Murder in Coweta County
Encyclopedia
The murder in Coweta County was an April 1948 act of murder
committed in Coweta County
in the U.S. state of Georgia
and involving the sheriff
of neighboring Meriwether County
. The events were the subject of two acclaimed works, both titled Murder in Coweta County: a 1976 book by Margaret Anne Barnes and a 1983
television movie
on CBS
starring Johnny Cash
and Andy Griffith
.
, with virtually unlimited power in the county, including having the sheriff
, Hardy Collier, under his control. Wilson Turner, a sharecropper tenant, attempted to do extra bootlegging
work without Wallace's permission and was fired by Wallace. Turner retaliated by stealing two cows for compensation that Turner felt Wallace owed.
Turner was found and arrested in Carrollton, Georgia
by Chief of Police Threadgill but was transferred from the Carrollton Jail to the Meriwether County jail in Greenville
, Wallace arranged for the sheriff to release Turner. John Wallace and three other men were waiting outside the jail. Turner, already realizing that his release was a conspiracy, attempted to escape in his truck, with Wallace and his group in pursuit, two men each in two cars.
Turner's truck, drained of its fuel earlier, ran out of gas just past the county line at the Sunset Tourist camp in Moreland
, Coweta County, Georgia
. Multiple witnesses reported seeing Wallace pistol-whip Turner so hard that the gun discharged, then Turner going limp and being put in one of the cars. The group then returned to Meriwether County, where Turner's body was first hidden on Wallace's property, then burned in a pit, the ashes and bone fragments scattered in a nearby stream. Wallace forced two black field workers, Albert Brooks and Robert Lee Gates, to assist him in destroying the victim's body.
Because the act of murder, as witnesses testified, took place in Coweta County, the crime was under the jurisdiction of the Coweta County sheriff, Lamar Potts. Potts and his deputies searched for days and then an informant told them of Wallace burning the body and revealed the names of Brooks and Gates. Potts persuaded the two men to take him to the burn site. There were bone fragments found that the crime lab identified as human. Brooks and Gates also took the sheriff to the well where Turner's body had originally been deposited. Ruptured brain tissue was found that was also identified as coming from a human being.
Wallace's trial received wide press coverage in the rural community. It was reported that this eccentric testimony led to his conviction. After several appeals, John Wallace was executed in the electric chair in 1950. His case was unusual because he was one of the richest men to ever be given the death penalty and his case was the first in Georgia where a white man was given the death sentence upon the testimony of two black men. Mayhayley Lancaster
, a feared and respected local fortune-teller, also testified against Wallace.
and 2004
) was a 1976
book by Margaret Anne Barnes, originally published by Simon & Schuster
in 1977.
Though the book is generally considered accurate, Barnes' website has quoted the El Paso Times
as calling it "the new fictionalized style of recording historic events".
television movie
written by Dennis Nemec based on Barnes' book. Andy Griffith
played landowner John Wallace and Johnny Cash
played Sheriff Lamar Potts of Coweta County. Noted Watergate-era attorney James F. Neal
played one of the lawyers during the trial.
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
committed in Coweta County
Coweta County, Georgia
Coweta County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 89,215. The 2009 Census Estimate placed the population at 131,936...
in the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and involving the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of neighboring Meriwether County
Meriwether County, Georgia
Meriwether County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 14, 1827. As of 2000, the population was 22,534. The 2009 Census Estimate reflects a population of 22,783...
. The events were the subject of two acclaimed works, both titled Murder in Coweta County: a 1976 book by Margaret Anne Barnes and a 1983
1983 in film
-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
starring Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
.
History
John Wallace was a wealthy landowner in Meriwether County, GeorgiaMeriwether County, Georgia
Meriwether County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 14, 1827. As of 2000, the population was 22,534. The 2009 Census Estimate reflects a population of 22,783...
, with virtually unlimited power in the county, including having the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, Hardy Collier, under his control. Wilson Turner, a sharecropper tenant, attempted to do extra bootlegging
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
work without Wallace's permission and was fired by Wallace. Turner retaliated by stealing two cows for compensation that Turner felt Wallace owed.
Turner was found and arrested in Carrollton, Georgia
Carrollton, Georgia
Carrollton is a city in West Georgia, United States, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,388...
by Chief of Police Threadgill but was transferred from the Carrollton Jail to the Meriwether County jail in Greenville
Greenville, Georgia
Greenville is a city in Meriwether County, Georgia, United States. The population was 946 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Meriwether County. southwest of Atlanta...
, Wallace arranged for the sheriff to release Turner. John Wallace and three other men were waiting outside the jail. Turner, already realizing that his release was a conspiracy, attempted to escape in his truck, with Wallace and his group in pursuit, two men each in two cars.
Turner's truck, drained of its fuel earlier, ran out of gas just past the county line at the Sunset Tourist camp in Moreland
Moreland, Georgia
Moreland is a town in Coweta County, Georgia, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 393. Josh Evans is the Mayor.The author Erskine Caldwell was born in Moreland in 1903...
, Coweta County, Georgia
Coweta County, Georgia
Coweta County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 89,215. The 2009 Census Estimate placed the population at 131,936...
. Multiple witnesses reported seeing Wallace pistol-whip Turner so hard that the gun discharged, then Turner going limp and being put in one of the cars. The group then returned to Meriwether County, where Turner's body was first hidden on Wallace's property, then burned in a pit, the ashes and bone fragments scattered in a nearby stream. Wallace forced two black field workers, Albert Brooks and Robert Lee Gates, to assist him in destroying the victim's body.
Because the act of murder, as witnesses testified, took place in Coweta County, the crime was under the jurisdiction of the Coweta County sheriff, Lamar Potts. Potts and his deputies searched for days and then an informant told them of Wallace burning the body and revealed the names of Brooks and Gates. Potts persuaded the two men to take him to the burn site. There were bone fragments found that the crime lab identified as human. Brooks and Gates also took the sheriff to the well where Turner's body had originally been deposited. Ruptured brain tissue was found that was also identified as coming from a human being.
Wallace's trial received wide press coverage in the rural community. It was reported that this eccentric testimony led to his conviction. After several appeals, John Wallace was executed in the electric chair in 1950. His case was unusual because he was one of the richest men to ever be given the death penalty and his case was the first in Georgia where a white man was given the death sentence upon the testimony of two black men. Mayhayley Lancaster
Mayhayley Lancaster
Mayhayley Lancaster was an American lawyer, political activist, midwife and teacher best known for having participated in two of Georgia's most high-profile murder trials, involving defendants Leo Frank in Marietta and John Wallace in Coweta County...
, a feared and respected local fortune-teller, also testified against Wallace.
Book
Murder in Coweta County (original ISBN 0883490641; re-issued in 19831983 in literature
The year 1983 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ironweed by William Kennedy is published.*Salvage for the Saint by Peter Bloxsom and John Kruse is published. This is the final book in a series of novels, novellas and short stories featuring the Leslie Charteris...
and 2004
2004 in literature
The year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
) was a 1976
1976 in literature
The year 1976 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Saul Bellow won both the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.-New books:*Kingsley Amis – The Alteration...
book by Margaret Anne Barnes, originally published by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
in 1977.
Though the book is generally considered accurate, Barnes' website has quoted the El Paso Times
El Paso Times
The El Paso Times is the English-language newspaper for the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. The paper was founded in 1881 by Marcellus Washington Carrico. It originally started out as a weekly but within a year's time, it became the daily newspaper for the frontier town.The newspaper has a daily...
as calling it "the new fictionalized style of recording historic events".
Film
Murder in Coweta County was a 19831983 in film
-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
written by Dennis Nemec based on Barnes' book. Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
played landowner John Wallace and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
played Sheriff Lamar Potts of Coweta County. Noted Watergate-era attorney James F. Neal
James F. Neal
James Foster Neal was an American trial lawyer who prosecuted labor leader Jimmy Hoffa as well as top officials of the Nixon Administration....
played one of the lawyers during the trial.