120: The Cherryville Murders

Southern Fried True Crime

Erica Kelley

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 10.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2021

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the summer of 1991, the small town of Cherryville, North Carolina, was horrified by two double murders. A local was quickly targeted by police, a man related to one of the families. And it destroyed his life. Another accidental death was tied to the murders, brought on by the fear of one of Cherryville’s residents. When the real killer was found, the town was able to breathe a sigh of relief. But the small town was left scarred by the trauma and so many families would have to live a lifetime of grief.

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Researched and written by Hannah Newcomb & Erica Kelley
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Transcript

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0:00.0	Southern Fried True Crime covers cases that are not suitable for young listeners, and there
0:05.2	may also be some explicit language used.
0:08.6	Listener discretion is advised.
0:14.1	Spiritualist Eckhart Toll said in the face of death, especially violent death, things
0:19.8	don't make sense anymore.
0:21.3	It's a simple yet painfully accurate statement, and it's especially true for murders and
0:28.2	small towns.
0:31.6	People who live in small towns feel insulated.
0:35.9	They are close to one another.
0:37.9	They think they know each other, and when a violent murder happens, it echoes through
0:42.8	the town, like a pebble skipping across a pond.
0:47.2	How could this happen here?
0:49.7	And while the seeds of distrust are sewn, pitting neighbors against each other, folks
0:54.9	will still insist that the killer had to be an outsider.
0:59.6	And when a local is publicly suspected by law enforcement, well, the modern day pitchforks
1:05.4	come out in force.
1:07.7	But what if the wrong person is accused?
1:10.4	The gossip, the embarrassment, the shame, these feelings don't dissipate quickly.
1:17.1	A wrongful accusation can be devastating and destructive.
1:22.3	And the fear that flows through a small town after a shocking murder can be just as dangerous.
1:28.8	People begin to arm themselves, selling out gun stores.
1:33.1	This can lead to even more tragedy, with accidental shootings by fright and town's folk.
	...

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