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.

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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Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime, and more when you patronize the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

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Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

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.

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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Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

Connect

Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

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.