meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Southern Mysteries Podcast

Episode 155 Appalachian Outlaw Kinnie Wagner

Southern Mysteries Podcast

Shannon Ballard

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.8918 Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2024

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Meet Kinnie Wagner, a lesser known outlaw of the 1920s. Folk songs were written about him in the 1920s and he gained legendary status by escaping jail several times…even escaping the electric chair in Tennessee. Want more Southern Mysteries?  Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries Connect Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: [email protected]  Episode Sources Scott County Historical Society: Kinnie Wagner, Scott County's Notorious Outlaw Murderpedia: William Kenneth “Kinnie” Wagner The Paris News: Bad Man of 15 Years Has Escaped Again, November 1, 1940  The Tennessean: Cowboy Desperado Defiant Under Death Sentence, May 15, 1925 Nebraska Daily News-Press: Tune Up That Guitar, Wagner’s Outlawing Again, November 29, 1940. Kingsport News: Kinnie Wagner Died in Prison, March 10, 1958. Kingsport Times: Thousands Flock to funeral Home to See Kinnie Wagner, March 12, 1958  The Jackson Clarion-Ledger: The Story of Kinnie Wagner, 7 part series. April 6-12, 1958 Episode Music Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

When you think of outlaws of the 1920s, the names Al Capone, or Bonnie and Clyde, may immediately

0:18.9

come to mind.

0:19.9

A lesser-known outlaw, who landed on the FBI's most wanted fugitive list, was a former

0:26.5

circus star turned bootleggar from Virginia.

0:31.2

He killed at least five men, but always maintained he only killed in self-defense.

0:38.9

Folk songs were written about him and he gained legendary status by escaping jail several times,

0:45.5

even escaping the electric chair in Tennessee.

0:49.9

Welcome to Southern Mysteries, exploring Southern history and true crime. I'm your host, Shannon Ballard.

0:57.7

This is the story of the Appalachian Outlaw, Kenny Wagner. William Kenneth Wagner, commonly known as

1:07.0

Kenny Wagner, was born in Scott County, Virginia in February 1903.

1:12.9

Kenny would later say the tragic death of his mother on Christmas Day 1909 broke him.

1:20.0

His mother was the most important person in his life, and suddenly she was gone.

1:25.4

By the following summer, Kenny's father remarried, bringing a stepmother

1:29.4

and her four children into the family with Kenny and his sister, all living in a one-room cabin.

1:37.3

Within a couple of years, two children were born of the marriage, and that little cabin felt smaller

1:42.9

with each passing day. Kenny claimed his stepmother often

1:47.0

reminded him and his sister, they weren't her children, making them do without clothes and shoes,

1:54.4

while her children got what they needed. Kenny took to spending most of his time outside

2:00.5

with the family's three dogs,

2:02.7

becoming his best friends. Kenny had a gift for training dogs to tree raccoons and hunt rabbits.

2:10.6

He enjoyed hunting, and from the time he got his first gun, when he was eight years old,

2:15.5

he practiced often and developed expert marksmanship skills.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Shannon Ballard, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Shannon Ballard and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.