Southern Mysteries Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 136 The Murder of Stringbean Akeman The Kentucky Wonder Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

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) <www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/15/opry-star-stringbean-akemans-killer-gets-parole/17334979>

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.

Episode 135 The Legs Murder Scandal Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

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.

Episode 134 Haunted Savannah The City That Lives Upon The Dead Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

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.

Episode 133 The Shocking Smith Family Massacre Oct 02, 2023

Show notes

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.

Episode 132 The Flapper Bandit Sep 18, 2023

Show notes

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

Southern Mysteries Classic Three Sisters in Black Sep 04, 2023

Show notes

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.

Episode 131 Otto Wood The Hillbilly Houdini Aug 21, 2023

Show notes

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.

Episode 130 The 1964 Freedom Summer Murders Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

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). <www.mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/>
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

Southern Mysteries Classics The Widow of Hazel Green Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 129 The Walker Family Murders Jun 19, 2023

Show notes

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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