meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Morbid

Mamie Thurman

Morbid

Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart

True Crime, Comedy, Paranormal, Dark History

4.4 • 100.5K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2023

⏱️ 69 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On June 22, 1932, a boy picking blackberries in rural Logan, West Virginia made a hideous discovery when he happened upon the dead and brutalized body of local woman, Mamie Thurman. At first glance, Mamie’s murder resembled a gangland-style execution; she had been shot twice in the head and her throat had been slit from one side to the other, as though whoever killed her wanted to make sure she didn’t survive. The murder shocked the small town of Logan. Mamie was well-known around town as a devoted wife to her husband, Jack, a local police officer, and a good Christian who was actively involved in her church and community organizations. Yet as news of the murder spread, so too did rumors of Mamie’s infidelity and poor moral character. Ultimately, local Black handyman Charles Stephenson was arrested, tried, and convicted in a sensational trial that made national headlines. Yet many felt that conviction was obtained on questionable evidence and, in retrospect, largely the result of racial bias.  Was Mamie Thurman really just an unfortunate victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was there a more personal element? Indeed, evidence suggests there was more going on in the case of Mamie’s death than a simple murder and that a number of powerful men conspired to cover up the true motive for Mamie’s death, allowing the true killer to walk free. Thank you to the wonderful David White, of the Bring Me the Axe pod, for research assistance References Charleston Daily Mail. 1932. "Negro was at killing scene." Charleston Daily Mail, June 27: 1. —. 1932. "Pair guarded in Logan case." Charleston Daily Mail, June 26: 1. —. 1932. "Tests show blood in Logan official's car." Charleston Daily Mail, July 28: 1. —. 1932. "Two men accused of Logan murder." Charleston Daily Mail, June 23: 1. —. 1932. "Two more questioned in Logan murder case." Charleston Daily Mail, June 24: 1. Davis, F. Keith. 2021. Secret Life and Brutal Death of Mamie Thurman. Charleston, WV: Quarrier Press. Hinton Daily News. 1932. "Large crowd at hearing of Logan men." Hinton Daily News, June 25: 1. State of West Virginia vs. Clarence Stevenson. 1933. 172 S.E. 533; 7621 (Supreme Court of West Virginia, December 16).

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You're listening to a morbid network podcast.

0:05.0

I'm going deep into my wife's family history,

0:10.0

digging up the cold case of her murdered great-grandmother.

0:13.2

And did I mention that I'm looking into whether the murderer was actually the beloved family patriarch?

0:18.4

Binge all episodes of Ghost Story, ad free right now on Wondery Plus.

0:23.0

Hey, weirdos!

0:26.0

I'm Elena, and I'm Ash.

0:28.0

And this is Morbid. Yeah! Yeah, yeah like a stronger vibe about that the way you said more bad. I'm in a different

0:50.2

universe right now. Tell the people, let it out. Put it all in the book sweetie.

0:54.4

This all goes in order actually because the last time we talked to you guys was yesterday

1:01.2

when my ceiling flooded.

1:05.0

Oh yeah, we didn't go to yesterday too.

1:07.0

The alarms in my house went off because I flooded into the smoke detector and other parts.

1:12.0

So it set the detectors off.

1:14.4

So that was yesterday.

1:15.2

That was wild.

1:16.2

And then in the middle of the night last night,

1:18.2

because all the water had flooded into one of those smoke detectors

1:21.7

at 3 a.m. the witch in hour the alarm

1:26.2

started blaring in my house and a nice robotic voice was saying fire fire fire and I shot up out of bed and I shot up out of bed and I said oh my

1:39.2

God and my kids ran down the hallway to us crying because they didn't know what was going on.

1:44.3

And John's running downstairs where just like everybody's it's chaotic it's

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.