This podcast may contain adult language and situations, graphic, gory details, and other not-so-nice things.

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I'm Ashley, and I'm Lacey, and this is United States of Murder.

This week, we're in Kentucky discussing Appalachia's only known case of ritual murder.

Then we'll discuss the worst drunk driving accident in the history of the United States.

So buckle up and join us on this dark and twisted ride through the bluegrass state.

It was the winter of 1933 in the hills of eastern Kentucky.

The middle of the Great Depression, when the coal camps were quiet, and faith was one of the few

things folks still held on to. But in a tiny community outside Tomahawk, that faith took a

dark and tragic turn. So before we get into the story, I'm going to touch a little bit on the Appalachian

Holiness Pentecostal movement.

It's a party.

I can't wait.

So it's characterized by emotional worship, speaking in tongues, a belief in the Holy Spirit's

power, and traditions that emerged from Methodist revivals.

Some congregations have a unique practice of handling venomous snakes, which they see as

a sign of faith based on a verse in the Gospel of Mark.

Author Nancy Koester describes this Christian movement by stating,

Revivalism was well suited to the stark conditions of the frontier life, where death was an

ever-present reality. Revival preaching confronted people with the sin and damnation,

and it promised pardon and release to true believers.

The revivalist style of preaching changed how believers accessed and interpreted God.

...