On August 31, 1972, Hellen Hanks, a pretty thirty-four-year-old mother of three disappeared from her place of employment at Wilcox Advertising in Valdosta, Georgia. After a brief investigation by local and state authorities, the case went cold. In the fall of 1980, a farmer clearing a field south of town discovered a buried object, a box containing the dismembered remains of the missing woman. After several months of investigation, police arrested "Foxy" Wilcox, his son Keller Wilcox, and two long-term African American employees of Wilcox Advertising. Keller was charged with Hanks's murder, and the others with concealing a death. The Wilcoxes were members of a prominent and wealthy Valdosta family. To defend their case, they hired famed defense attorney Bobby Lee Cook. Keller Wilcox's murder trial in January 1982 pitted Cook against a local prosecution team led by district attorney Lamar Cole. The case against Wilcox was entirely circumstantial, making the outcome uncertain. After a trial marked by controversy and conflicting testimony, Wilcox was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, all the while proclaiming his innocence. In 1985 he was freed by a federal judge based primarily on the harsh interrogation of the black witnesses. The true story of this horrific murder has all the elements of a work of suspense fiction: money, power, sex, race, and the haves vs. the have-nots. Multiple lives were forever changed. The outcome would have been totally different if the box had been buried only six inches deeper.

Formato	Tapa suave
Número de Páginas	256
Lenguaje	Inglés
Editorial	Mercer University Press
Fecha de Publicación	2021-07-02
Dimensiones	8.9" x 6.0" x 0.9" pulgadas
Letra Grande	No
Con Ilustraciones	No

Rawlings, William

William Rawlings was born, raised and lives in Sandersville, Georgia, home to his family for more than two centuries. His first five books were suspense novels set in rural Georgia. Turning then to non-fiction, he is the author of three subsequent works of Georgia (and Southern) history published by Mercer University Press. His books consistently garner excellent reviews, and he has been the recipient of a number of writing awards. One constant theme in Rawlings's writing is a well-defined sense of place, especially in relation to the landscape of rural Georgia. He states, One of life's greatest pageants is the continuity of life in small Southern towns. Characters wander in and out, plying their intrigues and playing their roles, both major and minor. There's hardly a need for fiction, as the truth is oftentimes more bizarre. What more inspiration could a writer ask for? This approach to the floating opera of Southern life adds dimension and depth to Rawlings's books. His most recent works include a suspense novel set in Savannah titled The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes, and a true-crime thriller Six Inches Deeper. Both were published by Mercer University Press in 2019 and 2020, respectively. An eleventh book, Lighthouses of the Georgia Coast, is scheduled for release in early 2021. To learn more, see the author's website: www.williamrawlings.com.