Episode 106 The Singing Slayer of the South

Southern Mysteries Podcast

Shannon Ballard

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2022

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kenneth Neu loved two things: music and himself. He was a talented singer and dreamed of becoming a star with his name in newspapers and his voice on the radio. Neu would get his wish in the 1930s when people from New York City to New Orleans heard his name on radio reports and saw his name and photos printed in newspapers. The headlines featured news that he had confessed to two murders. Want more Southern Mysteries? Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive and immediately access exclusive content when you become a patron of the show. Join now at patreon.com/southernmysteries Connect Website: southernmysteries.comFacebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastTwitter: @southernpod_Instagram: @explorethesouthEmail: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com Episode ResourcesTheater Manager Found Murdered. The Wilmington Morning News. September 11, 1933 Slayer of Two Held By Lack of Car Tag. The Gaffney Ledger. September 23, 1933 Crooner Held for Murder Pens Poems in Jail Cell. The Shreveport Times. September 23, 1933 Neu’s Defense at N.O. is Insanity. The Alexandria Town Talk. December 13, 1933 State Demands Death for Penalty for Slayer. The Monroe-Star News. December 15, 1933 Night Club Singer Goes to N.O. Gallows Today. The Shreveport Times February 1, 1935 Girl Pays for Neu’s Funeral. The Alexandria Town Talk. February 2, 1935 State v. Neu, 180 La. 545, 157 So. 105 (La. 1934). Casetext Singer Kept Singing All the Way to the Gallows. The Ottawa Citizen. October 25, 1980 Fit as a fiddle and ready to hang: depression-era crooner was the ‘singing slayer’. Medium. December 1, 2018 Is Gay Panic Still An Excuse For Murder In The Courtroom? Oxygen True Crime. August 20, 2019 Episode MusicLoneliest Road in America by Jesse Gallagher Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Slow Hammers by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Shannon Ballard. Your Southern Mysteries is an independent podcast. It's made possible by the generous
0:06.5	support of listeners like you. So if you'd like to help, you can join Southern Mysteries on Patreon,
0:12.0	and you get a little something in return.
0:14.7	You can hear more than 60 episodes in the Southern Mysteries Archive and you also have an option
0:19.1	to support the show and hear exclusive monthly episodes that are new this year called the
0:24.6	lesser known stories of lesser known figures related to major historical events
0:30.1	join me on Patreon today and catch up on all the episodes you haven't heard
0:35.3	at patreon.com slash southern mysteries. Kenneth knew loved two things, music and himself. He was a talented singer and dreamed of becoming a star with his name and
0:56.5	newspapers and his voice on the radio.
1:01.2	You would get his wish in the 1930s when people from New York City to New Orleans heard the name
1:09.1	Kenneth New on radio reports and saw his name and photos printed in newspapers.
1:16.0	The headlines featured news that he had confessed to two murders.
1:24.0	Welcome to Southern Mysteries,
1:27.0	exploring the history and mysteries of the American South.
1:31.0	I'm your host, Shannon Ballard. This is the story of the singing
1:36.4	Slayer of the South.
1:41.3	Louis Kenneth Knew, who was known as Kenneth, was born in Queens, New York in 1910.
1:48.0	When Kenneth was six years old, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia.
1:53.0	Tragically, within two years, his mother died.
1:57.0	His father remarried, and there was tension at home.
2:01.0	Kenneth and his stepmother were constantly at odds and by the time he was
2:05.9	13 there were concerns about his mental state. He was said to exhibit extreme behaviors. His father believed the
	...

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