing and early motherhood to a string of marriages and financial success, Ada's life was marked by struggle—and, ultimately, betrayal.

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Episode Sources

• Feb 20, 1922 – Selma Woman Killed by Husband, Uncle Charges. The Selma Times-Journal, Page 1 – Newspapers.com
• Feb 23, 1922 – Sons of Mrs. Ada Drury Converse Held on Questioning of Death. The Montgomery Advertiser, Page 3 – Newspapers.com
• Feb 23, 1922 – Converse Held in Houston in Copiah Murder. Jackson Daily News, Page 1 – Newspapers.com
• Feb 26, 1922 – Mrs. Converse Wrote to Son Since Arrest. The Selma Times-Journal, Page 1 – Newspapers.com
• Mar 01, 1922 – Sheriff Confident Milton Drury Killed His Mother. The Selma Times-Journal, Page 1 – Newspapers.com
• May 13, 1922 – Milton Drury Please Guilty to Murder of Mother. The Montgomery Advertiser, Page 1 – Newspapers.com
• May 19, 1922 – Drury Says Pleaded Guilty to Avoid Hangman’s Noose The Winona Times, Page 1 – Newspapers.com
• Sep 15, 1933 – Infamous Copiah Murderer Once Again at Liberty. Clarion-Ledger, Page 1 – Newspapers.com
• Sep 20, 1933 – Normal People Won’t Waste Sympathy on this Convict. Clarion-Ledger, Page 6 – Newspapers.com

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1957, Arkansas attorney Maud Crawford vanished from her home in Camden without a trace. Her disappearance became one of the state’s most enduring mysteries. This episode of Southern Mysteries examines Maud Crawford’s life, the corruption she uncovered, and the investigation that revealed what may have led to her disappearance.

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Episode Sources

• Maud Robinson Crawford – Encyclopedia of Arkansas
• Clyde Falwell Crawford (1894–1969) – Find a Grave Memorial
• Maud Robinson Crawford (1891-1957) - Find a Grave Memorial
• Maud R. Crawford (1891–1957) – Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame
• Maud Robinson Crawford – The Charley Project
• Cold Case, Southwest Arkansas: A Look at Two Unsolved Cases in the Region – [Arkansas True Crime Blog or Archive Source] “The Disappearance of Maud Crawford” – YouTube
• Small Town’s Biggest Secret: Author Says Arkansas Woman’s 1957 Disappearance Is Full of Corruption – KLRT FOX16
• The Disappearance of Maud Crawford. Beth Brickell. https://www.amazon.com/Disappearance-Maud-Crawford-Beth-Brickell/dp/1628909587

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In the spring of 1955, the quiet community of Warren County, Tennessee was shattered by the brutal murders of the Bratcher family. Henry Bratcher, his wife Vassie, their young daughter Lily May, and toddler granddaughter Charlotte Ann were found dead on their family farm outside McMinnville. As the investigation unfolded, it became clear the killer was not a stranger. The case would become one of the most haunting crimes in Tennessee history. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, we explore the lives of the Bratcher family, the events that led to their deaths, and how their loss changed a community forever.

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Episode Sources

• Four Found Slain in Warren. The Nashville Tennessean, March 28, 1955.
• 4 Found Slain in Warren; Murder Suspect is Jailed. Chattanooga Daily Times, March 28, 1955.
• Young Tennessee Farmer Confesses Brutal Slayings. Bristol Herald Courier, March 29, 1955.
• Warren July Called in Death. The Nashville Tennessean. March 30, 1955.
• Gibbs Indicted in Warren Deaths. The Nashville Banner. April 2, 1955.
• Slayer of Four is Ordered to Asylum for Observation. Chattanooga Times, April 2, 1955.
• Trial on May 10 for Billy Gibbs. Chattanooga Times, May 3, 1955.
• Gibbs Blames Four Slayings on Drinking. Nashville Banner, May 25, 1955.
• Billy Gibbs Dies in Electric Chair, Confessed Slayer of 4 in Warren. Chattanooga Times, May 7, 1957
• Find A Grave. Henry Bratcher. Retrieved from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33581745/henry-bratcher
• Find A Grave. Vassie Fields Bratcher. Retrieved from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33581724/vassie-bratcher
• Find A Grave. Lily May Bratcher. Retrieved from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33581700/lily_may-bratcher
• Find a Grave. Billy Thomas Gibbs. Retrieved from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136592059/billy_thomas-gibbs

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In spring 1894, a courtroom became the stage for a scandal that gripped the nation. Kentucky Congressman William Breckinridge faced a lawsuit from Madeline Pollard, who claimed he promised to marry her after nearly ten years together, then broke that promise. The trial exposed a hidden affair, secret meetings, and disputed truths between a rising politician and a woman left behind. The scandal captivated newspapers, packed courtrooms, and reshaped public opinion about one of the South’s most prominent figures.

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Episode Sources

• “Sex, Scandal, and Suffrage in the Gilded Age.” The Historian: A Journal of History, vol. 42, no. 2, Feb. 1980, pp. 225-243.
  Lexington, Fayette. The Celebrated Case of Col. W. C. P. Breckinridge and Madeline Pollard. Chicago: Current Events Publishing, 1894.
• Ross, Shelley. Fall from Grace: Sex, Scandal, and Corruption in American Politics from 1702 to the Present. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988.
• “William Breckinridge Breach of Promise Trial, 1894.” Encyclopedia.com,
• “Madeline Pollard and the Gilded Age’s #MeToo Moment.” Wednesdays Women,
• “The Fall of Louise of Breckinridge.” StrangeCo, 13 Apr. 2017,

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In 1948, Robert Mallard, a Black World War II veteran, was murdered by a white mob in Toombs County, Georgia. His wife, Amy Mallard, witnessed the attack—and instead of arresting the killers, authorities charged her with his murder. Set in the heart of the Jim Crow South, this episode of Southern Mysteries explores the deeply rooted racism that allowed a lynching to go unpunished while a grieving widow was put on trial. Learn how Amy Mallard found the courage to speak out, and how the national outrage that followed became part of the growing civil rights movement.

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Episode Sources

• The Mallard Murder Case – New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Amy Mallard Photo – New Georgia Encyclopedia
• “Just Another Killing” – TIME Archive (1948)
• Original TIME Magazine Report (1948)
• Strange Fruit and Spanish Moss – Blog post on Robert Mallard (2016)
• The Atlanta Constitution – Nov. 29, 1948
• The Macon News – Dec. 2, 1948
• The Atlanta Constitution – Dec. 10, 1948
• The Macon News – Dec. 11, 1948
• The Atlanta Journal – Dec. 11, 1948
• The Macon News – Dec. 13, 1948
• The Atlanta Constitution – Dec. 14, 1948
• The Macon News – Dec. 15, 1948
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 12, 1949
• The Macon News – Jan. 12, 1949
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 13, 1949
• The Atlanta Journal – Jan. 13, 1949
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 14, 1949
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 15, 1949
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 15, 1949 (cont’d)
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 16, 1949
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 17, 1949
• The Atlanta Journal – Jan. 17, 1949
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 18, 1949
• The Atlanta Constitution – Jan. 19, 1949

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In the 1920s, a Virginia horse named Lady Wonder stunned the public with her supposed psychic powers - spelling out answers, solving crimes, even picking presidents. Was she a telepathic marvel, as Dr. J.B. Rhine believed? Or a clever illusion, as magician John Scarne claimed? Discover the story behind the horse that made America believe.

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Episode Sources

• “Meet Lady Wonder, the Psychic Horse Who Appeared Twice in LIFE.” LIFE Magazine retrospective.Life.com
• “Lady Wonder: The Psychic Horse.” Strange Company Blog by Undine, May 2016. strangeco.blogspot.com
• Newspaper Archives via Newspapers.com: Roanoke Times, March 1957 – Obituary and public reaction to Lady’s death; The Knoxville News-Sentinel, 1952 – Reports on Lady’s police involvement; Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1948 – Coverage on Lady’s election predictions; Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), feature on John Scarne’s skepticism.
• Find a Grave Memorial – Claudia Fonda findagrave.com
• The Story of Beautiful Jim Key by David Hoffman (public domain archive) Internet Archive
• Jim Key Digital Archive – Missouri State Library Missouri Digital Heritage
• State Symbols – Missouri Wonder Dog and Related Animal Curiosities sos.mo.gov

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In the winter of 1926, the quiet town of Farwell, Texas was shaken by the discovery of nine bodies buried beneath a home. The man responsible, George Hassell, had already taken lives in another state and wasn’t finished confessing. What followed was a case so disturbing it blurred the lines between serial killer, mass murderer, and family annihilator. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, we explore the chilling crimes of George Jefferson Hassell, one of the South’s most unsettling killers.

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Episode Sources

• Roth, Mitchell P. Man with the Killer Smile: The Life and Crimes of a Serial Mass Murderer. University of North Texas Press, 2023. Available on Amazon
• Roth, Mitchell P. Interview. PBS: The Bookmark, November 9, 2023.
  Watch the Interview
• “Texas Farmer Dying After 9 Bodies Found.” The Decatur Daily, December 24, 1926.
  View Article
• “Hassell, Leaving Death Cell, Advises Women Read Writings of Paul.” The Austin American, April 7, 1927.
  View Article
• Hassell v. State, 107 Tex. Crim. 541, 298 S.W. 293 (Tex. Crim. App. 1927).
  Read Case Summary
• “Hasell Electrocuted Early Friday at Huntsville.” The Huntsville Times, February 10, 1928.
  View Article
• “George J. Hassell’s Murderous Ways.” Texas Genealogy Trails.
  Read Article
• “Death House Slayings Gain Attention.” Whittier Daily News, August 30, 2017.
  Read Article

Find a Grave Memorials:

• George Jefferson Hassell
• Susan Frances “Susie” Ferguson Hassell
• Thomas Virgil Hassell

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In the final episode of Mystery on Montford Avenue, we explore the fallout from the case and how this mystery faded into the shadows of Asheville’s past.

🎧 All four episodes are now available. You can binge the entire series today.

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◼️ Music: Out of the Mines and Devouring the Whole, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina

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In the summer of 1927, Anna Montague stood trial for the death of Mary Cooper. As testimony unfolds, shocking evidence and conflicting accounts raise new questions. Was the case against Anna Montague as solid as it seemed?

🎧 All four episodes are now available. You can binge the entire series today.

🔍 Full source list available at southernmysteries.com

◼️ Music: Out of the Mines and Devouring the Whole, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina

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Hours after Mary Cooper was buried in Riverside Cemetery, her case took a shocking turn. As investigators reexamine their theory, suspicion turns toward the people who lived inside Mary’s home. Listen as the investigation deepens and a quiet Asheville neighborhood is pulled into the mystery.

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◼️ Music: Out of the Mines and Devouring the Whole, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina

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In May 1927, the quiet Asheville, North Carolina neighborhood of Montford was rocked by a shocking discovery. Mary Cooper—a respected widow known for her kindness and community spirit—was found dead in a vacant lot near her home. Investigators made a quick determination, but not everyone agreed with their conclusion.

In this first episode of Mystery on Montford Avenue, we explore the life of Mary Cooper, the atmosphere of 1920s Asheville, and the troubling details that began to surface after her death. What really happened on Montford Avenue that spring night?

🎧 All four episodes are now available. You can binge the entire series today.

🔍 Full source list available at southernmysteries.com

◼️ Music: Out of the Mines and Devouring the Whole, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina

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A woman’s death. A city's fear. A mystery that refused to be forgotten.

This May, join me for Southern Mysteries Serial: Mystery on Montford Avenue — a four-part exploration of a mystery that gripped Asheville nearly a century ago.

All episodes drop May 12th.

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The American circus promised wonder and spectacle—but behind the big top was a hidden world of danger, tragedy, and loss. In this episode, we explore the dark history of the circus, from deadly train wrecks and animal attacks to the mysterious death of aerialist Eva Clark. Discover the true stories of Clyde Beatty’s near-fatal encounter with lions and tigers, the public executions of elephants Mary and Black Diamond, and how their legacies changed the circus forever.

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Episode Sources

• "Elephant Parade Erwin 2018." Elephant Parade. https://www.elephantparade.com/parades/erwin-2018
• "From the Circus Train Wreck to the Man o’ War: History of the Railroad in Columbus (Part 3 of 3)." Historic Columbus. https://www.historiccolumbus.com/post/from-the-circus-train-wreck-to-the-man-o-war-history-of-the-railroad-in-columbus-part-3-of-3
• "Mary the Elephant Hanging: 100 Years Later." WBIR-TV Knoxville. https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/mary-the-elephant-hanging-100-years-later/51-ee92f081-718d-4da6-bb6d-8be8dbe2b8b6
• The Tennessean, via Newspapers.com. Image of article on Black Diamond the elephant. https://www.newspapers.com/image/385756327/?match=1&terms=black%20diamond%20elephant
• The Daily Times (Maryville, Tennessee), via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/898209095/
• "Clyde Beatty." Circuses and Sideshows. https://www.circusesandsideshows.com/owners/clydebeatty.html
• "Elephant Hotel Historical Marker." Explore PA History. https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-1DB
• Wikipedia contributors. Various entries on Mary the Elephant, Black Diamond, and circus history. Wikipedia. https://www.wikipedia.org
• "Execution of Mary the Elephant." WHSV-TV. https://www.whsv.com
• Aine Norris. Circus history articles. AineNorris.info. https://www.ainenorris.info

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina

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In 1942, the state of Louisiana executed a woman in the electric chair for the first and only time in its history. She was young, beautiful, and utterly devoted to the man she loved, a Texas outlaw. Toni Jo Henry was willing to do anything to free him from prison which led her down a dark path…the cold-blooded killing of an innocent man. Toni Jo claimed her accomplice pulled the trigger. He said she did. Was Toni Jo Henry a ruthless killer, or a woman trapped by her tragic past and her devotion to the wrong man?

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Episode Sources

• The Times: Former Shreveport Girl to Face jury for Lake Charles Slaying, March 24, 1940
• The News Star: Toni Jo Henry is denied new trial, May 25, 1942
• The Atlanta Journal: Woman Slayer, Awaiting death in chair, wisecracks over fate, August 4, 1942
• The Town Talk: High Court denies stay of execution for Toni Jo Henry, November 4, 1942
• Shreveport Journal: Toni Jo Henry Executed, November 28, 1942
• Del Rio News Herald: Kin of Toni Jo Henry Claim body for burial, November 30, 1942
• The DeQuincy News: Burks to follow Toni Jo to chair, High Court rules, December 4, 1942
• Greenville News: Trip of Death Ends as Burks electrocuted, March 24, 1943
• State v. Henry, 196 La. 217, 198 So. 910 (La. 1940)
• M. Watt Espy Papers: Documentation for the execution of Harold Burks, Toni Henry, 1943-03-23
• Harold Burks executed on 1943-03-23 in Louisiana (LA); Toni Henry executed on 1942-11-28 in Louisiana (LA)
• Find A Grave: Joseph Prince “Joe” Calloway
• Find A Grave: Claude David “Cowboy” Henry
• Find A Grave: Toni Jo Henry/Annie Beatrice McQuiston
• Nola Mae Ross: Crimes of the Past in South Louisiana, 2004

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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A cool September afternoon on a trail in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Three friends are chatting as they hike. And then… in minutes, one of them disappears. No sound. No clue. Just… gone. Polly Melton’s disappearance has left investigators and amateur sleuths searching for answers for over four decades

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Episode Sources

• National Park Service: Cold Cases, Thelma Pauline "Polly" Melton
• NamUs: #MP14284, Thelma Pauline Melton
• Asheville Citizen-Times: Dogs Are Unable to Find Lost Hiker, September 28, 1981
• The Knoxville Sentinel News: Search for Hiker Eases: Rangers feel woman no longer in park, October 1, 1981
• Winston Salem Journal: Search for hiker continues, October 1, 1981
• The Charlotte Observer: Female Hiker, 58, still missing in Smokie, October 1, 1981
• Asheville Citizen-Times: Organized Search ends for missing woman, October 6, 1981
• The Charlotte Observer: Terror is when a loved one vanishes in the mountains, November 20, 1981
• Asheville Times: Disappearance Still A Mystery, December 24, 1981
• The Charlotte Observer: Mystery not solved but ending, July 3, 1991
• Find A Grave: Pauline “Polly” McAllister Melton
• 10 News: Appalachian Unsolved: Polly Melton Missing in the Smokies, December 8, 2017
• Investigating Agency: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation 615-744-4000

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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The Carver Murder Trial of 1930 drew national attention for its brutality and mystery. Ruth Carver, her two-year-old son Lee, and family employee Ben Whitehead were all found dead in their Florida home. Ruth’s husband, William Carver, claimed he killed Whitehead in defense of his family, but shifting testimony and new evidence led to multiple murder trials. Nearly a century later, the true story remains a haunting mystery.

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Episode Sources

• Carver v. State, 101 Fla. 1421, 134 So. 62 (Fla. 1931)
• Criminal Genealogy. (2020, November). William Raymond Carver Murder. Retrieved from Criminal Genealogy Blog
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, April 4). 1st Degree Murder Warrant for Carver. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, April 5). More About Wife. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, April 6). Cleared by Grand Jury but Being Appealed. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, April 7). Life Insurance Policy. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, April 15). Defense Obtains 30 Day Delay in Case. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, May 12). Carver Placed on Trial - Court Packed. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Evening Star. (1930, May 14). Jury Tours Crime Scene. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, May 18). Defense Fights for Carver’s Life…He Testifies at Trial. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, May 19). Hatchet Shown in Court. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, May 21). Found Guilty - Motive Was $1000 Life Insurance Policy. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, May 24). Carver Asks for 2nd Trial. Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• The Orlando Sentinel. (1930, June). Last Chance Plea for New Trial (Details of Juror Who Was in Carver Home on Afternoon of Murders!) Retrieved from Newspapers.com
• Find A Grave. Frances Louise Van Midde. Retrieved from Find A Grave
• Find A Grave. Lee Townsend Carver. Retrieved from Find A Grave
• Find A Grave. Ruth Emilie Carver. Retrieved from Find A Grave

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Explore the surprising family ties that connected Abraham Lincoln to the Confederacy. While Lincoln fought to preserve the Union, his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, had siblings who sided with the South—raising suspicions about her loyalty. Discover how these family divisions reflected the greater turmoil of a nation at war and uncover the personal struggles of the Todds and the political challenges they created for President Lincoln during the Civil War.

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Episode Sources

• Berry, Stephen. House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds, a Family Divided by War. Houghton Mifflin, 2007.
• Susannah J. Ural (2/26/2025) The War In Their Words: I Do Not Think of Peace. HistoryNet Retrieved from https://www.historynet.com/war-words-not-peace/.
• Gaton, K.B. (2010). Family Divided: The Todd Sisters Living in Selma During The American Civil War.University of Georgia.
• "Find a Grave", database, Find a Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 3 February 2025), memorial page for Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson (1829-189)
• "Find a Grave", database, Find a Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 3 February 2025), memorial page for Elodie Breck Todd Dawson (1840-1877)
• "Find a Grave", database, Find a Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 3 February 2025), memorial page for Martha Todd White (1833-1868)
• Life in Civil War America. National Park Service, Civil War Service. Retrieved from https://npshistory.com/publications/civil_war_series/4/sec1.htm
• Scots in the American Civil War. James and Alexander Campbell: Brother against Brother at Secessionville. Retrieved from https://www.acwscots.co.uk/campbell.htm
• Feinauer, J.J. (4/20/2015) Brother against brother: The legacy of divided families during the civil war. Daily American. Retrieved from https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/lifestyle/family/2015/04/10/brother-against-brother-the-legacy-of-divided-families-during-the-civil-wa/116323338/

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On a sunny May morning in 1947, a doctor from San Antonio ambushed Willard York and his family near New Braunfels, Texas. The doctor's plan to kill the entire family failed when 13-year-old Ann York escaped. Investigators found that both the shooter and Mr. York faced financial troubles, raising questions about whether the attack stemmed from revenge or a mental breakdown, as the doctor claimed he could not remember the incident.

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Episode Sources

• Fort Worth Star-Telegram: San Antonio Broker’s Hearing Here April 17, April 11, 1947
• Shamokin News-Dispatch: Girl Identifies Texas Physician as Slayer of Four, May 25,1947
• Valley Morning Star: Arraignment of Dr. Ross In Killing of W. York Postponed. May 27, 1947
• Corpus Christi Caller-Times: SEC Drops Action Against Broker Willard H. York, June 24, 1947
• The Tribune: Venue Change Given in York Murder Trial, September 13, 1947
• Corsicana Daily Sun: Girl Survivor of Shooting Says Dr. Ross Slayer of 4, October 16, 1947
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram: State Rests Its Case at Ross Trial, October 17, 1947
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Ross ‘Scared’ Her, Patient Tells Court, October 18, 1947
• The Tyler Courier-Times: Ross’ Claim Money Taken is Revealed, Oct 19, 1947
• Corsicana Semi-Weekly Light: Other Doctors Tell Jury Ross “Insane” on Shooting Date, Oct 21, 1947
• Lubbock Morning Avalanche: Ross is Given Death Penalty for Slaying, October 24, 1947
• The Salem News: Rule Doctor in Murder is Insane, June 17, 1949
• The Brownsville Herald: Court Affirms Damages to York Family, June 19, 1950
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Doctor Denied Writ of Error, October 5, 1950
• Lubbock Morning Avalanche: Board Allows Death Sentence to Stand for Dr. Lloyd Ross, August 7, 1957
• Case Text: Ross v. York, 233 S.W.2d 347 (Tex. Civ. App. 1950)
• Daily News: JUSTICE STORY: Betrayal at the hands of Dr. Death, March 21, 2020
• History.com: SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission
• FindAGrave.com: Dr. Lloyd I. Ross
• FindAGrave.com: Gertrude Ann York

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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One of the strangest cases in all their years of police work. Those were the words of seasoned detectives in Louisville, Kentucky, who worked on the Torture House case. A century ago, this case made national headlines when Richard Heaton was murdered by William Gates, who had been kidnapped and held in a home on 34th Street in Louisville.

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Episode Sources

• New York Times: Shackled to Bed, Man Gets Free Kills Captor, March 9, 1924
• New York Times: Slayer of Heaton Cleare; Coroner's Jury Finds Killing Justifiable to Escape Mutilation, March 15,1924
• Paducah News-Democrat: Gates freed of murder charge, March 16, 1924
• Florence Morning News: Gates admit visit with Heaton to Lake City, March 16,1924
• The Winchester Sun: Gates arrested after freedom on new warrant, March 17, 1924
• The Owensboro Messenger: Gates is held on fugitive charge, March 18, 1924
• The Frankfort State Journal: Gates Tells of Trips to Texas and South, April 9, 1924
• The Louisiana Herald: Lake City Expecting William Gates, April 24, 1924
• The Lousiville Courier-Journal: Gates Bares Torture Plot Details; Hidden Pistol Saved Victim From Heaton;, March 10, 1924
• The Louisville Courier-Journal: Frank Cordell on Trial, April 9, 1924
• Historical Crime Detective: The Torture House 1924
• FindAGrave.com: Richard Hartwell Heaton
• FindAGrave.com: Mary Leahy Wiesen Heaton

Episode Music Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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Over 80 years ago, a coal mining town in Tennessee was rocked by the murders of two wealthy sisters and their 16-year-old houseworker. Who had the motive to kill the sisters, and why would someone harm the teenager who worked for them? In 2001, a former police chief claimed to have solved the case and named several suspects, but it remains shrouded in mystery.

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Episode Sources

• The Commercial Appeal: Mystery Surrounds Tennessee Murders, Feb 6, 1940
• Knoxville Sentinel-Times: Hint Murder Tale Not Yet Told, Feb 7, 1940
• Knoxville Sentinel-Times: Oliver Springs Divided Over Theories of Sisters’ Slayings, Feb 8, 1940
• The Knoxville Journal: Sheriff Offers Slaying Case Reward, Feb 8, 1940
• The Knoxville Journal: Jurors reject Murder-Suicide Theory, Feb 14, 1940
• The Knoxville Journal: Slain Sisters Cousin was Mysteriously Killed, Feb 18, 1940
• Oliver Springs Historical Society: Historical Timeline of Oliver Springs
• Oliver Springs Historical Society Newsletter: The Richards Sisters Murders
• The Tennessean: Clearing of suspect deepens 60 year old mystery, January 27, 2001
• Seattle PI: The cousin did it, investigator says, November 15, 2001
• WBIR 10 News: Appalachian Unsolved: Murder in the mansion, May 22, 2023

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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On Christmas Day in 1929, the community of Germanton, North Carolina, was forever changed by the tragic murders of seven members of the Lawson family. One fact remains indisputable: Charlie Lawson was responsible for the deaths of his family. However, the question that has lingered for nearly a century is: why did he commit such a heinous act?

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Episode Sources

• Greensboro Daily News: Stokes Farmer Murders Family, Dec 26, 1929
• Greensboro Daily News: Victims to be Buried in Single Grave, Dec 27, 1929
• Statesville Record and Landmark: Only One Member of Family of 9 Left, Dec 30, 1929
• The Sentinel: No Report on Brain of Charlie Lawson, Jan 7, 1930
• Statesville Record: Commercializing the Lawson Home, Feb 3, 1930
• PlanetSlade: So hard to die: Murder of the Lawson Family
• Murderpedia: Charles Davis Lawson
• CLEWS: Christmas Murders and the Lawson Family Massacre, December 2006
• M. Bruce Jones with Trudy Smith: White Christmas, Bloody Christmas, 1990.
• Trudy Smith: The Meaning of Our Tears

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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On a sweltering day in August 1925, Mary Vickery vanished from Coxton, Kentucky. Several months later, her remains were found in an abandoned mine located just outside the town. A local taxi driver was apprehended, tried, and sentenced to life in prison for the teenager's murder. In the spring of 1927, a young woman appeared in Harlan County with information that could clear his name.

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Episode Sources

• The Lexington Herald: Coxton Child Still Missing, August 30, 1925
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Vickery Girl Still Missing, September 18, 1925
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Dabney Caught: Now in Jail, March 5, 1926
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Dabney Given Life for Slaying of Vickery Girl, April 2, 1926
• The Atlanta Constitution: When Justice Triumphed, September 4, 1932.
• Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem: “She Rose from the Dead”, September 10, 2020.
• The Messenger: Marie Jackson fails to know Mary Vickery, March 22, 1927
• The Park City Daily News: A Woman Scorned, March 22, 1927
• The Lexington Herald: Senate Bill Asks $5,000 to Repay Harlan Man for Erroneous Imprisonment, February 15, 1928
• The Voice: An Act of Revenge, August 17, 1935
• National Register of Exonerations: Condy Dabney
• Edwin Borchard: Convicting the Innocent: Errors of Criminal Justice (1932)
• FindaGrave: Condy Ulysses Dabney, 1895-1966

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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Anna Hauptrief was the first known female serial killer in Texas. Her 1924 case was known as one of the most sensational and unexplainable in Texas court history.

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Episode Sources

• The Houston Post: Suspect Mother of Poisoning Five. July 24, 1924.
• The Houston Post: Bodies Taken From Graves. July 31, 1924.
• Belleville Daily Advocate: Woman Held for Death of Five Persons. September 9, 1924.
• The Houston Post: Hauptreif, Although Crippled, By Wife’s Poison, Loves Her. October 14, 1924.
• The Austin American: Anna Hauptreif Hangs Herself in Jail. November 1, 1924
• The Waco News: Mrs. Hauptreif’s Burial Place is Changed By Her Father’s Demand. November 3, 1924.
• The Austin American: Hauptreif Goes to Grave. November 3, 1924.
• Unknown Gender History: Annie Hauptreif, Texas Black Widow Serial Killer – August 11, 2011.
• FindAGrave.com: William Louis Hauptreif
• San Marcos Daily Record: A San Marcos Serial Killer. October 31, 2019.

Episode Music

• Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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The Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida is one of the most peculiar historic sites in the American South. This state park showcases the life of Dr. Cyrus Teed, the founder of Koreshanity. Those who joined this religious and scientific movement sought immortality through celibacy and believed the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. The Koreshan Unity has been dubbed “one of the most bizarre” communal utopian societies organized in the 19th century. They were forced to relocate several times until they found a permanent home in the swamplands of southwest Florida.

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Recommended Reading* The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet by Lyn Millner * Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage by Jeff Guinn

Episode Sources

• WGCU Gulf Coast Life: The connection between Cyrus Teed and the Koreshans and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. March 14, 2023.
• The Koreshnans: Archives of former holdings of the Koreshan State Historic Site.
• Florida State Parks: Koreshan State Historic Site
• World Religious and Spirituality Project: Koreshans by Lyn Millner
• WGCU: Florida History: Koreshan Unity: A Quest for Utopia | Untold Stories | Florida History
• US Department of the Interior: Preserving America’s Utopian Dream, 2001. “Dr. Cyrus Teed and the Koreshan Unity Movement” by Catherine Anthony Ohnemus.
• Florida Rambler: Koreshan State Park is Florida’s strangest historic site. August 3, 2024.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In May 1904, the residents of Yazoo City, Mississippi witnessed a devastating fire that destroyed half of their town. This fire was believed to be the result of a curse spoken by a woman known as the Witch of Yazoo, just before her death two decades earlier. Willie Morris, a writer and native of Mississippi, shared the legend in his book, "Good Old Boy." Following his passing in 1999, he was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Yazoo City, 13 paces due south of the Witch of Yazoo's grave. Many mysteries surround this tale: Was the witch a historical figure, a character inspired by a resident, or a legend passed down through generations? Who rests beneath the marker commemorating one of the South's most famous witches?

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Episode Sources

• The Times-Democrat: Mississippi Matters, Yazoo City Fire. May 27, 1904
• Jackson Daily-News: Committees are active today for the Yazoo City Fire Sufferers. May 27, 1904.
• The Yazoo Herald: Chained Grave Holds Jealous Wife, Says Longtime Yazoo City Resident. July 5, 1978.
• Yazoo Herald: Letters to The Editor, Vay McGraw. November 23, 1991.
• Yazoo Herald: It’s Time To Bury The Witch of Yazoo for Good. April 4, 1998
• Yazoo Herald: Letters to the Editor, Willie Morris, April 11, 1998.
• The Clarion-Ledger: Willie Morris to be buried near witches grave. August 5, 1999.
• The Delta Statement: Into the Fire, March 2, 2022.
• Yazoo County Convention and Visitors Bureau: Witch of Yazoo
• Clarion Ledger: The Witch of Yazoo still haunts the town she burned. October 28, 2014.
• National Park Service: Nehemiah “Skip” James, October 2017.
• McElreath, Leisa & Lindsley, Ashley. (2018). 1904 DESTRUCTION OF YAZOO CITY: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY RESILANCE. 10.13140/RG.2.2.13079.68002.
• City of Yazoo: The History of Yazoo City,
• Visit Yazoo: 10 Can’t Miss Spots
• Independent Order of Oddfellows: History of American Odd Fellows
• Yazoo Herald: Vay Gregory McGraw. May 9, 2023.
• The ParaInvestigator YouTube: According to Local Legend: The Mystery of the Yazoo Witch. January 5, 2024

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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State Solicitor George Bailes described the murder of Faye New as the most heinous crime ever committed in Jefferson County, Alabama. Faye New's story is shrouded in mystery and sorrow. She was a lively young woman, renowned for her warm smile and compassionate nature. In 1934, tragedy struck when she disappeared after agreeing to accompany a young man for a car ride on a summer evening. Search parties were organized, and the next day, Faye's lifeless body was discovered in a ditch at the edge of a cornfield. For months, local newspapers extensively covered every aspect of this murder mystery. Was it a crime of passion committed by a young man who professed his love for her? Or did the man who offered her a ride bring an end to a promising young life?

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Episode Sources

• Encyclopedia Alabama: Irondale, Alabama
• BhamWiki: Woodlawn
• Findagrave: Faye News
• Findagrave: Ashley Cain
• Findagrave: Dorsie New
• Findagrave: Lonnie New
• The Birmingham News: Woodlawn High Senior Faye New. February 9, 1930
• The Birmingham Post-Herald: Co Ed Missing; 2 Men Quizzed. August 22, 1934.
• The Birmingham News: Girl Found Dead. August 22, 1934.
• The Birmingham Age-Herald: Taylor is Jailed in Co-ed Death. August 23, 1934
• The Birmingham News: Police, Solicitor, Increase Activity in Taylor’s Case. August 25, 1934.
• The Birmingham News: Special Jury Probes Murder of Faye New. August 27, 1934.
• The Birmingham Post-Herald: Co Ed Death Jury Indicts Taylor. August 28, 1934.
• The Birmingham News: 34 to be Called in Taylor Trial. August 28, 1934.
• The Birmingham News: Jury is selected with hearing of witnesses next. September 4, 1934
• The Birmingham News: Cain is calm as lawyer charges him with killing. September 6, 1934
• The Birmingham News: Harold Taylor Gives His Version of Fatal Ride with Faye New. September 7, 1934.
• The Birmingham News: Taylor Repeats Denial of Guilt. September 7, 1934.
• The Birmingham News: Taylor’s Fate Now in Jury’s Hands.September 8, 1934
• The Birmingham News: Faye New’s Death is still a baffling puzzle to police. September 10, 1934
• The Birmingham News: Mother of Slain Faye New Weeps. September 10, 1934.
• The Atlanta Constitution: Taylor is Cleared of Attack Charge. September 11, 1934
• The Birmingham Post: Detectives Back on Co-Ed Murder. September 12, 1934
• The Birmingham Post-Herald: Taylor, Freed, Is Happy at Home. September 10, 1934.
• The Birmingham Post: Harold Taylor Fined as Drunk. June 12, 1935
• The Birmingham Post: Father and Son Will Face Peace Warrants. October 23, 1935.
• The Birmingham Post: Charges dropped against father and son. November 2, 1935
• The Birmingham News: Faye New’s Diary Is Buried with Slain Co-ed. August 25, 1936.
• The Birmingham Post: Faye New Father Succombs. December 31, 1936.
• The Birmingham Post: Faye New Slaying, Six Years Old, Still Unsolved. August 19, 1940.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In this episode of Southern Mysteries, host Shannon Ballard delves into the perplexing case of David Glenn Lewis, a well-respected lawyer from Amarillo, Texas, who vanished under mysterious circumstances in January 1993. Despite being a beloved family man and community leader, David's disappearance left his family and law enforcement with more questions than answers.

David's body was found 1,600 miles away in Washington State, identified only years later through the use of Google by a determined detective. The discovery solved one mystery but deepened another: how did David end up in Washington, and what led to his tragic death by a hit-and-run driver?

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Episode Sources

• Fort Worth Telegram Star: Amarillo Police Are Stumped in Search for Missing Lawyer. June 27, 1993.
• Juneau Empire: Experts say that Roberts may indeed have amnesia. July, 17, 1997
• NBC News: Google used to identify long-lost victim. October 8, 2004.
• The Crime Wire: The Strange Disappearance and Death of David Glenn Lewis. June 23, 2024
• Seattle Post-Intelligence Reporter: 1993 hit-run victim is finally identified. October 9, 2004
• NPR Morning Edition: For Man With Amnesia, Love Repeats Itself. December 13, 2012

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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The death of Mary Ravenel remains one of Charleston’s most baffling mysteries. The 64 year old widow was found slumped on the sidewalk near her home on November 1, 1933. People stopped to help and transported Mary to the hospital. She complained of unbearable pain but doctors were unable to determine the source of her injuries and Mary died. Investigators struggled to answer the question of how Mary Ravenel died? Was it accidental? Or cold blooded murder?

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Episode Sources

• South Carolina Bandits, Bushwackers, Outlaws, Crooks, Devils, Ghosts and other assorted characters By Carole Marsh
• South Carolina Killers: Crimes of Passion by Mark Jones
• Charleston Historical Exhibits and Information: The Mysterious Death of Mary Ravenel, 1933
• South Carolina Encyclopedia: Ravenel, St. Julien
• SC Picture Project: Palmer Home
• Charleston Raconteurs: William Ravenel House
• The Asheville Times: Bullet Pierced Body of Woman Found in Street, November 2, 1933
• Greensboro Record: Strange Death of Charleston Woman Is Veiled in Mystery, November 3, 1933
• The Charlotte Observer: Stray Bullet Kills Woman, November 3, 1933
• The State: Mrs. Ravenel Told Hospital ‘A Man Hit Me’, November 3, 1933
• Florence Morning News: Woman’s Death Still Mystery, November 4, 1933
• The Gazette: Mrs. Ravenel’s Slayer Never Apprehended, October 4, 1936
• The State: Ravenel Death Still Unsolved, April 5, 1938
• The Columbia Record: Charlotte Storm Kills 30, September 29, 1938

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

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In 1931, 18 year old Helen Spence became a household name, and Arkansas folk hero, after she sought vengeance for the death of her father and stepmother. Over the next three years, the media followed Helen’s trial, imprisonment, second murder charge, prison escapes, and her murder at the age of 22.

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Episode Sources

• Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Helen Spence (1912–1934)
• People’s River History Project: A Secret History of American River People
• Denise White Parkinson: Daughter of the White River: Depression-Era Treachery and Vengeance in the Arkansas Delta
• Only In Arkansas: River of Redemption: The Helen Spence Story
• The Daily World: Decisions of the Arkansas Supreme Court, January 13, 1930
• The Shreveport Journal: Wounded Man is Thrown in River, April 24, 1930
• Hope Star: Body of Timber Worker, Drowned in River, Found, June 5, 1930
• The Columbus Ledger: Girl Kills Accused Slayer of Father in Courtroom, January 20,1931
• The Barre Daily Times: Young Woman Didn’t Trust Jury with Trial, January 20, 1931
• Sun Herald: Courtroom Slayer Gets Five Year Term, April 2, 1931
• Reading Times: Arrest Trusty for Killing Girl Who Fled Prison, July 13, 1934
• Daily News: Tragedy of Helen Spence Eaton, July 22, 1934
• Hope Star: Martin Acquitted in Eaton Slaying, September 28, 1934
• Arkansas Times: The river people, August 17, 2006
• Fox 16 TV: River Justice: pardon sought for Delta folk hero
• Malvern Daily Record: Helen Spence: An Arkansas Folk Hero for the Ages, March 6, 2023

Episode Music

Impromptu, Traveler and Unanswered Questions by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Dr. Jacob Herman Feist was one of Nashville’s most eligible bachelors when he was accused of murder following the disappearance of his lover, Mrs. Mangrum. Was one of the city’s most prominent citizens one of its earliest known serial killers or a womanizer who was destroyed by accusations and gossip?

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Episode Sources

• The Tennessean Sadie Goldstein Obituary, May 11, 1903
• The Tennessean Dr. Feist’s Denial, May 16, 1903
• Grundy News Sadie Goldstein, May 21, 1903
• Feist Court Case J. Herman Feist vs. The State
• Knoxville Sentinel Saw Dr. Feist Embrace Woman, January 29, 1907
• The Journal and Tribune Morbid Crowd Fed Salacious Morsels, Jan 30, 1907
• The Tennessean May Not Go On Witness Stand, Jan 31, 1907
• Nashville Banner Dr. Feist Witnesses Last Scene of the Trial with no Visible Emotion, Feb 16, 1907
• Nashville Banner Defense Asks for Adjournment, March 26, 1907
• The Tennessean Treatment of Dr. J. H. Feist
• The Tennessean The Feist Case, April 4, 1978
• The Baldwin Times Dr. Feist Dies at Tensaw Home, October 23, 1952
• Genealogy Trails Davidson County J. Herman Feist Bio
• Notorious Nashville Scoundrels, Rogues and Outlaws, By Brian Allison
• Find a Grave Dr. Jacob Herman Feist (1873-1952)

Episode Music

Impromptu and Unanswered Questions by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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On May 4, 1931, William and Mamie Wagner were murdered at their home in northwest Mississippi. The Jackson Clarion-Ledger called the murders of one of the most prominent couples in the area, “the most brutal tragedy that has ever happened in this section of Mississippi”.

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Episode Sources

• The Commercial Appeal Mass Meeting on Charges Relative to Death of Rev H.P. Gibbs, May 6, 1899
• State Historical Society Archives Anti-Lynching Bill, 1921
• The Greenwood Commonwealth Water Valley Merchant and Wife Slain, May 5, 1931
• Biloxi Sun Herald Sheriff Gets Confession in Wagner Crime, May 6, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Atrocities in Northern Part of State Bringing Intense Police Efforts, May 7, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Murder Victims Are Laid to Rest, May 8, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Verdict Carries Dealth Penalty For Whitaker in Wagner Slayings, June 12, 1931
• North Mississippi Herald The Infamous History of Water Valley, May 14, 2008
• North Mississippi Herald Century Old Jail Is Piece Of History, April 6, 2011
• Hill Country History Water Valley (1858)
• Ancestry.com William Buford Wagner, Jr.
• Water Valley Chamber of Commerce Attractions - Carnival Info

Episode Music

Impromptu and Unanswered Questions by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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The Nelms Sisters Mystery is one of the most sensational mysteries of the early 20th century, that most people have never heard of. In the summer of 1914, Eloise Nelms was in love with an attorney she planned to marry. Her sister Beatrice questioned the attorney’s motives and wanted proof that he had her sister's best interest at heart. The sisters took a train from Atlanta, headed to Texas to meet the attorney. They were never seen alive again.

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Episode Sources

• An Old Coot’s Essays About An Earlier Georgia and Other Topics by Eddie Rollins
• Forgotten Stories: The World’s Worst Divorce Attorney
• Atlanta West End: Historic West End
• The Atlanta Constitution: Death Claims Him, March 1, 1911
• Oakland Tribune: Mystery of Two Sisters Deepens, July 10, 1914
• Charlotte Daily Observer: Search for Women Makes No Progress, July 11, 1914
• Tampa Journal: Atlanta Quivers with Excitement in Letter Puzzle, July 12, 1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Mother, Heartbroken, Tells of Power Innes Had Over Daughter, July 12, 1914
• San Francisco Examiner: Mrs. Nelms Bares Daughters Tragic Love, July 13, 1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Womans Clubs Urged to Aid Nelms Search, July 13,1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Evidence Sought to Hold Innes, July 16, 1914
• The Eugene Guard: Former US District Attorney Arrested in Eugene, August 19, 1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Strange Letters to Aid in Solving Nelms Mystery Case, August 21, 1914
• The Macon Telegraph: Bones Found in Connect with Nelms Mystery Are Positively Identified As Human, September 9, 1914
• The Americus Times Daily Recorder: Speculation Made in Case of INnes and wife, April 4, 1916
• The Atlanta Constitution: Finger of Death Inscribes ‘Finis’ on Final Chapter of Nelms Case, April 1, 1936

Episode Music

Northern Lights by Chris Hauge. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Deep Haze by Kevin McLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

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The Battle of Blair Mountain, in the summer of 1921, was one of the largest civil uprisings in American History. Violent attacks on Appalachian miners and their families, dangerous working conditions and a forced debt system in company towns contributed to the largest and bloodiest armed uprising since the Civil War.

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Episode Sources

• The Road to Blair Mountain by Charles Keeney
• On Dark and Bloody Ground by Anne Lawrence
• National Park Service: Introduction to the West Virginia Mine Wars
• Smithsonian Magazine: What Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising in American History
• Zinn Education Project: The Devil Is Here in These Hills
• ReImagine Appalachia: The Battle of Blair Mountain
• West Virginia Archives & History
• United Mine Workers of America: Standing United, Living Divided: Black coal miners and their fight for justice
• West Virginia Mine Wars Museum
• JSTOR Daily: Rednecks: A Brief History.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines by Ross Gentry. Used with permission of artist.

Resolution by Kevin McLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

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The disappearance of 67 year old Ruth Dorsey has perplexed her family, friends and Lee County, Alabama law enforcement for half a century. In the summer of 1974 investigators launched what would become one of the most extensive searches to date in the east central part of the state. Ruth’s disappearance remains one of Alabama’s most baffling mysteries.

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Episode Sources

• The Charley Project: Ruth Purcell Murphree Dorsey
• Encyclopedia of Alabama: Opelika
• Opelika-Auburn News: Dorsey Family Needs Closure After 30 Years, April 16, 2006
• Opelika-Auburn News: Only Spooky May Know What Happened, Aug 17, 1975
• Opelika-Auburn News: Ruth Dorsey Still Missing After Seven Years, Aug 16, 1981
• Opelika-Auburn News: E.S. (Pete) Dorsey, Lee Cattleman Dies at Home, June 22, 1965
• Opelika-Auburn News: Opelika Missing After Car Found, Aug 19, 1974
• Opelika-Auburn News: Helicopter Used to Search Area for Mrs. Dorsey, Aug 27, 1974
• Opelika-Auburn News: Aerial Search for Proves Fruitless In Search for Missing Opelikan
• Opelika-Auburn News: Ruth Dorsey’s Disappearance, Aug 21, 1977
• Opelika-Auburn News: After 3 Month Search, Dorsey Case Unsolved, Dec 3, 1974
• Opelika-Auburn News: Reward Up to $1400, Aug. 30, 1974
• RootsWeb: Dorsey Ancestry

Episode Music

Not Forgotten by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

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The New Orleans Trunk Murders are a long forgotten dark chapter in the city's history. The gruesome discovery of two dismembered bodies in the French Quarter in October 1927 was one of the most violent crimes reported in the city in the 1920s.

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Episode Sources

• The Historical New Orleans Collection: Amid Roaring Twenties New Orleans, a brutal French Quarter murder shocked the city
• Bayou Justice: New Orleans’ infamous trunk murders revisited
• Atlas Obscura: The Trunk Murders and ‘Sausage Ghost’ of 1920s New Orleans
• Southern Spirit Guide: A Block of Death and Dismemberment – New Orleans
• French Quarter Mangement District: History of French Quarter
• Vieux Carré Digital Survey: 715 Ursulines St.
• Find A Grave: Henry Moity
• Find A Grave: Joseph Moity
• Find A Grave: Theresa Alfano Moity
• The Evergreen Courant: Henry Moity Captured
• Orlando Evening Star: How Jealousy Turned a Devoted Husband into a Demon
• Daily Advertiser: Be Careful in Marrying,Is Advice in Story Written by Woman Found Slain at N.O.

Episode Music

Dark Times and Long Note Two by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

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William and Ellen Craft escaped slavery in Macon, Georgia by traveling to Philadelphia in 1848. Ellen, the light skinned daughter of her mixed race mother and their enslaver, posed as a young white male planter and William posed as her slave.Their daring escape made international headlines and the Crafts became two of the most famous emancipated people in American history.

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Episode Sources

• Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Dover Thrift Editions: Black History)
• Time Magazine: The Remarkable True Story of the Couple Who Posed as Master and Slave to Escape Bondage
• Smithsonian Magazine: The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft
• National Park Service: "A Desperate Leap for Liberty": The Escape of William and Ellen Craft
• History: The Daring Disguise that Helped One Enslaved Couple Escape to Freedom
• Georgia Women of Achievement: Ellen Smith Craft
• BBC: Ellen and William Craft: Blue plaque for abolitionists who fled slavery

Episode Music

Traveller by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

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Betty Gail Brown was a sophomore at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky when she was murdered on campus in 1961.Betty Gail’s murder has haunted Central Kentucky for six decades. Who killed Betty Gail and why? The case remains unsolved despite the police file noting the case was closed due to an arrest.

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Episode Sources

• Recommended Read: Who Killed Betty Gail Brown?: Murder, Mistrial, and Mystery by Robert G. Lawson.
• Daily News August 1966: The Coed Parked with Death
• Find A Grave: Betty Gail Brown (1942-1961)
• Indianapolis Star October 1961: Co-Ed Slain on Kentucky Campus
• Lexington Herald-Leader January 1965: Man held in West says he killed Miss Brown
• Lexington Herald-Leader December 1984: Police still seeking answers to unsolved murder
• Lexington Herald-Leader November 2017: Inside the Police File of City’s Most Notorious Slaying that has gone unsolved for 56 years
• The Rambler: Kentucky Cold Case: Who killed Betty Gail Brown?
• The Rambler: Cold Case Heats Up: Police Department Reopens Transy Student’s Murder Case
• Vice: The Bizarre Unsolved Murder of Harry Dean Stanton's Niece

Episode Music

Surrender by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under Creative Commons

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On September 4, 1904, Fannie McCue was found dead in a bathtub at the McCue home in Charlottesville, Virginia. Within months a man was arrested, convicted of murder and executed. Doubts linger over his guilt and some believe his execution was staged. What happened in the McCue home the night Fannie was killed?

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Episode Sources

• The McCue Murder: The complete story of the crime and the famous trial of the ex-mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia. Lindsay, James H. (1862-1933). https://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=2007_01/uvaBook/tei/b000449357.xml;brand=default;
• History of the McCue Case: Full Particulars of the Crime, Inquest, Trial and Conviction with Argument of Counsel by Evan Ragland Chesterman, Joseph Francis Geisinger https://books.google.com/books?id=T3NIdLR8VF4C&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
• Murder trial of J. Samuel McCue. Cvillepedia. Retrieved January 13, 2024. https://www.cvillepedia.org/Murder_trial_of_J._Samuel_McCue
• The Case of the “Not-So-Common” Comyn Hall. Albemarle + Charlottesville History. Retrieved January 12, 2024 https://charlottesvillealbemarlehistory.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/the-case-of-the-not-so-common-comyn-hall
• Charlottesville. Cvillepedia. Retrieved January 12, 2024 https://www.cvillepedia.org/Charlottesville
• McCue Believes He Will Be Free. The Greenville News. December 22, 1904. Retrieved January 12, 2024. https://www.newspapers.com/image/187932715
• J Samuel McCue Dies on Gallows. The Roanoke Times, February 11, 1905. Retrieved January 15, 2024 https://www.newspapers.com/image/911640060

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Evening Fall Piani by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons.

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The Great Gaines Case remains the longest civil litigation in US History. The nearly six decade long court battle involved a wealthy Louisiana politician and merchant’s vast fortune, a hidden marriage and child and property in the heart of New Orleans business district.

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Episode Sources

• The New Orleans woman who fought the longest court battle in US history, The Historic New Orleans Collection. (Viewed November 2023) https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/new-orleans-woman-who-fought-longest-court-battle-us-history
• Notorious Woman: The Celebrated Case of Myra Clark Gaines by Elizabeth Urban Alexander https://lsupress.org/9780807130247/
• Myra Clark Gaines: The Longest-Running Civil Lawsuit in America. Law Library of Louisiana (Viewed November 2023) https://lasc.libguides.com/c.php?g=560377&p=3854854
• Gaines v. Relf, 53 U.S. 472 (1851). Justia US Supreme Court (Viewed November 2023) https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/53/472/
• The Gaines Case Settled; Some of the Claims to be at Once Paid by the Administrator, New York Times, July 27, 1892
• A man in shadow: the life of Daniel Clark, Tulane University Digital Library. (Viewed November 2023). https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A27489

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Meditation Impromptu One by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons.

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One of the biggest news stories in October 1934 was the kidnapping of Alice Speed Stoll from her home in Louisville, Kentucky. Seven days later she was set free but her kidnapper remained on the run. Who kidnapped Alice and why?

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Episode Sources

• Money for Mrs. Stoll Is Ready Authorities Refuse to Reveal ‘Definite Leads’. Healdsburg Tribune, Number 290, 11 October 1934. (Viewed April 2020) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19341011.2.4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
• Robinson v. United States, 144 F.2d 392 (6th Cir. 1944). US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - 144 F.2d 392 (6th Cir. 1944), July 31, 1944 (Viewed April 2020) https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/144/392/1547644/
• The bizarre story of a kidnapped Louisville heiress held captive in Indianapolis, IndyStar.com. (Viewed April 2020) https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2019/12/20/alice-speed-stoll-kidnapping-went-louisville-indianapolis/2674240001/
• Video out takes with family spokesperson, University of South Carolina Libraries Digital Collections. (Viewed April 2020) https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A26483
• Robinson, Stoll, Kidnapper, Caught, The Indianapolis times. October 17, 1934 (Viewed April 2020) https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015313/1934-10-17/ed-1/seq-3/
• Joyful After Kidnap Acquittal, Healdsburg Tribune, October 24, 1935. (Viewed April 2020) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=HT19351024&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1

Episode Music

Alone with My Thoughts by Esther Abrami. Licensed under Creative Commons

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David Stringbean Akeman was one of the biggest stars on the Grand Ole Opry throughout the 1950s. The accomplished banjo player rose to national fame thanks to his appearances on the country variety show Hee Haw. In November 1973, Stringbean and his wife Estelle were murdered at their cabin just outside Nashville. Their deaths forever changed Music City.

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Episode Sources

• Stringbean: The Life and Murder of a Country Music Legend by Taylor Hagood. University Press of MS (May 2023). https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p087110
• Birthplace of Country Music Museum. (2023, May 16). BCM Museum Speaker Sessions - Stringbean: The Life & Murder with Taylor Hagood. Youtube. (https://youtu.be/xYGB3f1ZRM0?si=XKRfNATk4xo9rbv4).
• Nashville Bar Association. (2019, June 6). The Stringbean Murders: Death in Baker Holler | Part 1.Youtube. (https://youtu.be/8-lAR_lHeG0?si=TtXFat3yJ4GQAC6h).
• Nashville Bar Association. (2019, June 6). The Stringbean Murders: Death in Baker Holler | Part 2.Youtube. (https://youtu.be/QK9JVZdm1_M?si=nqaQTf-HNAohFC1_).
• Bluegrass Baseball: Barnstorming Band and Ball Club, Society for American Baseball Research. (Viewed November 1, 2023) http://research.sabr.org/journals/bluegrass-baseball-barnstorming-band-and-ball-club
• Stringnbean Akeman and Wife are Slain, The Advocate-Messenger, November 12, 1973. (Viewed November 4, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/143221098
• Killers Missed $5700, The Tennessean, November 12, 1973.(Viewed November 2, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/112272973
• End of Innocence, The Tennessean, November 10, 2013. (Viewed November 2, 2023)https://www.newspapers.com/image/105312207
• A Tribute to Stringbean, The Fort Worth Telegram Star, November 13, 1973. (Viewed November 3, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/633207504
• 'Stringbean' Akeman's killer gets parole,Tennessean,Oct 14, 2014. (Viewed Nov 1, 2023)

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Castleshire by Chris Haugen. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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The death of Daisy Keeton is one of Mississippi’s most horrifying murder mysteries. In January Daisy Keeton disappeared. Days later mutilated remains were discovered near an isolated road in Jones County. The investigation led police to Daisy’s daughter who was arrested and quickly dubbed Mississippi's Lizzie Borden.

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Episode Sources

• The Legs Murder Scandal by Hunter Cole. University Press of Mississippi (August 9, 2010). https://a.co/d/9VahppU
• Daisy McKinstry Keeton, FindaGrave.com. (Viewed October 9, 2023) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80746498/daisy-keeton
• Keeton Faces Trial on Assault Charge, Jackson Daily News, August 1, 1922. (Viewed October 8, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/200361386
• Earl Keeton Found Guilty of Assault, The Newton Record, August 3, 1922. (Viewed October 8, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/304298515
• Keeton vs. State of Mississippi. Casetext. (Viewed October 9, 2023) https://casetext.com/case/keeton-v-state-24
• Alibi Witnesses Introduced, The Leader Call, May 31, 1935. (Viewed October 9, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/7792723
• Question Girl in Kidnapping Story, The Columbus Telegram, January 26, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/428930971
• Link Murder To Kidnapping, Colusa Sun-Herald, January 26, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/993963486
• Woman Charged with Murder of Own Mother, The Birmingham News, January 28, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/573563470
• Woman’s Story Stirs Murder Mystery Quiz, Oakland Tribune, January 28, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/128798356
• State Marshalls Witnesses at Trial Today, The Leader Call, March 4, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/7771247
• On Trial for Mother’s Murder, Quad City Times, March 8, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 1935) https://www.newspapers.com/image/301307667
• Large Bank Account Cited in Murder Case, The Miami Herald, March 10, 1935. (Viewed October 9, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/617423925
• Verdict Guilty! Girl Sentenced to Life Imprisonment, The Leader Call, March 12, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/7771247
• The Pretty Murderess Who Was Too Modest, The Miami News, April 21, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/573563470
• Ouida Keeton Testifies for State Tuesday, The Leader Call, May 28, 1935. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/7791810
• Sentence Set Aside in Legs Murder Case, The Danville Bee, March 10, 1936. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/962494465
• Legs Murder Retrial Looms, The Ledger Star, March 10, 1936. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/951711290/

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Leoforos Alexandras by Dan Bodan. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Savannah is Georgia’s first city and one of America’s most haunted. If you visit Savannah’s historic district and stroll the city squares, at some point, you are walking on the dead. Victims of war, yellow fever epidemics, fires, murder and enslavement who died during turbulent times in the city. Savannah is a city that lives upon the dead and some continue to make their presence known.

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Episode Sources

• “432 Abercorn Street: Haunted Mansion Or Just a Rumor Mill?”, The Savannah First-Timer’s Guide. (Viewed October 3, 2023) https://savannahfirsttimer.com/432-abercorn-street
• “Savannah Child Killed by Marble Table Top”, The Atlanta Constitution, December 3, 1933. (Viewed October 2, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/398101049
• “Man Is Injured in 14-Ft Fall”, The Macon Telegraph, December 13, 1933. (Viewed October 2, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/image/826315007
• “Grand Jury to Probe Wesley Espy’s Death”, The Atlanta Constitution, January 31, 1934. (Viewed October 2, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-atl-constitutio/60239352
• “Carl Espy Sr”, Abbeville Herald, February 15, 1951. (Viewed October 2, 2023) https://www.newspapers.com/article/abbeville-herald-obituary-for-carl-espy/67883727
• “Why is Savannah one of America’s Most Haunted Cities?“, Savannah.com. (Viewed October 2, 2023) https://www.savannah.com/why-is-savannah-one-of-americas-most-haunted-cities
• “New report takes a fresh look at Savannah's role in the history of American slavery”, GPB.org, October 25, 2022. (Viewed October 10, 2023) https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/10/25/new-report-takes-fresh-look-at-savannahs-role-in-the-history-of-american-slavery
• “Beneath the Surface”, Savannah Magazine, May 15, 2017. (Viewed October 9, 2023) https://www.savannahmagazine.com/beneath-the-surface/
• “Why was Nathanael Greene's skeleton kept in a bank vault?”, The Augusta Chronicle, August 1, 2022. (Viewed October 9, 2023) https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/lifestyle/columns/2022/08/01/monday-mystery-skeleton-revolutionary-war-hero-kept-bank-vault/10169971002/
• “Haunted Crime Scenes: Savannah's 'Most Haunted' House”, True Crime Library, 2007. (Viewed October 3, 2023) https://www.crimelibrary.org/notorious_murders/classics/hampton-lillibridge/1_index.html
• “Died in the West”, The Atlanta Constitution, February 16, 1896. (Viewed October 7, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/26788699

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Dark Times by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Demopolis, a small town in West Central Alabama, is the home to many a tale of ghosts and the unexplained, including at Bluff Hall. There is a dark history associated with the grand old home, including a funeral service for four members of the Smith family. The Demopolis Times called the discovery of their bodies in November 1934 “the most shocking tragedy that has happened in the city of Demopolis.

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Episode Sources

• “Tales of Ghosts Haunt Demopolis Landmarks River”, The Demopolis Times, Nov 1, 2019. (Viewed September 3, 2023) https://www.demopolistimes.com/2018/11/01/tales-of-ghosts-haunt-demopolis-landmarks-rive
• “They Just Weren’t The Kind of People for That”, Crime Reads, February 3, 2023. (Viewed September 4, 2023). https://crimereads.com/they-just-werent-the-kind-of-people-for-that-the-1934-smith-family-massacre-in-demopolis-alabama/
• “Shocking Tragedy Here Sunday Stirs Community”, The Demopolis Times, November 29, 1934. (Viewed September 3,2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/539484992/?match=1
• “Alkire-Smith”, The Demopolis Times, October 11, 1933. (Viewed September 4, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/539386981/
• “Verdict Found at Demopolis”, Our Southern Home, December 5, 1934. (Viewed September 5, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/551861356/?terms=elsie%20smith&match=1
• “Bluff Hall”, Encyclopedia of Alabama. (Viewed September 2, 2023).https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/bluff-hall/
• “Murder and Suicide Seen in Demopolis Tragedy”, The Selma Times Journal, November 26, 1934. (Viewed September 2, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/570062089/

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Peace of Mind and Long Note Two by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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On December 11, 1926 a small town bank near Austin, Texas was robbed at gunpoint by a 21 year old college student Rebecca Bradley. She wasn’t the typical bank robber of the 1920s. What secrets drove this “girl next door” to armed robbery and arson?

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Episode Sources

• “Drop Co-Ed Bandit Charge as Rebecca Becomes Mother”, El Paso Herald-Post, October 25, 1933. (Viewed on August 23, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/796631421/?clipping_id=131550098
• “The End of an Unusual Case”, Wichita Falls Times, October 27, 1933. (Viewed on August 23, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/article/wichita-falls-times/131148529
• “Amarillo Attorney Tells of Marriage to Bandit Suspect”, Ft. Worth Telegram Star, December 14, 1926. (Viewed on August 28, 2023). https://www.newspapers.com/image/634535367/?terms=rebecca%20bradley
• “Rebecca Bradley Girl Bandit”, ScandalsandSweets.com.(Viewed on August 21, 2023). https://scandalsandsweets.com/rebecca-bradley-girl-bandit
• “Texas Girl Bandit Accused of Arson”,The New York Times, December 12, 1026.(Viewed on August 20, 2023). https://www.nytimes.com/1926/12/16/archives/texas-girl-bandit-accused-of-arson-buda-bank-robber-is-arrested-for.html

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Dixie Outlandish and Castleshire by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons

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Meet sisters Caroline Martin, Virginia Wardlaw and Mary Snead. They left a long trail of devastation and death of family members from Kentucky to Tennessee and Virginia on to New Jersey where they were implicated in the mysterious death of a young family member.

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Episode Sources

“Soule Sisters Series”, Daily News Journal, Sunday, October 2009. Accessed March 2, 2028. https://rutherfordtnhistory.org/rutherford-county-hosted-three-wicked-witches/

“Three Sisters in Black: The Bizarre True Case of the Bathtub Tragedy” by Norman Zierold. Accessed March 1, 2018.
https://books.google.com/books?id=wqdLDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

“Ghosts of past still frighten New River Valley”, Collegiate Times, October 31, 2006. Accessed March 10, 2018.

https://www.collegiatetimes.com/lifestyle/ghosts-of-past-still-frighten-new-river-valley/article_0b71ec43-ff02-5af4-a83e-8016c081891a.html

“Sister Act: The Bizarre Drowning of Ocey Snead”, The Lineup, July 19, 2018. Accessed August 1, 2023. https://the-line-up.com/the-bizarre-drowning-of-ocey-snead

Episode Music
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Colorless Aura by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Otto Wood was a self–proclaimed one armed-bandit from North Carolina. He made a name for himself as a bootlegger who loved stealing from the rich. Being sent to jail only heightened his fame. He escaped prison so many times he was nicknamed the Hillbilly Houdini.

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Episode Sources

‘They started popping bullets’: Eyewitness recalls the day Otto Wood died. Salisbury Post. January 2015. Accessed August 1, 2023. https://www.salisburypost.com/2015/07/30/they-started-popping-bullets-eyewitness-recalls-the-day-otto-wood-died/

Wood, Otto. Life history of Otto Wood: inmate, State Prison. Raleigh, N.C.: 1926.

Otto Wood: North Carolina’s One Man Crime Wave. Old Hat Records. Accessed August 3, 2023. http://www.oldhatrecords.com/ResearchOttoWood.html

The not too well-known desperado. Accessed August 3, 2023. http://kronsell.net/woodenglish.htm

McKenzie, T. (2021). Otto Wood, the Bandit: The Freighthopping Thief, Bootlegger, and Convicted Murderer behind the Appalachian Ballads. University of North Carolina Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469665672_mckenzie

Episode Music

The Colonel by Zachariah Hickman. Licensed under Creative Commons; Otto Wood: The Bandit by The Carolina Buddies, Columbia Phonograph Recordings, 1931. Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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In June 1964, the Ku Klux Klan conspired with law enforcement in Neshoba County, Mississippi to kidnap and murder three young civil rights workers. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered in an effort to preserve segregation in the state and deter further civil rights activism. Despite dozens of indictments and a few trials, was justice served? What role did the state of Mississippi play in their murders?

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Episode Sources

• Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “Sovereignty Commission Online website”. (Viewed on July 29, 2023).
• Mississippi Encyclopedia. “Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission”. (Viewed on July 29, 2023). https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/mississippi-state-sovereignty-commission/
• African American History. Cozzens, Lisa. "Brown v. Board of Education." (Viewed on July 29, 2023). http://fledge.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html
• Wisconsin Historical Society Freedom Summer Digital Collection. “Edward Hollander recordings [sound recording], 1963-1964; Audio 369A; WIHVH2870-A.” (Viewed on July 28, 2023)https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/p15932coll2/id/11990
• Jackson Free Press. “FBI Celebrates Civil-Rights Heroes”. (Viewed on July 30,2023) https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2011/jun/21/fbi-celebrates-civil-rights-heroes/
• Famous Trials. “Mississippi Burning Trial Chronology.” (Viewed on August 1, 2023) https://famous-trials.com/mississippi-burningtrial/1959-chronology
• King Encyclopedia.”Freedom Summer.” (Viewed on August 1, 2023) https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/freedom-summer
• Jewish Women's Archive. "Rita Schwerner." (Viewed on August 2, 2023) https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bender-rita.
• Neshoba Democrat. “Mt. Zion to hold annual memorial”. (Viewed on July 31, 2023)https://neshobademocrat.com/stories/mt-zion-to-hold-annual-memorial,87244
• Pacifica Radio Archives, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. “Memorial service for James Chaney.” 1964-08-28. (Viewed July 28, 2023). http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-28-m901z42919.
• History.com. “Freeom Summer.” (Viewed July 27, 2023). https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-summer
• Porter, Dawn. “Spies of Mississippi.” (Viewed July 29, 2023). https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/spies-of-mississippi/

Episode Music

Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallager. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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This 2020 episode is one of the most popular in the Southern Mysteries archive. It tells the story of Elizabeth Dale. Between the 1830s and 1850s, she was married and widowed, six times. Each husband died following a mysterious illness. When Elizabeth’s neighbor accused her of murdering her husbands, he learned that questioning Elizabeth could cost you your life.

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Episode Sources

Elizabeth High-Brown-Routt: Hazel Green's First Serial Killer, Memories of Madison County.

Elizabeth Evans Dale. Huntsville History Collection

Federal Writers Project (2013). The WPA Guide to Alabama: The Camellia State. Retrieved from http://books.google.com

"Attempt to Convict Based On The Testimony Of A Monomaniac". Nashville Daily Patriot. [volume], January 22, 1856, Image 2

"Dead Husbands Tell No Tales". Okay, Listen Here. 27 October 2010

"Elizabeth Routt: Did She Murder Her Six Husbands Or Was She a Victim of Misfortune?" Huntsville Times. 26 February 1976

Carrington, Virgil. True Tales of Old Madison County, (1992). Johnson Historical Publications

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

Plantation by Audionautix. Licensed under Creative Commons. One Mile East of Hazel Green by Shane Adkins, from performance at Von Braun Center, Huntsville Alabama on June 7th, 2014 as part of Jim Parker's Songwriter Series

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In 1959 Osprey, Florida was shaken by the murder of the Walker Family, just days before Christmas. The quadruple murder remains unsolved. Some investigators believe there’s a connection between the murder of the Walkers in Florida…and the Clutter Family Murder in Holcomb, Kansas.

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Episode Sources

• Walker Murder Investigative Report from Florida Sherrif’s Bureau. Accessed June 1, 2023. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/525057/walker-2.pdf
• The suspects: A litany of names and clues. Herald-Tribune. Accessed June 8, 2023 https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2005/12/19/the-suspects-a-litany-of-names-and-clues/28452224007/
• Years Later, Sarasota Murders Tied to ‘In Cold Blood’ Case. Accessed June 8, 2023. https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2013/05/18/years-later-sarasota-murders-tied/8122891007/
• Unsolved Mysteries: The Walker Family Murders. Accessed June 8, 2023. https://truecrimedetective.co.uk/in-cold-blood-ii-the-walker-family-murders-d16969e7dac4
• Resurrecting the “Mummy murder’ case. Accessed June 8, 2023. https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1994/03/23/resurrecting-the-mummy-murder-case/
• Clutter Family Murders. Accessed. Accessed June 9, 2023. https://www.gcpolice.org/about-gcpd/history/famous-cases/clutter-family-murders
• No DNA link between Walker murders, ‘In Cold Blood’ killers https://web.archive.org/web/20151126101903/http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130813/ARTICLE/130819868
• Walker investigation shows parts of ‘In Cold Blood’ don’t add up. Accessed June 9, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20130128075855/http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20121209/ARTICLE/121209622?p=2&tc=pg
• Did the Clutter Murderers Kill Again? Accessed June 10, 2023. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323951904578292491087476234

Episode Music

Emotional Alone by Purple Planet Music. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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The murder of Solomon P. Sharp by Jereboam Beauchamp is known as The Kentucky Tragedy. It’s a complicated story of seduction, politics, love and execution.

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Episode Sources

• Southern Literary Messenger. Encyclopedia of Virginia. Accessed May 30, 2023. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/southern-literary-messenger/
• The confession of Jereboam Beauchamp "(written by himself) who was executed at Frankfort, Ky., for the murder of Col. Solomon P. Sharp, a member of the legislature, and late attorney-general of Ky. To which is added some poetical pieces written by Mrs. Ann Beauchamp, who voluntarily put a period to her existence on the day of the execution of her husband, and was buried in the same grave with him. Accessed May 30, 2023. https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/sat1109
• The Kentucky Tragedy in American Literature: From Thomas Holley Chivers to Robert Warren. Jack Edward Surrency, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Accessed May 30, 2023. ttps://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5389&context=utk_graddiss
• Jereboam O. Beauchamp. Murderpedia. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/beauchamp-jereboam.htm

Episode Music

I Am A Man Who Will Fight For Your Honor by Chris Zabriske and No. 7 Alone with My Thought by Esther Abrami. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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The story of Joe Ball has been a part of Texas lore since the 1930s. He’s known to have killed two people but investigators believed he may have killed up to 20. Were nearly a dozen victims fed to Joe’s pet alligators?

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Episode Sources

• Joe Ball: The Butcher of Elmendorf. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20070916033830/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/joe_ball/index.html
• Two Barmaids, Five Alligators, and the Butcher of Elmendorf. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/butcher-of-elmendorf-alligators/
• Joseph D. Ball Accessed May 1, 2023. http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/ball-joseph.htm

Episode Music

Lost Cowboy by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In 1944, George Stinney Jr. was wrongfully convicted of murder and executed by the state of South Carolina. The 14 year old was the youngest person to be executed in 20th century America.

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Episode Sources

• Court Acknowledges Wrongful Execution of 14-Year Old George Stinney, Accessed March 30, 2023. https://eji.org/news/george-stinney-exonerated/
• State v. Stinney, Brief of Amicus Curiae, Accessed April 10, 2023.
• Justice is Done: George Stinney Jr.’s 70 Year Old Conviction is Vacated, April 10, 2023. 
  https://lawlibrarybarrister.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/justice-is-done-george-stinney-jr-s-70-year-old-conviction-is-vacated/
• New details emerge about an alternate suspect in Alcolu girls’ murders. Accessed April 11, 2023. https://www.postandcourier.com/news/special_reports/new-details-emerge-about-an-alternate-suspect-in-alcolu-girls-murders/article_2b2069f0-2933-11e8-9997-7b67df562df5.html

Episode Music

Dark Times by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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A sensational tale of obsession, murder and a secret lover were front page news in the summer of 1922. At the center of it all was Walburga Oesterreich, more commonly known as Dolly. Detectives worked for over a decade to solve the mystery of the murder of her husband, Fred. A scorned lover revealed the answers and Dolly's secrets shocked the country.

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Episode Sources

The Story Of Dolly Oesterreich – The Woman Who Kept Her Secret Lover In The Attic For Years. Accessed Dec 12, 2022 https://allthatsinteresting.com/dolly-oesterreich

The Murderous Lover Who Lived In A Silver Lake Attic. A True Story. Accessed Dec 29,2022. https://laist.com/news/la-history/hidden-history-of-la-the-murderous-lover-who-lived-in-a-silver-lake-attic

The Legend of Milwaukee’s Most Infamous Love Triangle. Accessed December 30, 2022.https://www.milwaukeemag.com/the-legend-of-milwaukees-most-infamous-love-triangle/

Music

It's the Talk of the Town. Public Domain. 78rpm Collection (1920s 1930s Popular Music) Part JH11

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Easter marked the 60th anniversary of the disappearance of 22 year old Hannah Jane Rowell. Her estranged husband believed Jane abandoned the family to leave Baton Rouge, Louisiana and try to make it in Hollywood. Her distraught and protective brother vowed there was foul play.

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Episode Sources

• Jane Clement Missing Since 1963. The Hammond Star, Bayou Justice. Accessed February 25, 2020. https://www.hammondstar.com/news/jane-clement-missing-since-1963/article_317d206e-c244-53a3-a061-6b13a44b0413.html
• Dental Chart of Missing Woman Studied. The Daily Iberian. December 10, 1963. https://www.newspapers.com/image/849587767/
• Jane Rowell Clement. Doe Network. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1373dfla.html
• Jane Clement Rowell. The Charley Project. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://charleyproject.org/case/jane-rowell-clement
• Jane Clement missing since 1963. Bayou Justice. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://bayoujustice.com/2023/03/jane-clement-missing-since-1963-2/
• Jane Rowell buried in concrete tomb. Bayou Justice. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://bayoujustice.com/2023/03/jane-rowell-buried-in-concrete-tomb/

Episode Music

Not Alone by Lee Rosevere. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In December 1989, Judge Robert Vance was killed in his Alabama home when he opened a package that contained a mail bomb. Two days later Civil rights attorney Robert Robinson was killed in a separate explosion in Georgia. The investigation to find the person responsible for the attacks became one of the largest cases in FBI history.

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Episode Sources

• Helen Vance is remembered as passionate about life, animal lover. AL.com. Accessed January 15, 2023. https://www.al.com/spotnews/2010/10/helen_vance_remembered_as_pass.html
• Family remembers Savannah attorney killed in 1989 bombing. WTOC.com. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.wtoc.com/story/37989246/family-remembers-savannah-attorney-killed-in-1989-bombing/
• Judge Vance Murder. FBI.gov. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/judge-vance-murder
• Alabama Executes Man for 1989 Mail-Bomb Murder of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Robert S. Vance. Justice.gov. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/alabama-executes-man-1989-mail-bomb-murder-us-appeals-court-judge-robert-s-vance-0
• United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Walter Leroy Moody, Jr. Justia US Law. Accessed February 2, 2023. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/977/1425/305286/
• 'Why my dad?' Judge recalls father's legacy as bomber's execution nears. AL.com. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2018/04/circuit_judge_bob_vance_talks.html
• Alabama Executes Mail Bomber, 83, the Oldest Inmate Put to Death in Modern Era. The New York Times. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/us/alabama-execution-walter-leroy-moody.html
• Forensic Files - Season 3, Episode 5 - Deadly Delivery. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://youtu.be/Ru8PHBVPgLc

Episode Music

Last Frontier and Falling Rain by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In 1920 Lena Clarke made history when she became the first woman to be named postmaster of West Palm Beach, Florida. Within a year, she gained notoriety as “the murdering postmistress when she stood trial for killing her lover to cover up an embezzlement scheme.

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Episode Sources

Florida history: The story of West Palm Beach’s murderous postmistress. The Palm Beach Post. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2022/01/09/lena-clarke-mysterious-murderous-postmistress-west-palm-beach/9084494002/

Going Postal, 1920s Style – The Strange Case of Lena Clarke. Palm Beach Past. Accessed January 29, 2023. https://palmbeachpast.org/2021/07/going-postal-1920s-style-the-strange-case-of-lena-clarke/

The Murdering Postal Woman, Lena Clarke, 1921. Historical Crime Detective. Accessed February 2, 2023. https://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/the-murdering-postal-woman-lena-clarke-1921/

Lena Marietta Thankful Clarke. Find A Grave. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23950611/lena-marietta_thankful-clarke

Theft of $32,000 Solved by Lena Clarke but Murder of Miltimore is still a mystery. The Orlando Sentinel. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/313585521/?terms=lena%20clarke&match=1

The Life of Lena Clarke In Her Own Pen. The Miami Herald. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/616088404/?terms=lena%20clarke&match=1

Lena Clarke Murder Trial. The MIami Herald. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/616088368/?terms=lena%20clarke&match=1

Postmistress Called Insane Freed of Murder. The New York Daily News. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/410910479/?terms=lena%20clarke&match=1

Episode Music

St. Francis by by Josh Lippi & The Overtimers. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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There are lesser known stories of enslaved men and women who fought for their freedom in court. Elizabeth Key was at the center of one of the most important colonial court cases involving slavery. Henrietta Wood made history when she sued the man who kidnapped and enslaved her.

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Episode Sources

Elizabeth Key. Women in History. Accessed January 10,2023

Elizabeth Key. Library of Virginia. Accessed January 13, 2023Elizabeth Key and Her History-Changing Lawsuit. ThoughtCo. Accessed January 14, 2023

The Case of Elizabeth Key, 1655/1656 Northumberland County Record Books, 1652-1658, fols. 66-67, 85; 1658-1660, fol. 28; Northumberland County Order Book, 1652-1665, fols. 40, 46, 49. University of Chicago

Taunya Lovell Banks, "Dangerous Woman: Elizabeth Key's Freedom Suit - Subjecthood and Racialized Identity in Seventeenth Century Colonial Virginia", 41 Akron Law Review 799 (2008), Digital Commons Law, University of Maryland.

Sweet Taste of Liberty Open Source Notebook. Caleb McDaniel. Accessed January 14, 2023

In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won. Smithsonian Magazine. Accessed February 1, 2023

Episode Music

Magic Forest by Sir Cubworth Licensed under a Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In the 1930s Harry Powers used several aliases to correspond with lonely women he promised to marry. In 1931 five bodies were discovered on his Quiet Dell, West Virginia farm that was dubbed The Murder Farm.

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Episode Sources

Harry F. Powers. Murderpedia. Accessed January 4, 2023. https://murderpedia.org/male.P/p/powers-harry.htm

Hanging the Bluebeard of Quiet Dell. Appalachian History. Accessed January 7, 2023.

https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2014/03/grisly-anniversary-hanging-bluebeard-quiet-dell.html

The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell, Clarksburg Serial Killer. West Virginia Gazette. Accessed January 7, 2023

https://web.archive.org/web/20120324101310/http://www.wvgazette.com/mediafiles/document/2009/03/17/Bluebeard_I090317193022.pdf

Harry Powers' Murder Farm. Morbid Tourism. Accessed February 1, 2023.

https://www.morbidtourism.com/locations/id/606a1c2bc892bc9da3b0864a

Episode Music

Lost by Kevin MacLeod, Licensed under a Creative Commons License; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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On a cold December day in 1909, eight year old Alma Kellner walked five blocks from her parents home in Louisville, Kentucky to St. John’s Church. She promised her mother she would return home after mass but Alma never returned. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain shrouded in mystery

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Episode Sources

Alma Katherine Kellner. Find A Grave. Accessed January 4, 2023. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95108249/alma-katherine-kellner

Reward of $500 Offered. Lexington Herald-Leader. December 10, 1909. Accessed Newspapers.com December 20, 2022

Alma Kellner’s Body Is Found. Los Angeles Herald. May 31, 1910. Accessed Newspapers.com December 20, 2022

Triumphed. New York Daily News. July 28, 1935. Accessed Newspapers.com December 20, 2022

Louisville’s Church Fiend Becomes Martyr in France. The Louisville Courier-Journal. November 29, 1936. Accessed Newspapers.com December 20, 2022

Killer Priest— Crimes, Trial And Execution Of Hans Schmidt, Mark Gado ( 2006). Accessed January 10, 2023. https://archive.org/details/KillerPriest--CrimesTrialAndExecutionOfHansSchmidtMarkGado2006

Episode Music

Argonne by Zachariah Hickman and Sense of Loss by Purple Planet Music. Licensed under a Creative Commons License; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In November 2012, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles pardoned three black men who had been wrongly convicted of assaulting two white women in 1931. They were the last of nine young men associated with the case to have their convictions officially cleared from the record. Their arrest and the trials that followed served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.

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Episode Sources

Scottsboro Trials. Accessed December 14, 2022.

“Scottsboro Boys” Trials (1931-1937). Famous Trials by Douglas O. Linder. Accessed December 10, 2022.

Without Fear or Favor: Judge James Edwin Horton and the Trial of the “Scottsboro Boys” By Douglas O. Linder. Accessed December 10, 2022

The Saga Of The Scottsboro Boys. Accessed January 2, 2023.

The Scottsboro Trials: A Legal Lynching. Accessed January 2, 2023.

The Scottsboro Boys: Injustice in Alabama. Accessed December 15, 2022.

Episode Music

No 7 Alone with My Thoughts by Esther Abrami. Licensed under a Creative Commons License

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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On New Year's Eve 1996, Mark Morris discovered the bodies of his parents in their Bastrop, Louisiana home. His nine year old son Ryan had been staying with them and he was missing.

Who took Ryan and why did someone murder his grandparents?

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Episode Sources

Man Indicted in Killings of Parents, Son. Associated Press. Accessed December 23, 2022

https://apnews.com/article/76e5d58e4d21b945c2bf9a88e1057f32

The Price of His Inheritance. Historical Crime Detective. Accessed December 22, 2022

https://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/the-price-of-his-inheritance-1995

State of Louisiana v. Mark Morris. CaseLaw. Accessed December 20, 2022

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-court-of-appeal/1083153.html

Episode Music

Meditation by Audionautix. Licensed under a Creative Commons License

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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The 1965 disappearance of Mary Little remains one of Georgia’s most mysterious missing person cases. On October 14, 1965 Mary spent the day working, socializing with friends and shopping. Mary Little never made it home.

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Episode Sources

The Strange Disappearance of Mary Little. Historic Horrors. October 2022

The Mary Shotwell Little Case. The Southern Voice.

Mary Shotwell Little. The Charley Project

The Case of the Missing Bride. Buckhead.com

What Happened to Mary? The Disappearance of Mary Shotwell Little, Woman's College Alumna. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Episode Music

Autumn Sunset by Kevin MacLeod. Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons License

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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It’s been 90 years since Mamie Thurman was brutally murdered in Logan County, West Virginia. While investigating the murder of the wife of a local police man, authorities learned Mamie had been leading a double life.

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Episode Sources

Mamie’s Husband Didn’t Wait Long to Remarry. Coal Valley News. October 23, 2019

WV: The 1932 Murder of Mamie Thurman. Thoughts and Ponderances. March 10, 2020

The Secret Life and Brutal Death of Mamie Thurman. F. Keith Davis

Episode Music

Evening Fall Harp. Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons.Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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The Bell Witch legend is one of the most recognized examples of the unexplained in Southern American lore. How did the legend take hold of and define a small town in Tennessee?

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Episode Sources

Bell Witch lore spins dark tale, but could science explain it all?. The Tennessean. October 28, 2021

Tennessee Myths and Legends. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

The Year of the Witch. Tennessee Historical Society. October 13, 2017

John William Bell. Findagrave.

The Mark of the Bell Witch (Documentary). Seth Breedlove, Small Town Monsters. 2020

Historian, descendant recount Bell Witch legend. Associated Press. November 4, 2018

Episode Music

Industrial Music Box. Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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Southern Mysteries is on hiatus. I’m taking a much needed break from researching murders and mysteries this summer. I’ll be back with new episodes in time to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the show this fall.

If you’re a patron of Southern Mysteries, you’ll still hear the Patreon exclusive episodes, The Lesser Knowns, each month. If you don’t already support the show you can check out patreon.com/southernmysteries to catch up on the show archive and hear Patron exclusive episodes like the one I’m sharing today.

Before we say goodbye for the summer, this is the story of a cold blooded killer who became the last woman to die by electrocution in Alabama….Rhonda Belle Martin

Episode Sources Rhonda Belle Martin. Murderpedia. A Plot Full of Poison. LIFE. 26 March, 1956 The Penalty Is Death: U. S. Newspaper Coverage of Women's Executions by Martin Shipman. University of Missouri Press. Governor Holds Murderess' Fate. Montgomery Advertiser. 10 October 1957 Grisly Momma. The Malefactors Register.

Music

Emotional and Alone. Purple Planet Music. Licensed Under Creative Commons

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The Shelton Laurel Massacre in January 1863 is a striking example of divided loyalists and complicated battle lines in North Carolina during the Civil War.

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Episode Sources

The Massacre Men. Scalawag. July 27, 2017

Atrocity at Shelton Laurel. Our State. April 29, 2012

Blood in the Valley: The Shelton Laurel Massacre’s Haunting Legacy. Mountain Xpress Asheville

History and Writing about the Massacre. Vicki Lane Tales of Appalachia

The Shelton Laurel Massacre, Madison County, NC,Winter of 1863. Shelton Family History Blog

Episode Music

Leoforos Alexandras by Dan Bodan. Licensed under a Creative Commons.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In the summer of 1976 two bodies were discovered in rural Sumter County, South Carolina. Their identities remained a mystery for nearly 45 years

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Episode Sources

Sumter Couple Mystery Website dedicated to the case

Killer Remains Nameless. January 2021.

Sumter County Does. The Doe Network

Sumter County murder victims laid to rest. The Index Journal. August 15, 1977

Episode Music

Long Note One by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com

Sense of Loss courtesy of Purple Planet Music. https://www.purple-planet.com/

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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Some of the oldest true crime cases in America are racial terror lynchings. To understand the history of lynching in the American South you have to know what led to the acceptance of racial terror and the brave people who led anti lynching campaigns in an effort to end the violence and save lives.

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Episode Sources

Hanging Bridge: Racial Violence and America's Civil Rights Century by Jason Morgan Ward. Oxford University Press

The Cross and the Lynching Tree (James Hal Cone and Bill Moyers). The Journal.

Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Public Law No: 117-107 (03/29/2022). This bill makes lynching a federal hate crime offense.

This Bridge in Mississippi Has Hosted Decades of Racial Violence. Vice. April 27, 2016

What happens when we forget? Facing South. May 7, 2018

Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States 1889-1918. NAACP Report on Lynching

Equal Justice Initiative, Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror (3d Ed., 2017).

How one Civil Rights activist posed as a white man in order to investigate lynchings. Fresh Air, NPR. March 30, 2022

Episode Music

“One” courtesy of Ross Gentry. Special thanks to Headway Recordings, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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The Hillsville Massacre has been described as one of the most bizarre incidents in Virginia criminal and legal history. Floyd Allen, the patriarch of the Allen clan, known for feuding, moonshining and violence, was executed after he stood trial for triggering the 1912 courthouse massacre. But the question remains…who shot first?

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Episode Sources

Gunfight in courthouse after guilty verdict left 5 dead, 7 wounded. New York Daily News. July 4, 2021

Floyd Allen (1856–1913). Encyclopedia of Virginia.

Courthouse Tragedy. The Carroll County Historical and Society Museum

The Hillsville Massacre. The Roanoker. November 1982

Floyd Allen. Murderpedia

Episode Music

Loneliest Road in America by Jesse Gallager Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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Emil and Kelly Mitchell, known as the King and Queen of the Gypsies, have long been a part of Meridian, Mississippi lore but their story is complicated and often misunderstood

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Episode Sources

Queen of the Gypsies Dead. Our Southern Home. February 10, 1915

The Rose Hill Company of Players. Facebook

Queen Kelly Mitchell: A Slice of Meridian’s History. The Meridian Star. December 26, 2007

Historical tales abound within Rose Hill Cemetery. Today in Mississippi

Fortune telling ordinance challenged. The Meridian Star. February 13, 2011

Meridian, Mississippi, the Queen City. The Meridian Star. October 28, 2011

Why Being 'Gypped' Hurts The Roma More Than It Hurts You. Code Switch NPR. December 30, 2013

Roma Culture: Customs, Traditions & Beliefs. Live Science. November 26, 2018

Meridian’s Royal Past. Mississippi FolkLife. February 4, 2019

Episode Music

Alone with my Thoughts by Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In the late 1880s Bob Sims declared himself a prophet with more than 100 followers in his Choctaw County Alabama cult. His belief that no man could establish laws over him led to a bloody chapter in Alabama history

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Episode Sources

Sims War Siege. Choctaw County Geological Society

Robert Bruce Sims. Find A Grave.

The Sims War Connection. Rebellion Leader Robert Bruce Sims. Campbell Family History

Bad Literature. Bob Sims Paper ‘The Veil is Rent’. The Standard Gauge. September 10, 1891

Robert Sims, Thomas and Young Savage. Strange Fruit and Spanish Moss. December 26, 2014

A Southern Terror: Arrest of the Bloody Bob Sims and His Bad Gang. The Pittsburgh Press. December 27, 1891

Stars Fell on Alabama by Carl Carmer. University of Alabama Press (1985)

Episode Music

Argonne by Zachariah Hickman Licensed under Creative Commons

Bring Me Your Sorrows by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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Pearl Corens disappeared on February 13, 1945. Over the next two weeks mysterious notes perplexed police as they searched for the missing war department employee. Then came a shocking discovery on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.

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Episode Sources

Justice and the Case of the Corpseless Head. New York Daily News. March 24, 1946

Judge is Grim in Weird Case. The Spokesman-Review. May 29, 1945.

Wife’s Head Found; Husband Held. The New York Daily News. March 1, 1945

Corens Offers Alibi for Bloodstains in Bethesda Home. The Evening Star. May 25, 1945

Rice, C. (2018). 45 Murderers: A Collection of True Crime Stories. United States: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road.

Episode Music

Falling Rain by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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In April 1969, Marie Arrington became the second woman ever placed on the FBI’s most wanted list. One year earlier she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter. While awaiting appeal and out on bond she was arrested for the murder of a legal secretary. Then came a trial, Marie’s escape and the FBI’s years long pursuit of one of their most wanted

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Episode Resources

Mrs. Vivian June Ritter. The Tampa Tribune. April 30,1968

Letter Linked in Killing of Secretary Erased. The Orlando Sentinel. September 18, 1968

State Traces Hourly Steps by Mrs. Ritter. The Tampa Tribune. December 4,1968

Arrington v. State. Supreme Court of Florida. April 1, 1970

Wanted Persons Marie Dean Arrington. The Sheriff's Star. December 1969

Marie Dean Arrington. The Tampa Tribune. March 18, 1973

Is This The Place They Call Hell? The Palm Beach Post. March 18, 1973

Son Remains in Shadow of Mother’s Revenge. Orlando Sentinel. June 27, 1998

Marie Arrington 1960s Leesburg Killer. South Florida Sun Sentinel. July 1, 2014

30 days of mean marie. Lake & Sumter Style. July 2014

Episode Music

Sense of Loss and Lazy Days by Purple Planet Music. purple-planetmusic.com Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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Kenneth Neu loved two things: music and himself. He was a talented singer and dreamed of becoming a star with his name in newspapers and his voice on the radio. Neu would get his wish in the 1930s when people from New York City to New Orleans heard his name on radio reports and saw his name and photos printed in newspapers. The headlines featured news that he had confessed to two murders.

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Episode Resources

Theater Manager Found Murdered. The Wilmington Morning News. September 11, 1933

Slayer of Two Held By Lack of Car Tag. The Gaffney Ledger. September 23, 1933

Crooner Held for Murder Pens Poems in Jail Cell. The Shreveport Times. September 23, 1933

Neu’s Defense at N.O. is Insanity. The Alexandria Town Talk. December 13, 1933

State Demands Death for Penalty for Slayer. The Monroe-Star News. December 15, 1933

Night Club Singer Goes to N.O. Gallows Today. The Shreveport Times February 1, 1935

Girl Pays for Neu’s Funeral. The Alexandria Town Talk. February 2, 1935

State v. Neu, 180 La. 545, 157 So. 105 (La. 1934). Casetext

Singer Kept Singing All the Way to the Gallows. The Ottawa Citizen. October 25, 1980

Fit as a fiddle and ready to hang: depression-era crooner was the ‘singing slayer’. Medium. December 1, 2018

Is Gay Panic Still An Excuse For Murder In The Courtroom? Oxygen True Crime. August 20, 2019

Episode Music

Loneliest Road in America by Jesse Gallagher Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution

Slow Hammers by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed the "Six Triple Eight", was the only all-black, all-female battalion overseas during World War II. They were dedicated to the mission to boost morale for service members but it would take decades for their country to acknowledge them for their service.

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Episode Resources Double V Campaign. Newspapers.com

LTC Charity Adams Early. Women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. National Museum United States Army

Lena King, 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion U.S. Army, World War II. Veterans Chronicles. Dec 5, 2019

These Black Female Heroes Made Sure U.S. WWII Forces Got Their Mail. History. February 21, 2019.

Procession, funeral for Bertha Dupre set for Friday morning. The Salisbury Post. March 20, 2019

The SixTripleEight: No Mail, Low Morale. National World War II Museum New Orleans. February 10, 2021

Sen. Moran Introduces Bill to Award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WWII “Six-Triple-Eight” Battalion. Jerry Moran United States Senator for Kansas. February 2021

Black female WWII unit hoping to get congressional honor. Associated Press. July 13, 2021

Honoring Veterans of WWII: Women of the 6888th. Burns and McConnell. November 18, 2021

And Still, They Served: Black Servicewomen in World War II. Military Women’s Memorial.

Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II. Charlie Horse Productions

Episode Music

Sugar Pines by Wes Hutchison Licensed under Creative Commons

Alone With My Thoughts by Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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A Gothic revival church in downtown Cleveland, Tennessee was built in 1873 and dedicated in memory of 7-year-old Nina Craigmiles who died in 1871. The mausoleum behind the church is home to one of Tennessee's strangest mysteries

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Episode Resources St. Luke’s Episocopal Church. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. United States Department off the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service

Elegy in Marble. The Tennessean. April 16, 1950

The Red Streaks on the White Mausoleum. Appalachian History. October 28, 2010

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Visit Cleveland Tennessee

Ghosts of Bradley County, Tennessee. Museum Center 5 Points. October 28, 2010

Episode Music

Shadowlands by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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The worst maritime disaster in US history occurred on April 27, 1865. Overshadowed by the end of the Civil War and assassination of President Lincoln, the death of nearly 1800 souls was not front page news and conspiracy theories of how the ship went down were rampant

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Episode Resources

Sultana Disaster Museum sultanadisastermuseum.com

The Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends thesultanaassociation.com

Sultana: A Tragic Postscript to the Civil War. American History Magazine. August 1998

Surviving the Worst: The Wreck of the Sultana at the End of the American Civil War. Mississippi History Now. October 2009

The Shipwreck That Led Confederate Veterans To Risk All For Union Lives. NPR News. April 27, 2015

Episode Music

Waiting Alone in the Dust by Lobo Loco. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Virtues Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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Show update and preview of patron exclusive Southern Mysteries Shorts. Meet the most remarkable survivor of the Civil War

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In December 1888 Birmingham leaders faced their greatest challenge in the city’s seventeen years of existence...sensational murders that gained nationwide attention and led to a deadly riot in the Magic City.

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Episode Resources

West, Goldsmith B. (1888) The Hawes Horror Birmingham

Northrup, Jeff. (1978) "The Hawes Riot: All the News Unfit to Print" Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society. Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 16-25

The Hawes Murders: a dark moment in Birmingham’s early history. Alabama Newscenter. October 28, 2021

Jones, Pam. (Spring 2006) "The Hawes Murders." Alabama Heritage No. 80, pp. 34-40

He Will Hang! Birmingham News. January 13, 1890.

Hawes Hung. The South Alabamian. March 8, 1890.

Episode Music

Measured Places, B Somber Ballads, Mesmerize and Lamentation by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com.

There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriskie Licensed under creative commons

Elegy by Asher Fulero Licensed under creative commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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In August 1943, 15 year old Joan Kiger was accused of murdering her father and younger brother. Her attorney claimed the sleepwalking defense - that Joan shot her family members while having a nightmare. 78 years later there are still questions about what happened inside the Kiger’s home in the summer of 1943

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Episode Resources

Mother Loyal to Girl Held in Double Killing. The Rock Island Argus. August 19, 1943

Kiger Hearing Scheduled for Tuesday, Girl Calm as Murder Warrant is Filed. Cincinnati Enquirer. August 19, 1943

Startling New Angle Claimed in Double Slaying in Covington. The Park City Daily News. August 22, 1943

Murder Warrant Issued for Mrs. Carl Kiger. The Lexington Herald. December 7, 1943

Joan Virtually Admitted Slaying, State Declares. The Louisville Courier-Journal. December 18, 1943

Joan Kiger Takes Stand to Tell of Twin Killing. Owensboro Messenger. December 21, 1943.

Joan Kiger Found Not Guilty, All Other Charges Dismissed. Cincinnati Enquirer. December 22, 1943

Freed In Nightmare Murder, Joan Kiger is Called Maniac. Daily News. April 16, 1944

The Kiger Murders of 1943. Boone County Public Library Chronicles of Boone County.

Kiger Murder. Have Your Say.

Sleepwalking Killers. Psychology Today. December 13, 2012

11 Sleepwalking Killers from History Will Make You Want to Bar Your Doors At Night. History Collection. November 21, 2017

Episode Music

Comfortable Mystery, Tranquility Base, Almost F in Tranquility, Dhaka, Lamentation, Colorless Aura and Dreams Become Real by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com. Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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Lake Lanier is one of the deadliest lakes in America. Some swear it's haunted by the spirits of those whose lives tragically ended in the lake. Others believe it was cursed from the start because of the dark history associated with the land and people who lived in the area before the lake was created

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Episode Resources

Phillips, P. (2016). Blood at the root: a racial cleansing in America (First edition.). W.W. Norton & Company.

Rivers Held a Spiritual Place in the Lives of the Cherokee. Humanities by National Endowment for Humanities. Summer 2019.

Deadliest day at Lake Lanier | 1964 Christmas tragedy. 11 Alive News. December 10, 2019.

Cemeteries of Lake Lanier. North Gwinnett Voice. March 9, 2020.

Quick Facts Forsyth County, Georgia. US Census.

The mysteries beneath the waters. Tallahassee Tribune. September 2, 2020.

Below the surface: How Lake Lanier came to be. Forsyth County News. September 8, 2020.

One of Georgia’s most well known lakes has a murky history. The Signal. April 6, 2021.

Mooney, J., & Mooney, J. (1982). Myths of the Cherokee ; and, Sacred formulas of the Cherokees. Nashville, Tenn: Charles and Randy Elder-Booksellers.

Episode Music

Ambient and Drone in D by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

No. 8 Requiem and No 6 In My Dreams by Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons; Argonne by Zachariah Hickman Licensed under Creative Commons; Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallager Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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Nearly fifty years ago the country mourned eight year old Timothy O’Bryan who died in his Texas home after eating poisoned trick or treat candy on Halloween. Timothy’s death changed Halloween celebrations for generations of children

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Episode Resources

Ronald Clark O'BRYAN, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. September 26, 1979.

The ex-wife of Ronald Clark O'Bryan, awaiting his execution. UPI. March 30, 1984

The True Story of the Notorious Trick-or-Treat Murderer. Vice. October 31, 2016.

35 years later, memories of notorious Halloween ‘Candyman’ murder remain vivid. Statesman News Network. October 14, 2016

Looking back at the 'Candy Man' 42 years later. Houston Chronicle. November 1, 2016.

The Candyman: Houston's own real-life Halloween horror story. ABC 13 Eyewitness News. October 13, 2018.

How Trick-or-Treating Became a Halloween Tradition. History. October 3, 2019

Episode Music

Lost Time, Ambient, Ossuary 1 A Beginning, Ossuary 6 Air, B Somber Ballad and Long Note One by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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In February 1933 a church service in a Kentucky mountain town ended with the death of 72 year old Lucinda Mills. Nine relatives would be accused of murder while the media labelled her death a human sacrifice. What happened in that cabin?

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Episode Resources

Laben T. Mills Obituary. Big Sandy News. July 31,1914

Lucinda Ward Mills. Find A Grave. [Lucinda’s age listed as 65 here but based off of census records she was believed to have been 72]

Burning of Body on Altar Halted by Inez Police. The Owensboro Inquirer. February 9, 1933

Cult Victim Held Willing Sacrifice. The Courier-Journal. February 10, 1933

Insanity Plea Planned in Cult Slaying Case. The Courier-Journal. February 11, 1933

Bare Details of ‘Sacrifice’ Death Scene. Indianpolis Times. February 11, 1933

Mills Held Without Bond for Slaying Mother in Cult ‘Sacrifice’. The Lexington Herald. February 12, 1933

Nine Relatives of Cult Victim Are Indicted. The Owensboro Messenger. April 5, 1933

Insanity Held Slaying Cause. The Courier-Journal. April 7, 1933

Two Relative Freed In Cult Slaying Trial. The Lexington Leader. April 9, 1933

Prosecutor Contends Slayers of Mrs Mills Cold Blooded Murderers. The Courier-Journal. April 10, 1933

Mills Kneeling on Mother’s Body Fought Deputies. The Owensboro Inquirer. April 11, 1933

Cult Case Goes to Jury. The Courier Journal. April 12, 1933

Cult Leader Is Given Life Term for Matricide. The Courier-Journal. April 12, 1933

Blaine McGinnis is Given Pardon. Lexington Herald-Leader. November 3, 1933

The Mysterious “Order of the Odd Fellows”. Messy Nessy. January 2020.

Odd Fellows Have Skeletons in Their Closets--and Their Walls and Attics. Los Angeles Times. April 2001.

Episode Music

Clean Soul, Concentration, Tranquility Base, Almost F in Tranquility, Drone in D and Loss by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

The Dark Glow of the Mountains and There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriske Licensed under Creative Commons

Elegy by Asher Fulero Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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Duels were common in America until the end of the Civil War. They were most common in the south where the slightest offense could result in a challenge with duelists following a “polite” code of honor.

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Episode Sources

Field of Honor: A Complete and Comprehensive History of Duelling in All Countries. 1884

Savannah Duels. Chatham County GaArchives History. 1923

Dueling. Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 15 March 2013

8 Legendary Duels. History

"Mourn Columbia!": The Death and Legacy of Stephen Decatur. White House History. November 25, 2019.

The History of Dueling in America. PBS American Experience.

In the Defense of Honor: The Rise and Fall of Dueling in America. Ultimate History Project.

Before Burr shot Hamilton, this 1800s Kentucky duel ended in bloodshed. Courier Journal. June 13, 2019.

Episode Music

Lost, Almost in F Tranquility and Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

Northern Lights by Chris Haugen, Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallagher and Alone with my Thoughts by Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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The ruins of Windsor are among the most photographed historic sites in Mississippi. 23 towering columns that cast long shadows on the history of the once grand mansion and places like it across the American south.

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Episode Sources

Windsor Ruins National Register of HIstoric Places Nomination. 1971, updated 1992

"Burning of the Daniell Residence." The Southern Reveille. February 21, 1890

The Ruins of Windsor. WLBT. April 30, 2011

Cotton. Mississippi Encyclopedia. July 10, 2017.

The Creation Of The Cotton Kingdom. African American History and Culture.

United States Census, 1860. Claiborne County, Mississippi. Population Schedules

Windsor Ruins, Mississippi – A Silent Sentinel to the Magnificent South. Legends of America. November 2019.

The Windsor Ruins of Mississippi. Parker Studios. June 11, 2019.

Episode Music

Sense of Loss by Purple Planet Music. Purple-planet.com. Licensed under Creative Commons

Fresh Fallen Snow by Chris Haugen and I Need To Start Writing Things Down and I Am A Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor by Chris Zabriske. Licensed under Creative Commons

Autumn Sunset, Relaxing Piano Music and March of the Minds by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

Devouring the Whole by Ross Gentry. Special thanks to Headway Recordings, in Asheville, North Carolina for permission for use

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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On a sweltering day in the summer of 1925, Rudolph Disse went on a shooting spree in Richmond Virginia killing the woman he loved, his rival and a cop

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Episode Sources

Boy Slayer Cool, Little of Criminal About Him. The Richmond Times Dispatch. July 29, 1925

Marvin W. Peers Had Won Divorce. The Richmond Times Dispatch. July 30, 1925

Trial of Disse Underway. El Paso Herald. August 14, 1925

Disse Case Again Postponed. The Danville Bee. August 15, 1925

State Rests in Trial of Disse. The State News and Observer. August 18, 1925

Disse Sentenced to Electric Chair. The Danville Virginia Bee. August 20, 1925

Rudolph Disse Must Die in Chair. The Newport Daily Press. August 21, 1925

Beauty Fatal to Two. Casper Star-Tribune. September 27, 1925

Has Condemned Man Lost Calm at Trial? The Richmond Times Dispatch. November 18, 1925

Drug Addict Slew Girl He Loved and Other Man. The New York Daily News. July 24, 1927

Episode Music

Tranquility Base and Drone in D by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

Gloomy Night by Marwan Nimra Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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Lester Brocklehurst, Jr was a Sunday school teacher who grew bored of his life. In 1937 he and his girlfriend hit the road on a multi state crime spree that ended with dozens of armed robberies and three murders

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Episode Sources

Officers of Four States Hunt Pair. Anniston Star. May 9, 1937

Holdup Killer Caught in N.Y. Abilene Morning News. May 14, 1937

Three States Attempt to Get Brocklehurst. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. May 14, 1937

Killer Gives Own Story of Crime Career. The Sacramento Bee. May 14, 1937

Sanity Question Stirs Anger of Accused Slayer. The Daily Oklahoman. May 27, 1937

Brockelhurst, Ordered to Die, Falls in Faint. The Richmond Times Dispatch. June 26, 1937

Killer’s Companion Freed of Murder. The Richmond Times Dispatch. June 26, 1937

Bernice Felton Is Indicted by U.S. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 25, 1937

Brocklehurst Fights for Life As Child Is Born. Kenosha News. December 17, 1937

Girl Begins Time for Crime Tour. The Wichita Eagle. May 29, 1939

What’s Behind the Man Behind the Thumb? The News Tribune. July 30, 1939

Gangsters, Mobsters & Outlaws of the 20th Century. Legends of America. February 2020

Gangsters During the Depression. American Experience PBS.

Bernice Felton, Half of a Serial Killer Couple – Illinois, 1937. Unknown Gender History. January 2, 2021

Episode Music

Ossuary 1 The Beginning, Dark Times, Despair and Triumph, Ambient by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

No 2 Remembering Her - Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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How do you celebrate the milestone of one million downloads of Southern Mysteries? You share a story! Hear the Southern Mysteries Shorts featuring the odd true crime story of the Meeting Street Murders

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Episode Sources

“Sue Stidham Logue”. Murderpedia.

“How A Mule Kick Killed Eight People”. Who’s On The Move, Midlands Biz. November 1, 2013.

“From a dead calf to the South Carolina electric chair”. The Newport Plain Talk. October 10, 2014.

“Edgefield County Sheriff W.D. “Wad” Allen. EOW: November 16, 1941”. South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame Facebook.November 19, 2019.

“Edgefield County Deputy Sheriff W.L. “Doc” Clark. EOW: November 18, 1941”. South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame Facebook

Episode Music

Cryptic Sorrow, Clean Soul by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com; Plantation by Audionautix. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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On May 9, 1981, Ricky Merrill and Dori Colyer left Hilltop Lounge in Brooksville, Florida. They never returned. 40 years on, their families are still waiting for justice

Anyone with information on this Cold Case Homicide is asked to contact Detective George

Loydgren at 352-754-6830.If you would like to remain anonymous – Please call Hernando County Crime Stoppers at 1-866-990-TIPS (8477) or submit your tip online at

hernandocountycrimestoppers.com

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Episode Sources

Who Killed Rick Merrill and Dori Colyer? RickAndDori.com Father of car’s owner fears worst. St. Petersburg Times/Hernando Times. May 12, 1981 Families complain of delay in identifying bodies. Tampa Bay Times. May 14, 1981 Services planned, but car-fire victims' identities still unconfirmed. Tampa Bay Times. May 15, 1981 Identities confirmed of 2 found in burning car. Tampa Bay Times. May 16, 1981 Cause of death still unknown in care fire. St Petersburg Times, Hernando Times. May 19, 1981 Police have four suspects in murder of two persons found in burning car. St Petersburg Times/Hernando Times. August 1, 1981 Quest remains unfulfilled as tragedy strikes again. St. Petersburg Times/Hernando Times. September 9, 1988 Case of double murder, vehicle arson still cold after 38 years. Fox 13 Tampa. May 10, 2019 Deputies need your help solving 39-year-old Brooksville cold case. WTSP. May 8, 2020 Cold Cases: Ricky Merrill & Dori Colyer. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. October 12, 2020

Episode Music

Tranquility Base, Clean Soul, Slow Hammers, Virtutes Instrumenti, Drone in D by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com; Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallagher. The Dark Glow of the Mountains by Chris Zabriske Licensed under Creative Commons.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

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17 year old Shari Faye Smith and 9 year old Debra May Helmick were kidnapped and murdered in neighboring South Carolina counties in the summer of 1985. Their killer taunted the Smith family and police until a piece of evidence Shari Smith left behind led police to her killer.

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Episode Music Organic Meditations, Despair and Triumph, Almost in F Tranquility, Reawakening, Ambient, March of the Mind by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com; Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallagher and God Be With You Til We Meet Again by Chris Zabriske Licensed under Creative Commons.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

Episode Sources

State v. Bell. South Carolina Supreme Court Decisions. February 26, 1990

We May Never Find Missing Woman. UPI. October 7, 1996.

Larry Gene Bell. Murderpedia

The Genesis of a Murderer. The Herald. October 20, 2007

Keep on believing: Dawn Smith Jordan on hope after tragedy. South Carolina United Methodist Advocate. March 26, 2019

The Summer of Shari. The Chrysalis Chapters. May 21, 2019

Kidnapper Forces Victim to Write Last Will and Testament Before Killing Her. The True Crime Edition. November 11, 2020

Larry Gene Bell: The Murders of Shari Smith and Debra Helmick. Talk Murder With Me. December 27, 2020

Denise Newsom Porch. The Charley Project.

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In June 1959, the discovery of two dismembered torsos terrified residents in North Alabama. The unknown victims were dubbed Mr. X and Mr. Y until a tip led investigators to a farm where they met the woman behind one of Alabama's grisliest crimes. See photos and sources for this episode at southernmysteries.com

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Sources

Hyatt Family Tree Index

Drawings Were Sure to Break Torso Case. The Birmingham News. July 17, 1959.

Mr. X and Mr. Y Source Materials. Jacksonville State University Digital Commons Special Collections. 1959.

Redeemed in the Valley. The Anniston Star. January 14, 2009

Notorious 'Torso Murders' blood trail revealed in AL.com Vintage photos. Al.com February 11, 2016.

Music

Despair and Triumph, Lost Time and Brethren Arise by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The Dark Glow of the Mountains by Chris Zabriske, Meditation 1 by Audionautix, Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallager. Licensed under a Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

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Walter Samples was a retired engineer who lived a quiet life in Memphis. That was until someone left a poisoned bottle of milk on his front porch in February 1941. His murder investigation revealed the 69 year old had been living a double life and dozens of people had motive to kill him. See photos and sources for this episode at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Relaxing Piano Music, Lamentation, Long Note Two, Concentration and Colorless Aura by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com Slow Hammers by the Mini Vandals. Licensed under a Creative Commons

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The body of 19 year old Nell Cropsey was found floating in North Carolina’s Pasquotank River over a month after she disappeared in 1901. Her boyfriend was accused of killing her. But three people in the Cropsey home the night Nell disappeared later took their own lives. Were they hiding the truth behind her disappearance and death? See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use; At Rest, Ambient, Reawakening, Echoes of Time and Organic Meditations Three by Kevin McLeod Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com; I Am A Man Who Will Fight by Chris Zabriske. Licensed under Creative Commons; Alone by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com/ Licensed under Creative Commons

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In the summer of 1963, 15 girls between the ages of 12 and 15 were held in the Leesburg Stockade for the crime of demonstrating for integration in the deep south. For weeks their parents didn’t know where they were or if they were alive. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. 

Burden Laid Down by The Westerlies, Pink Horizon by Chris Haugen, St Francis by Josh Lippi and the Overtimers and Magic Forest by Sir Cubworth Licensed under a Creative Commons; Dark Times, Peace of Mind, Elegy and Virtues Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

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On March 14,1885, the body of Fannie Madison was recovered from the Marshall Reservoir in Richmond, Virginia. Police quickly arrested Fannie’s cousin Thomas Cluverius who was believed to be the father of her unborn child. Did Thomas murder his cousin? Did Fannie take her own life? Or did someone else have motive to kill her? See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.

Ossuary New Beginning, Ambient, Clean Soul, Organic Meditation Evening Fall Harp, Dreams Become Real by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com; I Am A Man Who Will Fight by Chris Zabriske Licensed under Creative Commons; Falling From Grace by White Hex Licensed under Creative Commons

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Lita McClinton was murdered in her Atlanta townhome in 1987. Someone posing as a flower delivery man rang the doorbell and shot Lita when she opened the door. Lita’s family, Atlanta PD and the FBI agreed on the prime suspect but it would take nearly 20 years to build a case against him. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Dark Fog, Drone in D, Lamentation, Echoes of Time, Autumn Sunset, Meditation Impromptu, by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com/. Gloomy Night by Marwan Nimra Licensed under Creative Commons.Resolution by Wayne Jones Licensed Under Creative Commons Magical Forest by Sir Cubworth Licensed Under Creative

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A group of emancipated slaves made the long journey from the Deep South to the Carolinas after the Civil War. There, they established a new life and a kingdom. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.  Alone by Lee Rosevere  Licensed under Creative Commons. Relaxing Piano, Journey Home and Slow Hammers by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com/. There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriskie Licensed under Creative Commons.

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The Magnolia Hotel in Seguin, Texas is one of the most haunted hotels in the state. 13 spirits are attached to the hotel including Emma Voelcker, a 12 year old girl whose alleged killer stayed at the hotel the night of her murder. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Alone and Shadowlands by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com/ Licensed under Creative Commons. Ambient, Drone in D, Anguish, Dreams Become Real, Dark Times and Ossuary 6 by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com/. Wandering by Lee Rosevere. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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20 year old Herbert Hoover Gentry was the first deaf person in Alabama to be tried on a capital offense with an interpreter in the courtroom. Gentry was accused of killing his wife and her best friend after their bodies were discovered in a cesspool See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Sense of Loss by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com/ Licensed under Creative Commons. Virtutes Instrumenti, Drone in D, Ossuary 1 A Beginning and Atlantean Twilight by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com/. There’s Probably No Time, I Need To Start Writing Things Down and I Am A Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor by Chris Zabriske. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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The Natchez Rhythm Club changed the city of Natchez on April 23rd 1940. 209 people died and more than 200 were injured including civic and cultural leaders. All of the victims of one of the deadliest fires in US history were Black. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Somber Ballads and Long Road Ahead B by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com/. Pale Rider by Blues Mini Vandals; Burden Laid Down by The Westerlies; Fresh Fallen Snow by Chris Haugen; Lost Cowboy by Coyote Hearing. Licensed Under Creative Commons. Beginnings in Dust, Devouring the Whole by Ross Gentry. Courtesy Headway Recordings Asheville. The Natchez Burning by Howlin' Wolf. The Complete RPM & Chess Singles A's & B's 1951-62, Vol. 1 ℗ 2014 Acrobat Licensing Ltd. The Natchez Fire by Gene Gilmore. Originally issued on the 1940 single (Decca 7763) (78 RPM). “It’s Tight Like That” by Walter Barnes and His Royal Creolians. 1928.

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Bass Reeves was born into slavery, escaped to freedom during the Civil War and became a legendary marshal. Was Bass Reeves the inspiration behind the cowboy hero The Lone Ranger? See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Green Green Garden and Morning Mandolin by Chris Haugen; Plantation by Audionautix; There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriske; Dhaka, Somber Ballad and Clean Soul by Kevin MacLeod; Eight by Ross Gentry. Courtesy of Headway Recordings in Asheville, North Carolina. Lazy Day and Shadowlands by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com/ Licensed under Creative Commons.

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In December 1955, Harry Washburn stood trial for the car bombing that killed his ex mother in law, Helen Weaver. Central Texans were captivated by the trial coverage as they watched the first televised murder trial in American history. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Magic Forest by Sir Cuthburt; Sugar Pines by Wes Hutchison; Drone in D, Almost in F Tranquility, Passing Time and Meditation Impromptu 1 by Kevin MacLeod  Atmosphere and Darkness by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com/ Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Euzebe Vidrine was one of Louisiana’s earliest serial killers. After being sentenced to death for one murder in Evangeline Parish, Vidrine asked the judge for time to write his memoir and confessed to murdering four other men. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Virtues Instumenti, Magic Forest, Ghostpocalypse, Donr in D, Long Note One, Long Note Two, Almost in F Tranquility, Colorless Aura and Dark Times by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons.

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In November 1930, Pearl Drew sent a letter to Mississippi Governor Bilbo. She included a poem which revealed she had murdered a man her father was convicted of killing. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Ever Mindful by Kevin MacLeod; Woods by Dan Henig and Tense by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com/. Licensed under Creative Commons

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William Marsh Rice, founder of Rice University, was found dead on September 23,1900. The story surrounding his death is questioned to this day. Was he murdered? Or did the man who confessed to killing him get there too late? See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Drone in D, Lamentation, Concentration, Atlantean Twilight, Silver Flame, Somber Ballads by Kevin MacLeod; There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriske; Lazy Days by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com Licensed under Creative Commons.

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In 1902 six members of a farming family were murdered in Calcasieu Parish Louisiana. The gruesome discovery devastated the community. Alfred Batson was arrested despite having no motive for the murders. He would pay the ultimate price for the crime. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Additional Music: Lightless Dawn, Resolution, Ambient, Long Note One, Long Note Four, Tranquility Base and Dark Times by Kevin MacLeod; Slow Hammers by The Mini Vandals; Falling Rain by Myuu Licensed under Creative Commons. Lomax, J. A., Lomax, A. & Stavin' Chain. (1934) Batson. Lafayette, Louisiana.

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6 year old Dennis Martin and his family went hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park over Father’s Day weekend 1969. Minutes after Dennis was overheard plotting with his brother and friends to try to prank the adults, he went missing. What happened to Dennis Martin? See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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MUSIC Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Atlantean Twilight, Ambient by Kevin MacLeod; Magic Forest by Sir Cubworth; Wood by Dan Henig; There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriske Licensed under Creative Commons. 

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In 1954, Albert Patterson campaigned as a “man against crime”, vowing he would run the mob out of Phenix City Alabama if he won the race for Alabama Attorney General. Within days of winning, Patterson was assassinated in Phenix City, which had been labelled the “Wickedest City in America”. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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Music Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: Lightless Dawn, Resolution, Long Note One, Long Note Two, Silver Flame, Lamentation by Kevin MacLeod. Magic Forest by Sir Cubworth; Tupelo Train by Chris Haughen; Loneliest Road in America by Jesse Gallager; I have a reservation by Track Tribe; There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriske Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Mary Cawein's murder by carbolic acid poisoning in July 1965, shocked the social set in Lexington, Kentucky. Her murder would bring to light the affairs of her respected husband, Dr. Madison Cawein III. Did Madison murder his wife? Or did one of his lovers kill Mary? See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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MUSIC Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: “Gloomy Night” by Marwam Nimra; “Meditation Impromptu 1”, “Lightless Dawn”, “Tranquility Base”, “Dark Fog”, “Drone in D”, “Lost Time”, “Atlantean Twilight” by Kevin MacLeod. “Autumn Sunset” by Audionautix. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Rosewood was once a thriving Black Community in rural Levy County Florida. Until January 1923, when a lie led to injuries, deaths and complete destruction of the community. See photos and sources for this episode in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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MUSIC Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: “Emotional” by Purple Planet Music. https://www.purple-planet.com; “Beginnings in Dust” and “One” by Ross Gentry. Courtesy of Headway Recordings in Asheville, North Carolina; “Almost in F Tranquility”, “Ever Mindful”, “Dark Times” by Kevin MacLeod. “St. Francis” by Josh Lippi & The Overtimers. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Sidney Lascelles was one of the most accomplished swindlers and bigamists of the 19th century. So accomplished that when he died in Asheville, North Carolina in 1902, it would take years to track down someone who knew his true identity. See photos from this episode and sources in the show notes at southernmysteries.com

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MUSIC Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use ***Additional Music: “Lazy Days” by Purple Planet Music. https://www.purple-planet.com; “Cryptic Sorrow”, “Clean Soul” and “Evening Fall Harp” by Kevin MacLeod. “There’s Probably No Time For That” and “I Am A Man Who Will Fight” by Chris Zabriske. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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For five generations the wealthy and powerful Bigham Family controlled their community of Pamplico, South Carolina. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, the Bighams were associated with countless assaults and many murders. Until 1921, when one of their own murdered five family members. View photos and sources for this episode at southernmysteries.com

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Music “Alone” from https://www.purple-planet.com; “Clean Soul” Kevin MacLeod, “Falling From Grace” by White Hex, “Autumn Sunset” by Jesse Gallager and “Whaling City” by Freedom Trail Studio. Licensed under Creative Commons. “Dark & Troubled” by Panthernburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.