A few years ago, I was meeting with a few likeminded people in my community to discuss the details of Lue Cree Overcash Westmoreland’s still-unsolved murder from 1937. One of those people was Shellie Taylor, who works with the Iredell County Public Library. Of course we immediately began chatting about a few other mysterious stories she had uncovered as part of her work as an archivist. I knew she would be the perfect guest for the podcast, and today I’m sharing a conversation we recently had.
We discuss the mysterious case of a woman calling herself Virginia Sneed who died in police custody in Asheville in 1939. When she was arrested for vagrancy, she refused to tell police her real name. While she was eventually identified by her family in Statesville, many questions about this story remain. We talk about the case of Ruth Horton, whose husband, fire captain Leroy Horton was murdered in 1967 when his truck exploded. Ruth was eventually convicted of conspiracy to commit the murder, even though the actual perpetrators were never tried. We also discuss Shellie’s work in cemetery preservation and a new true crime podcast she’s helping to develop. I really enjoyed our chat and hope you will, too.
Listen to the full interview here.
