52: The Socialite & The Gardening Shears: The Murder of Idella Thompson

Southern Fried True Crime

Erica Kelley

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 10.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2019

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1948, a Delta Mississippi socialite named Ruth Thompson Dickins, hacked her mother to death with gardening shears. She blamed the murder on a “negro” man she claimed attacked her as well. But a jury of 12 white men didn’t believe her, in Mississippi, in 1949. That fact alone is incredible. But with her prominent family, wealthy and aggressive “cotton man” husband and the backing of the elite white people of her town and county, the governor of Mississippi was finally badgered into suspending her sentence after she served only six years.

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/52-the-murder-of-idella-thompson

Written, hosted, produced by Erica Kelley
Researched by Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison-Gamma Radio

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Transcript

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0:00.0	What's going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Heath, and I'm your other host
0:05.8	Daphne, and we're from Going West. A True Crime podcast where we discuss various
0:11.1	murders, disappearances, and unsolved crimes. We release new episodes every
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0:45.2	Going West. For everybody out there in the world, keep it real, and stay weird.
0:49.9	Cheerio!
0:55.7	Southern Fried True Crime covers cases that are not suitable for young listeners, and there
1:05.5	may also be some explicit language used. Listener discretion is advised.
1:11.6	In 1948, a prominent socialite named Ruth Thompson Dickens from the Mississippi Delta hacked
1:21.0	her mother to death with gardening sheers. She calmly called her family doctor's
1:26.8	office, but not the police. When questioned, she said that she had walked in on
1:31.4	quote, a Negro man attacking her mother. She said she fought for her life,
1:37.2	getting injured herself as he ran out the back and escaped. But there was no
1:42.4	evidence that anyone was in that house but Ruth Dickens and her mother, Adela
1:46.6	Thompson. Ruth was married to a powerful cotton merchant, well connected in all
1:51.9	areas of society, even friends with the sheriff. Her family was old money and
1:57.4	pillars of the community. But she was still brought to trial. Twelve jurors did
	...

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