1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Hey, this is not 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: going to be the most fun episode we've ever done, 5 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: and I want to make sure any of our listeners know. 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: This involves a lot of discussion of things like domestic 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: abuse and violence, including both physical and verbal abuse, and 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: a murder in a family. So if all of that 9 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: is something that you don't want to hear or is 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: not good for your mental healthy hear, just go ahead 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: and skip this one. It's cool. We are talking about 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: the story of Alma Petty Gatlin, who was a young 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: woman from North Carolina who went on trial for the 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: murder of her father. But the way that the authorities 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: were informed of the crime also brought the preacher who 16 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: reported the murder into question as a religious leader. And 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: this big, very dramatic trial, and that is what we 18 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: were talking about today. You've been on kind of a 19 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: murdery streak in your episode topics lately. I don't know 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: what that's about. I really don't. I'm not in a 21 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: particularly dark place. That's probably why I can handle researching 22 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: darker stuff. I've been in a pretty great mood for 23 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: a while, so I'm like, yeah, I can handle the 24 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: yuckie stuff. I feel like we've had a very similar 25 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: conversation at some other point in the history of the show, 26 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: and there was sort of a string of murder episodes. 27 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: So I'm actually doing a lot of downer episodes. It 28 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: probably means him in a great mental space because yeah, yeah, 29 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: I can. I hadn't know that this week. Yeah. So. 30 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: Smith T. Petty was born in eighteen eighty two outside 31 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: of Union, South Carolina, and he was the third of 32 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: twelve children that his father had over the course of 33 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: two marriages. Starting at a young age, Smith Petty worked 34 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: in cotton mills, and over the course of his life 35 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: he moved around from mill to mill for that work. 36 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: Sometimes the mill would close and that's why he would 37 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: have to move. Other times, according to his colleagues, Petty's 38 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: alcoholism would cost him jobs. Yeah. I didn't find documentation 39 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: of it, but there were definitely accounts from friends that 40 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: were like, oh, yeah, he just would vanish for like 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: a couple of weeks and not report to work, which 42 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: you can understand how you would lose a job that way. 43 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: At the age of twenty four, Smith married a teenager 44 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: named Jeanie Bratton who went by Janey, and he was 45 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: working at a mill in Virginia at that time, and 46 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,799 Speaker 1: they started a family right away. Janey had their first child, 47 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: a daughter named Alma, when she was still seventeen. Alma 48 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: was born on August thirtieth, nineteen oh six, while the 49 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: Petties were living in Freeze, Virginia, near the North Carolina border. 50 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: Two years later, Janey and Smith had another daughter, Thelma, 51 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: and then they had two sons. Woodrow was born in 52 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve and Smith Junior was born in nineteen eighteen. 53 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty, the Petties moved to Reidsville, North Carolina. 54 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: Smith was hired at that Edna cotton mill as a supervisor, 55 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: and he was making a better salary than he really 56 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: ever had before. Although the Petties were not wealthy by 57 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: any measure, They moved around town a lot before settling 58 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: into a rental house on Lindsay Street in the winter 59 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: of nineteen twenty five. That did not signal the start 60 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: of any kind of consistency for the family, though in 61 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: fact far from it. Smith lost his job at the 62 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: cotton mill just a couple of years after moving to Reidsville, 63 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: and instead of moving the entire family every time he 64 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: found something new, he would just travel by himself to 65 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: the various jobs that he picked up. His wife, Janey, 66 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: on the other hand, had found consistent work when they 67 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: first arrived in North Carolina. She started working at a 68 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: women's clothing store and then took a job at Belk 69 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: Steven's department store when it opened in nineteen twenty two. 70 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: Both Alma and her sister Selma left school before they 71 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: graduate eated so that they could also go to work 72 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: to support the family. There are some differing accounts of 73 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: how that all happened. Some suggests that Alma left school 74 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: of her own accord to others suggests that she had 75 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: been invited to leave. Alma worked at a soda shop 76 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: and then the local movie theater, and then when she 77 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,239 Speaker 1: got a job as a dental assistant, that movie theater 78 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: hired her sister Selma to replace her. Janey's niece, Annie Ready, 79 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: moved in with the petty sometime in the mid nineteen twenties, 80 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: and like the other girls, she also worked to help 81 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: out the household. As Smith moved around. He wasn't especially 82 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: communicative with his wife or children about where he was 83 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,239 Speaker 1: or where he had found work. He was just gone 84 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: a lot. And then he would show up from time 85 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: to time, normally after having lost a job, and then 86 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: was a very unpleasant presence in the house. He continued 87 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: to misuse alcohol off and he would become very angry 88 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: and violent. And then in a second half of nineteen 89 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: twenty six, Smith T. Petty vanished entirely from public view 90 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: and nobody really noticed. Then on March ninth, nineteen twenty 91 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: sevenths Miss's wife, Janey Petty, died at home. This is 92 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: usually reported as the result of pneumonia, although some accounts 93 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: say that it was pneumonia that quote developed as a 94 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: result of a miscarriage. It's unclear what exactly led to 95 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: that information. At Almah's request, her boyfriend at the time, Jean, 96 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: tried to locate Smith Petty to tell him the news, 97 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: sending telegrams to the last towns he had been known 98 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: to be in and even placing notices in the trade 99 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: papers that his family was looking for him. But there 100 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: was no reply. And while Smith had been gone for 101 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: long stretches of time without anyone really thinking about it. 102 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: His failure to attend his own wife's funeral was the 103 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: first time that locals reported having some questions about his 104 00:05:55,360 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: whereabouts and whether something may have happened to him. Sometime 105 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: in May, Almah Petty confessed to the Reverends Thomas F. 106 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: Pardu that she had killed her father. This was not 107 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: a situation where she had known Pardu or been part 108 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: of his congregation for a long time. She was a 109 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: member of the Church of Christ in Town, and Pardue, 110 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: who went by the name Thunderbolt Tom, was a Baptist 111 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: preacher who staged revivals in nineteen twenty six. She had 112 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: attended one of those revivals. She was impressed and was 113 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: excited when she learned that he'd be back in town 114 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: in the spring of nineteen twenty seven, this time to 115 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: move there permanently. Pardue set up his ministry in a 116 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,679 Speaker 1: warehouse that was used for tobacco auctions in the autumn, 117 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: but was completely empty in the spring and the summer. 118 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: Alma attended several of Thunderbolt Tom's revivals when he started 119 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: up in the warehouse, and she was completely taken with 120 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: the message that Pardu preached. One night after having been 121 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,919 Speaker 1: to several evenings of his sermons in a row, she 122 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: asked Pardu if she could speak with him, and in 123 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: this private talk, according to Thomas Pardu, Almah told him 124 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: that she had killed her father, Smith Petty. On a 125 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: subsequent visit to the preacher's home, which took place after 126 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: Pardu had told police officer HH Carroll that he believed 127 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: a member of his congregation had committed a crime, Almah 128 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: gave him more details about how it was done and 129 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,239 Speaker 1: where the body and murder weapon warner. According to Pardu, 130 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: this information weighed very heavily on him and caused him 131 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: great stress. He would later say that he lost ten 132 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: pounds in the week that followed as he agonized over 133 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: whether to tell authorities everything he knew. Almah had other 134 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: things on her mind in the summer of nineteen twenty seven, 135 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: specifically the details of her upcoming wedding. On July seventh, 136 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: Almah Petty married Eugene S. Gatlin, who was the fire 137 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: chief in Reedsville. He had moved to the town in 138 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty four to work in the movie theater and 139 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: had become a volunteer firefighter, and then was offered the 140 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: job as chief when Jeanne, who was a decade older 141 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: than Almah, said his vows. He was probably envisioning settling 142 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: into a home life with his new bride and perhaps 143 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: starting a family, but unbeknownst to Jeane or Alma, Thomas Pardue, 144 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: after debating over the matter, reported her confession to the authorities, 145 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: although when he went to the police initially they did 146 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: not believe him. He continued to appeal to more and 147 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: more people in the government, until he even wrote a 148 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: letter to the governor, but nothing came of it. So 149 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: on June tenth, nineteen twenty seven, he made the drive 150 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: thirty miles south to Greensboro, North Carolina, where he met 151 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: with a man named Charles W. Noel at the Home 152 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,679 Speaker 1: Detective Agency. Noel decided he would look into the matter, 153 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: and the next day the private detective was at the 154 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: home that the Petties had lived in on Lindsay Street. 155 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: The home had new occupants and the detective to please 156 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: stay out of the basement and not let anyone else 157 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: down there without the authorities. Noel next went to the 158 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: city attorney's office and told them he'd be happy to 159 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 1: dig up the basement and put this whole matter to rest. 160 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: For three hundred dollars. The city decided to take over 161 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: the investigation, but still nothing happens. Pardu was irritated because 162 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: he felt like he was being treated like a kuk, 163 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: so he publicly accused the city administration of not doing 164 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: its job. In response, the sheriff and district attorney put 165 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: out a joint statement that they had actually been investigating, 166 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: but had kept that from Pardiu because they were trying 167 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: to do things quietly to avoid attention. Soon, the preacher 168 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: was giving his statement to the authorities, and he gave 169 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: it to reporters. So we're going to talk about what 170 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: Pardiu said Almah told him after we first paused for 171 00:09:52,280 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. In his interviews with the press, 172 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: the Reverend Thomas Pardue laid out the whole tale. He 173 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: described the moment Almah confided in him by stating, quote, 174 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: she sobbed out that she had committed two of the 175 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: biggest sins in the world and asked me if I 176 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: thought she could get forgiveness, He went on quote. A 177 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: few days later, she came to my house and told 178 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: the whole story. I said to her, Almah, my heart 179 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: is with you, and I want you to tell me 180 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: what is on your mind and in your heart. So 181 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: before we start on this part of the story, we 182 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: should reiterate that this is what Pardue said that Almah 183 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: had told him. It's also really violent. According to Pardue, 184 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 1: Almah told him that three years earlier, there had been 185 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 1: a family fight and that Smith had whipped her and 186 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 1: she had sworn she would kill him. She also meant 187 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: it this wasn't an idle threat. She acquired and started 188 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,440 Speaker 1: carrying a gun after that and was way for the 189 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: moment to come when she would be ready to use 190 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 1: it when circumstances would enable her to hide that action 191 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: from the public and from her family. Pardiu also stated 192 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,559 Speaker 1: that Almah had tried to poison her father on several occasions, 193 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: but then at the end of nineteen twenty six, Almah 194 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: had returned home after being out and walked in on 195 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: her father choking her mother. The young woman got into 196 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: a physical altercation with her father and once it was over, 197 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: vowed to herself that she would kill him before the 198 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: next day. Throughout that night, Smith Petty was belligerent and 199 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: he yelled at his family, and then he went down 200 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: into the basement and started banging on things with an 201 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: axe to keep the rest of the family from sleeping. 202 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: Almah got up at five am after things had quieted down. 203 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: She got that axe from the basement and stashed it 204 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: behind the kitchen door. She waited until after her mother 205 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: and sister had gone to work and her brothers had 206 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: gone to school. She made her father breakfast, placed his 207 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: plate on the side of the table that would cause 208 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: him to face away from where she had hidden the axe, 209 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: and then she bludgeoned him with it while he was 210 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: eating his eggs. This was, of course a bloody mess, 211 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: but Smith rolled onto his back after a couple of 212 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: moments and asked why she was trying to kill him, 213 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: and then slowly died. This took an hour and forty 214 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: five minutes, she said. She put her hands over his 215 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: mouth to try to quiet his groans so the neighbors 216 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: wouldn't hear. He bit off one of her fingernails and 217 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: left scratches on her hand. Then he regained enough strength 218 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 1: to get a hold of the axe, and Almah banged 219 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 1: his head into a galvanized pipe. That is what ultimately 220 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: ended his life. Almah, the preacher said, told him that 221 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 1: she had burned her father's clothes and her own had 222 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: put the body in a trunk and had cleaned every 223 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 1: inch of the kitchen. She had said that the trunk, 224 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: which she put in a closet in the living room, 225 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: began to smell and to leak, and that someone in 226 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 1: a Dodge vehicle had taken the trunk away, but then 227 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,319 Speaker 1: they brought it back. She herself dug the grave in 228 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: the basement and had everything wrapped up before any of 229 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: her family came home. That was a series of events 230 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: as laid out by Pardu for the authorities. And I 231 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: just want to tell you now so no one gets 232 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: hopeful that Dodge detail. The story of this mystery car 233 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: comes up at various points. It never gets resolved. It 234 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: remains kind of a mystery. In late August of nineteen 235 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 1: twenty seven, a formal investigation finally began into the information 236 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: that Pardu had given authorities. On September third, the body 237 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: of Smith T. Petty was found in the basement of 238 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: the Petty's former home. It was under two feet of 239 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: clay and a pile of coal, exactly as Pardu had 240 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: told the police based on the information that he had 241 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: gotten from Alma. Word spread really quickly in the town 242 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,200 Speaker 1: and soon the home was swarmed with spectators who were 243 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: eager to get a look at Petty's body. Smith's remains 244 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: were buried two feet down, and even before the deputies 245 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: had finished digging, people were stooped down at the windows 246 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: outside and peering into the basement. There was a wound 247 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: on the right side of his skull, which was believed 248 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: to have been caused by a force sufficient enough to 249 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: have killed him. As soon as the news was confirmed 250 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: that Smith Petty's body had been found and that he 251 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: had been murdered, local press was writing up the story. 252 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: A funeral was held for Smith. The following day, Almah 253 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: was taken into custody. She was arrested at the dental 254 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: office where she worked. Witnesses to the arrest stated that 255 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: Sheriff J. F. Smith, who went by the debatably charming 256 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: nickname of Chunk, had been very polite about telling Almah 257 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: that there was a murder warrant out for her arrest, 258 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: and that Almah had seemed completely calm about the whole thing. 259 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: She was taken to the county jail for holding, and 260 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: Alma was by most accounts, very charming and very sweet, 261 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: and people just tended to like her. So she managed 262 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: to get a lot of concessions while she was being 263 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: held that probably other people would not. For example, she 264 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: got permission to decorate her cell. This was not a 265 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: matter of hanging a poster or two. She decorated. She 266 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: hung lace curtains, She had a polstered furniture brought in. 267 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: She painted the gray walls and the bars of the 268 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: cell a light green, and she had portraits of her 269 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: mother brought in and hung. She also kept a photograph 270 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: of her new husband on her dresser. She was also 271 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: allowed pets. She kept two birds in her cell with her, 272 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: and when one of those birds died, that was written 273 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: up in the papers. Every minute detail of her behavior 274 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: fascinated the press. It was reported that she was mourning 275 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: that bird that had passed, but that she was otherwise cheerful. 276 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: From the outset. Alma claimed that she had not murdered 277 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: her father, so as the authorities went through their process, 278 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: the entire story was Pardue's word against Almah's. When Almah's 279 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: grandfather and Smith Petty's father, John Petty, made his way 280 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: to the jail from Union, South Carolina, he told Almah 281 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: that he believed she had killed Smith, but that she 282 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: must have had an accomplice. She denied all of it. 283 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: Alma remained in her jail cell throughout the winter holidays. 284 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: On January twenty fourth, a grand jury determined that there 285 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: was enough probable cause for the case to move forward 286 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:40,479 Speaker 1: to a trial. Almah's trial proceedings began on February thirteenth, 287 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty eight, and after two days of jury selection, 288 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: testimony began. In her testimony, Almah stated that her mother 289 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: had been the one to kill Smith T. Petty. She 290 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: did not deny that she had told Pardue she had 291 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: done it, though Almah's logic was that she had con 292 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: to Pardue to get information about whether salvation was possible 293 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,879 Speaker 1: because she was worried about her mother's soul. Almah described 294 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,200 Speaker 1: a home that was always tense and dangerous when Smith 295 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: Petty was there. In the last four or five years 296 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: of his life, he had grown increasingly volatile and abusive 297 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: to the entire family. The real way the murder happened, 298 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: according to Almah's trial testimony, was that Smith Petty had 299 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:30,439 Speaker 1: come home inebriated and violent, and he was choking Janey 300 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: when Almah arrived home that night. When Alma her sister 301 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: Thelma and their cousin Annie tried to pull Smith away 302 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: from Janey. He picked up a stool and hit Alma 303 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: in the head with it, hard enough to leave her days. 304 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: The rest of the night was a series of outbursts 305 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: on Smith's part as the rest of the family tried 306 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,199 Speaker 1: to avoid him. He would leave for a while, and 307 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: then he would return and start the abuse all over again. 308 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: The following morning, after Thelma and Annie had left for 309 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: work and Woodrow was cutting kindling in the basement, Alma 310 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: was washing her face and neck at the kitchen sink 311 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: when Smith appeared with a butcher knife, yelling, don't wash 312 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 1: that damn neck, I'll cut it off. Then he lunged 313 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: at her, and Alma managed to grab his right arm, 314 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: which held the knife, and hold it away from her. 315 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: Smith tried to choke her with his left hand, and 316 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,640 Speaker 1: Alma was screaming for help. Woodrow ran up from the basement, 317 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: still holding the axe he had been using to cut 318 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,200 Speaker 1: the wood, and Janey got to the kitchen at about 319 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: the same time. Janey Petty took the axe from her 320 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: son and hit Smith in the back of the head 321 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,120 Speaker 1: with it. He still had his hand around Almah's neck 322 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: and a butcher knife in the other hand, and Janey 323 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: hit him a second time, which killed him. Janey then 324 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: told Almah and Woodrow to leave the house, and when 325 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: they returned that night everything was cleaned up. Janey told 326 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: them that a Dodge Sedan had taken the body away 327 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: and that she would kill herself in funt of them 328 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: if they ever told anyone about what had happened. Almah's 329 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: sixteen year old brother, Woodrow, corroborated this entire story on 330 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: the stand. Just as a note, there are some accounts 331 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: that say he was fifteen. During the trial, so Almah 332 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: said that she had begged her mother to confess when 333 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: it became apparent that she might die of pneumonia. She 334 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,959 Speaker 1: stated that she was worried about her mother's soul and 335 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: that this is what drove her to confide in Reverend Pardue. 336 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: She stated in the confession that she had done it 337 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 1: because she wanted to quote protect the name of my 338 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: dead mother. The defense called the doctor who treated Janey 339 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: Petty in her final days to the stand, and he 340 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: testified that Almah begged her mother repeatedly to go to 341 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,640 Speaker 1: confession as her life neared its end. After we hear 342 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 1: from the sponsors that keep the show going, we'll talk 343 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 1: about the controversy surrounding Thomas Pardue's testimony and Alma's trial. 344 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: Alma Petty's trial was sensational because of its details about patricide, 345 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: domestic abuse, and a pretty young woman at the center 346 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 1: of it all, but there was also a lot of 347 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,199 Speaker 1: discussion about how the entire case would set precedent on 348 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,800 Speaker 1: religious leaders reporting information that had been told to them 349 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: in assumed confidence. To a degree. Pardu was on trial 350 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,159 Speaker 1: alongside Alma, and that was entirely by design on the 351 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: part of the defense. Almah's defense team argued that Pardu's 352 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: testimony should not be allowed, as it was a violation 353 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 1: of Almah's human rights. This was all very hotly debated 354 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: because while other states had laws on the books regarding 355 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,920 Speaker 1: religious confessions and their admissibility in court, North Carolina did 356 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: not at this time. In the Tampa Times, an article 357 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: ran about the issue on February fifteenth under the headline 358 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 1: quotes considering ethics, and it laid out its examination of 359 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: the issue quote there arises here a question of ethics 360 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: that is interesting, if not overly important. Should the preacher 361 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 1: to whom this avowal was made as a part and 362 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: parcel of the young woman's religious experience, if made at all, 363 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: have disclosed her statement to the authorities. It is a 364 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,439 Speaker 1: rather delicate point, but we think not. We suspect that 365 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 1: every minister, even those with only a few years experience, 366 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: has been made the confidant of men and women who 367 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: have come under his ministry in regard to things that 368 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:38,359 Speaker 1: would be astonishing if related to the world. This, no doubt, 369 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: is especially true as to persons under great religious stress, 370 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: such as it seems the prime effort of many evangelists 371 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,239 Speaker 1: to bring them under. To think that these should be 372 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: flaunted to the public to the hurt of those who 373 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: make them, is to think that which is well nigh unthinkable. 374 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: Ethics like charity are at times employed to cover a 375 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 1: multitude of sins, but it seems entirely apart from good 376 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: ethics for a spiritual adviser to inform on those bearing 377 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: innermost secrets to him. Almah's defense team openly went after 378 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: parduing court. At one point, her lawyer P. W. Glidwell 379 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: said to the jury quote his friends and adherents have 380 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:25,199 Speaker 1: applauded him here in her hour of misery. I delight 381 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: to defend this girl born of a drunken and dissolute 382 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 1: father in a home where this father brutally mistreated her mother. 383 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: She saw her mother die by degrees on March tenth, 384 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: she saw her mother die of a broken heart. She 385 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,719 Speaker 1: had seen her father killed, and she turned to her 386 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: pastor for comfort. She turned to a man who claimed 387 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: to be an ambassador of God. When she came here 388 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: for trial and took the witness stand, he sat there 389 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: glaring at her, prompting the state attorneys. The defense painted 390 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: Pardu as opportunistic because he had asked Almah to come 391 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: to his house after he had been speaking with police 392 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: as a way to get more information from her. Glidewell 393 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: asked the jury quote, was there ever a more enticing 394 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: scheme devised? Why did he get her there to get 395 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: her right with God so that when he got her 396 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: killed in the electric chair, the soul might go to heaven? 397 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: Did he pray? Yes? He thanked God for himself. Later, 398 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,399 Speaker 1: he told the jury quote, she asked for bread and 399 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: he gave her a stone. He betrayed her, misconstrued her, 400 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 1: and became her prosecutor. If Pardu is to be believed, 401 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,879 Speaker 1: then it is murder in the first degree. If you 402 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: believe her, it is freedom. Under the evidence, you can't 403 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,280 Speaker 1: convict of first degree murder. The biggest point the defense 404 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: made was that Almah had been the one to give 405 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: all of the information that was used at trial, and 406 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: that her account had been cherry picked to use against her. 407 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: One particular aspect of the story that Pardou had told 408 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: the core seemed unlikely to the defense. According to Pardu, 409 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: Almah had told him that after her father had been 410 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: hit with the ax, she spoke with him, but the 411 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: doctor that they called to the stand indicated that either 412 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: one of the two blows to the head that Smith T. 413 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,119 Speaker 1: Petty had received would have killed him, i e. He 414 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: would not have been able to have any kind of conversation. 415 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: Glidewell also painted a really terrifying picture of what would 416 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: happen to Almah should she be found guilty when he 417 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: leaned really heavily on the jury's emotions. He reminded jurors 418 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: what it's like for a person to die in the 419 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,880 Speaker 1: electric chair, and he reminded them of how very young 420 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 1: she was. She was still only twenty one when the 421 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:46,920 Speaker 1: prosecution made closing statements. Glidewell's sympathy inducing rhetoric of how 422 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: Almah's life would end was called unfortunate. Yeah, the prosecution 423 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,920 Speaker 1: really did try to call out the fact that he 424 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: was emotionally manipulating the jury. The prosecution's other big focus 425 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: in amation and just heads up, this is pretty cringey 426 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: if you are familiar with the patterns of domestic abuse, 427 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: was that there was no one who was called to 428 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: testify that Smith T. Petty was a cruel or unkind man, 429 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: and that it was only his kids who claimed that 430 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,640 Speaker 1: he had been that way. The lead prosecutor, Porter Graves, 431 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,879 Speaker 1: made the case that it really seemed as though Almah 432 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,160 Speaker 1: and her brother had been coached on what to say 433 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 1: by their attorney, and that their testimony was too identical, 434 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: even in phrasing, to be simply an instance of corroborating memories. 435 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: He said to the jury in his closing quote, the 436 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: council has told you that the multitude would acclaim a 437 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: verdict of not guilty, Great God, the acclaim of the multitude. 438 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: Do your duty, gentleman, and refrain from thoughts of the multitude. 439 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 1: And finally, Graves pointed out that the real strategy of 440 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: the defense was to attack a man of God, concluding 441 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 1: with quote, gentleman of the jury, the defense has taken 442 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:03,359 Speaker 1: a strange position. Abuse him for betraying confidence. They say 443 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: he is a liar and that he told what was 444 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: given to him by a penitent. Why abuse him if 445 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,959 Speaker 1: it is not the truth? They spend more time denouncing 446 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 1: him than they do arguing that the defendant didn't do it. 447 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: The trial concluded on February twenty second, and the judge 448 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: instructed the jury that there were three possible verdicts they 449 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: could give in the case, one guilty of first degree murder, 450 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: two guilty of second degree murder, or three not guilty. 451 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: At roughly seven pm, the jury had supper, and once 452 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,119 Speaker 1: they had finished eating, they returned to the jury room. 453 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,679 Speaker 1: Their first vote did not have a unanimous decision after 454 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,400 Speaker 1: several hours of deliberation, though all of the jurors were 455 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,639 Speaker 1: in agreement and ready to give the verdict. Because of 456 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: the late hour, Judge McCray had retired for the evening 457 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: and he had to be collected from his hotel, and 458 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: though the courthouse had been swarmed with people throughout the trial, 459 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,919 Speaker 1: no one expected a verdict that night. It was a 460 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 1: Wednesday night. The presumption had been that the verdict would 461 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,160 Speaker 1: be announced Thursday morning, so when the trial reached its 462 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 1: final conclusion, there were only a couple of hundred people 463 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,360 Speaker 1: on hand. That was a pretty paltry number compared to 464 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: the thousands that reportedly showed up to watch each day. 465 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: As Almah awaited the jury's decision, she sat with her 466 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 1: husband and her sister. Her brother Woodrow was also close by, 467 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,199 Speaker 1: and according to press accounts, all of them were showing 468 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,679 Speaker 1: signs of strain. Alma was asked to rise for the 469 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,399 Speaker 1: reading of the verdict, which she had told those around 470 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 1: her that she expected to be a bad outcome for her. 471 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: But Alma Petty Gatlin was found not guilty. She was 472 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,359 Speaker 1: described as standing stunned for a moment before breaking down 473 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: in tears in her husband's arms. When she had regained 474 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: her composure somewhat, she thanked each of the jurors, or 475 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 1: at least tried to buy some accounts, she was still 476 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:01,479 Speaker 1: crying and had difficulties speaking. She thanked the judge and 477 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: spoke briefly with the prosecutor before going home for the 478 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,679 Speaker 1: first time in almost five months. The Reverend Thomas Pardue 479 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,160 Speaker 1: was not on hand for the verdict. After the case 480 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 1: was concluded, legal experts, lawmakers, and religious leaders were all 481 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:22,120 Speaker 1: left wondering about the future of confession confidentiality. The North 482 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,439 Speaker 1: Carolina Law Review examined the question in an article in 483 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: the summer of nineteen twenty eight, so just a few 484 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: months after the trial, opening with quote, the case of 485 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: State versus Alma Petty Gallin, tried before Judge Cameron McCray 486 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,880 Speaker 1: at a special term of the Superior Court of Rockingham 487 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: County last February, aroused the interest of the public generally 488 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: by its sensationalism. It is a peculiar interest to the profession. 489 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,240 Speaker 1: For the first time in North Carolina, the question of 490 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: the admissibility of a confidential confession as evidence was squarely raised. 491 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: The case itself will not go before the Supreme Court. 492 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: Missus Gallin was acquitted. The question therefore remains unsettled. There 493 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: is one point to be borne in mind in considering 494 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: these cases. Whether the minister may be compelled to testify 495 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: is quite a different question from whether the matter secured 496 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: from the confidential confession is admissible as evidence. It took 497 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: thirty years for North Carolina to get a legal stance 498 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: in place regarding the testimony of religious figures. In nineteen 499 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: fifty nine, General Statute eight fifty three two was passed, 500 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: which reads quote, no priest, rabbi, accredited Christian science practitioner, 501 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 1: or a clergyman or ordained minister of an established church 502 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: shall be competent to testify in any action, suit or 503 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: proceeding concerning any information which was communicated to him and 504 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: entrusted to him in his professional capacity, and necessary to 505 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 1: enable him to discharge the functions of his office according 506 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 1: to the usual course of his practice or discipline. Wherein 507 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: such persons so communicated such information about himself or another 508 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: is seeking spiritual counsel and advice relative too, and growing 509 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: out of the information so imparted. Provided, however, that this 510 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: section shall not apply where communicant in open court waives 511 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 1: the privilege conferred. Today, all fifty states have some law 512 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: on the books regarding confessional privilege and the id admissibility 513 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: of contents of a confession to a religious figure as evidence. 514 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: As for Thomas Pardue, he had gained a large following 515 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: as the Alma Petty Gatlin trial had become big news. 516 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: He was able to open his own church and leave 517 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: the warehouse behind, but soon he was in trouble. In 518 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 1: May of nineteen thirty, he was accused of making sexual 519 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: advances on a colleague's seventeen year old daughter. The scandal 520 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 1: really damaged his reputation, and though he left Readsville, he 521 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: remained a preacher. He died in nineteen sixty six at 522 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: the age of seventy five. After the trial concluded, Almah 523 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: was offered numerous opportunities to appear on the stage, but instead, 524 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: she and Jean moved to Greensboro shortly after their first 525 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 1: child was born. They had three children in total, and 526 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: they moved a couple more times. Jean died in nineteen 527 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: fifty two, and Almah became deeply involved in the church 528 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: after its passing. She died in two thousand and one, 529 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: having outlived all of her siblings. Yeah, that's a wild 530 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: This is one of those stories too, that I stumbled 531 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: across while researching something else, and it was next the 532 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 1: column next to the pertinent column to my research in 533 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 1: the paper, and I was like what yeah, And then 534 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 1: it went on my list. I have much more upbeat 535 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: and some silly listener mail to finish out, just so 536 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: we all get a little breather, shake off all of 537 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: the black and the murder talk. This is actually from 538 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: Twitter and it is from our listener Kate. In relation 539 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: to our chocolate edition of eponymous Foods. Kate wrote, I'm 540 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: grateful for the description of German chocolate cake, but I'm 541 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: still no clearer on what a tutsie roll is. Hey, 542 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: that's my mistake. I don't know why I didn't consciously 543 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 1: do it, but I think in my brain I was 544 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: just like, everybody knows a tutsie roll. Yeah, that's not true, 545 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 1: So a tutsi roll. Apologies, Kate, and I will tell 546 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: you now. I don't know how appealing this will sound, 547 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 1: because it is a weird thing. A tutsi roll is 548 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: essentially like a chocolate taffy kind of yeah, y yeah, 549 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: it's like a chewy, translucent kind of taffy. Is that translucent? 550 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: Lightly translucent? Yeah, you can if you hold it up 551 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: to light. The edges are a little translucent. Maybe that's 552 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: just the ones I am. Maybe they've aged, the sugar 553 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: is condensing in the middle. I don't know. Yeah, it's 554 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: it's very chewy. It's fine. It's not great. Yeah, I mean, 555 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: some people love them. I don't you know what I 556 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 1: do love though, there's a vanilla version that they make 557 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: that comes out sometimes during holidays, like sometimes it'll be 558 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: around Um, I think they do it sometimes around Halloween, 559 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: but sometimes they'll also do it around like spring holidays 560 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: because it usually comes in like a springing color combination 561 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:26,200 Speaker 1: where they have other flavors. That stuff is delicious, delicious. Um. Yeah, 562 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:28,320 Speaker 1: that's what a tutsie roll is. Some people love them, 563 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: some people not so much. Tracy and I think are 564 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: in the Yeah. Yeah, it was always the thing apart 565 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: from apart from things that I genuinely did not like. 566 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 1: It would be like the last things left from the 567 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: Halloween trick or treating hall. Yeah, last thing left in 568 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: the easter basket. Yeah, tutsi role. But you know, apparently 569 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: people love them that companies become the TUTSI role company entirely. 570 00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 1: So well, and if if you're gonna do something like 571 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 1: go hiking on a hot day and you want a 572 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 1: chocolate e treat, that's not going to be a melted mass. Yeah, 573 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,040 Speaker 1: I mean it's we talked about that being why it 574 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 1: it became so popular initially. Although can I just tell 575 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: you that scenario, like the idea of eating something sugary 576 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: on a hot day just makes like my entire like 577 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 1: blood sugar, go bananas. It's like, don't do that. Eat 578 00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:28,280 Speaker 1: protein anyway. That's my own that has in no way advice. 579 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: That's just what my body would want. So hopefully that 580 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: clarifies things about what a TETs hero is. I'll remember 581 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,239 Speaker 1: that going forward that any of the things we talk 582 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:40,239 Speaker 1: about on eponymous foods, maybe people don't know what they are, 583 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 1: even if they just seem ubiquitous to me. That's the scoop. 584 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, the email 585 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,359 Speaker 1: address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can 586 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 1: find us on social media at Misston History, which is 587 00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:57,160 Speaker 1: how Kate did, and you can subscribe to the show 588 00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,880 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your 589 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 590 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:12,239 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 591 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:15,759 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 592 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: favorite shows.