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We left off at Redden W. Randell's sentencing of 5 years for the murder of Theodore Samms in November of 1940. Two months later, on January 14, 1950, Redden went to the Lawrence A. Powell Funeral Home and ordered a $250 wooden coffin for himself to be delivered to Madison, Florida, where the first woman he murdered was buried. Redden told the funeral home that his wife would pay for the expenses later. The next day, he wrote a suicide note and left it on a ledge in his pan

In 1939, Redden remarried Evelyn Ray of Gilmer County. She was 12 years his junior. At the time Redden was 48 and his bride was 36. Redden and his young bridge pose beneath the stucco arch in front of the old White Path Hotel property. Ten years later, at one of R.W. Randell's rentals events were set in motion that would set a course for disaster. Another Murder On February 1, 1949, Mr. Randell and his wife traveled together to collect rent from one of his African-American

The Beginning White Path, a small hamlet in the mountains of North Georgia, takes its name from the famous Cherokee Indian leader who disagreed with the policies of European assimilation and acculturation. He lived in a small village in the Cherokee Territory known as Turniptown, not far north from present day Ellijay, Georgia. When the Cherokee were rounded up into removal forts, White Path was likely held at Fort Hetzel and later forced to leave his homeland to walk the T

In 1988 the United States Supreme Court denied Larry Romine’s petition for rehearing on January 25, 1988, leaving his death sentence undisturbed. There was one dissenting opinion by justice Thurgood Marshall. His opinion, which varied from the rest of the court was a minority opinion, but still should be shared. Justice Marshall felt the circumstances could be viewed as jury coercion based on the following: The jury was not going to agree, the judge initiated further instr

After Larry's arrest he was transferred out of Pickens County to the Forsyth County Jail for his own safety. It was common in Pickens County History to do this when people were upset enough to go after the suspect. After his sentencing he was transferred to a state prison on March 30, 1983. That state prison was Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center (GDCC) in Jackson, Georgia. In 1983, the Georgia Supreme Court reviewed the original case. But before they reached

In early 1981, 29 year old Larry Romine and his wife Diane separated. He subsequently spent most nights with his girlfriend, Ginger McEntire. According to later court testimony, his parents disapproved of aspects of his lifestyle. After a recent argument with his father, Larry told Ginger not to worry because “It would not go on much longer.” Larry Romine's prison photo at age 44 On Thursday, March 19, 1981, according to Larry’s later statement to investigators, he took Gi

Juanita, 15, was killed by her husband on October 24, 1940 James M. Carney was born in 1921. Carney's father was from Ball Ground but moved to Texas to sell marble for the Georgia Marble Company. James moved back to Georgia after his parents died and moved in with his uncle Tom. James met his future bride, Juanita, while living in Tate. She was a senior at Tate High School. They were married in May of 1940, a few months after she turned fifteen, and promptly moved into

Corpsewood Manor 1981 Click here for directions on how to get to Corpsewood Manor. The tragic tale of Dr. Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom began in Chicago in the 1960s. Dr. Scudder was a pharmacologist at Loyola University. Charles and Joseph met shortly after Charles' arrival in Chicago around 1960. When they met, he was living in a mansion on Chicago's West Side with his wife. Joseph became his housekeeper. Not long

The Body In the Well On Tuesday, February 22, 1949, a grey 1947 Chevrolet with a blue top with a sign that read Veteran’s Cab arrived at the Asta Café on Main Street in Jasper. The driver, Earl Holbert, thought it was going to be a short evening. He was right, but not in the way he planned. G. "Earl" Holbert Around 6 p.m. Earl had picked up a passenger at the cafe (inside what is now the Old Mule House building). At 7 p.m. he traveled to Low’s Service Station in Talki

Lindsey Evans a.k.a. Milton Lewis Coleman, the murderer of Lee Cape In the summer of 1933, a violent confrontation at a small service station in Devore, California, escalated into a criminal case that drew weeks of newspaper coverage across San Bernardino County. At the center of the controversy were Lewis M. Coleman, a 30-year-old service station operator, and Frank E. Medock of the Glen Helen Ranch. The incident occurred on June 16, 1933, at Coleman’s filling station in Dev

The Body In the Well On Tuesday, February 22, 1949, a grey 1947 Chevrolet with a blue top with a sign that read Veteran’s Cab arrived at the Asta Café on Main Street in Jasper. The driver, Earl Holbert, thought it was going to be a short evening. He was right, but not in the way he planned. G. "Earl" Holbert Around 6 p.m. Earl had picked up a passenger at the cafe (inside what is now the Old Mule House building). At 7 p.m. he traveled to Low’s Service Station in Talki

Many newcomers to Jasper drive past Church Street and Burnt Mountain Road, look at the Walgreens without giving it a second thought. Some residents likely remember when Greystone Village had been there - a series of small shops and a restaurant known as the Yellow Bird. A few elders who lived their whole lives here might remember the Greystone as a reincarnation of the Archer Tourist Court. Fewer still remember the Archer Hotel which burned down at the site back in 1947.

Bent Tree Community, a private gated community located four miles east of Jasper, Georgia, had its first houses built in 1970. Today, there are over 1,100 homes. When I moved into the community in late 2018, I was told a murder had never happened within Bent Tree's gates throughout its entire history. Forever a skeptic, I set out to determine the truthfulness of that statement. In 2022, as we approached the 50th Anniversary of the Bent Tree Golf Course, I reached out to two

Corpsewood Manor 1981 Click here for directions on how to get to Corpsewood Manor. The tragic tale of Dr. Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom began in Chicago in the 1960s. Dr. Scudder was a pharmacologist at Loyola University. Charles and Joseph met shortly after Charles' arrival in Chicago around 1960. When they met, he was living in a mansion on Chicago's West Side with his wife. Joseph became his housekeeper. Not long

Steele's Bridge 1964 baptism Most people from Pickens and Dawson County are familiar with the metal span bridge over the Amicalola River. Spanning 80 feet over a popular fishing and tubing location known as the Devil's Elbow, the bridge has been a landmark of local activity for over 120 years. Map of Steele's Bridge Dawson County John Chumley and his family helped build the bridge. The Chumleys lived downstream from the elbow, and Wash Steele owned the property upstream.

As with Lindsey Williams Evans, Carter Lee Smith, C.L. “Seal” (a pronunciation of the C and L together) Smith, was determined not to spend a life in jail. He was convicted and sentenced to life along with Hoyt Evans. Carter Wilson and Carter Jones were sentenced to 12 months of hard labor. Like Lindsey Evans and his wife, Carter, and Rosetta Harriet Matilda Rosetta Smith, nee McCollum, gave birth to a daughter about two weeks before Cape was murdered. Once incarcerated, C

Policeman Lee Cape had always suspected his enemies would eventually get him. But he would tell his friends, “but when they do, I’ll be so old I won’t have lost too many years anyway.” William Lee Cape, better known as Lee Cape, spent the better part of four decades in law enforcement. Lee was born two years before the Civil War began and by the age of 18, had moved in with his grandmother who lived in Pickens County. Lee had a reputation by his early 20s of being a tough g

During the heart of the Civil War, Pickens County was torn between sides. The flag that flew over the courthouse yard was a Union flag. Yet, many of the residents fought on each side. Many of the Darnell family fought for the North, while those from the Fields side predominantly fought for the South. And while many neighboring counties were far more aligned with the Confederacy, as with Pickens's history with race and slavery, Pickens was more of a mixed bag. There we

Kate Southern In 1887 in the mountainous forests of Northeast Pickens County, in an area once known as the Lansdown, Kate Southern murdered Narcissa Fowler with a knife at a small gathering. The remote land was located northwest of Burnt Mountain and occurred at what various papers described as everything from a ball, dance, or fiddling party. The sensationalist papers of the day grossly distorted the events of the murder. A short version of the facts follows: In February

A few years ago, I ran across a reference for a reported moonshine still in a North Georgia gated community. Initially, I had doubts about the location. However, this was before I knew much about moonshining. I walked up a draw (def - a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them) about 500 yards uphill into the woods. There were remnants of an ephemeral stream about six inches from the abandoned rock furnace. The rock furnace