• Mississippi’s Lizzie Borden

    August 24, 2010 /

    The Legs Murder Scandal

     

    Apparently the practice of chopping up bodies with sharp instruments can be found outside the city of Fall River.  A new book on another grisly murder is out, this time the ladykiller, Ouida Keeton could say, unlike Lizzie,  “She is not my stepmother- she is my mother!”

    Here is a blurb from the dustjacket:

    The Legs Murder Scandal
    by Hunter Cole
    Jackson: University Press of Mississippi (2010).
    First Edition. Signed. $30.00
    “In Laurel, Mississippi, in 1935, one daughter of a wealthy and troubled family stood accused of murdering her mother. On her testimony, authorities suspected an equally prominent and well-to-do businessman, her reputed lover, of assisting. Ouida Keeton apparently shot her mother, chopped her up, and disposed of most of her body parts down the toilet and in the fireplace, burning all but the pelvic region, the thighs, and the legs. Attempting to dispose of these remains on a narrow, one-lane, isolated road, Ouida left a trail of evidence that ended in her arrest. People had seen her driving to the road. Within hours, a hunter and his dogs found the cloth in which she had wrapped her mother’s legs.Touted as the most sensational crime in Mississippi history at the time, the Legs Murder of 1935 is almost entirely forgotten today. The controversial outcome, decided by an unsophisticated jury, has been left muddled by ambiguity. With “The Legs Murder Scandal, ” Hunter Cole presents an intricately detailed description of the separate trials of Ouida Keeton and W.M. Carter. Having researched trial transcripts, courthouse records, medical files, and vast newspaper coverage, the author reveals new facts previously distorted by hearsay, hushed reports, and misinformation. Cole pursues many unanswered questions such as what, really, did Ouida Keeton do with the rest of her mother? “The Legs Murder Scandal” attempts to provide the reader with clarity in this story, which is outlandish, harrowing, and intriguing, all at once.”

    Preview at http://www.amazon.com/Legs-Murder-Scandal-Hunter-Cole/dp/1604737220#reader_1604737220

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