If you've been watching the current season of this show, you might feel like the Appalachian Trail is a dangerous hunting ground for all sorts of killers, and this episode is not going to convince you otherwise as it's the story of the AT's first murder.

This is Monsters.

In 1974, Margaret McFadden Harris was a 17-year-old woman with her whole life ahead of her. Like others her own age, she loved to hang out with her friends, play with her dog, and enjoy everything summer had to offer.

But unlike her peers, Margaret was a bit of a child prodigy when it came to academics. She finished high school in just three years and was enrolled to start college before she had even turned 17.

Margaret's father was a physician and her mother was a clinical pathologist and they both had high hopes for their four children.

They all showed great academic proficiency and it was expected that they would follow in their parents' footsteps with college degrees and professional careers.

But despite Margaret's natural talents for academia, she always felt pulled in a different direction. When she wasn't reading, she loved to troll her way through vintage stores for unusual clothing or herbal stores for spiced incense.

These days we might look back and think her alternative lifestyle was pretty typical of the 70s. Peace and free love and hippie imaginings all with a little weed on the side.

But at the time, Margaret's choices were considered pretty out there and certainly not what was expected of a woman with her talents and upbringing.

Outside of college and reading, Margaret had a part-time job waiting tables at an Italian restaurant in five points, a neighborhood in Columbia, South Carolina.

She juggled her work with classes and it wasn't long before she began to feel uninspired about both.

Then, in March of 1974, Margaret was offered an even more alternative path, one that would change her life forever.

Joel Eugene Polson was born on April 26, 1948 in Hartzville, South Carolina, which sits about 60 miles or 96 kilometers northeast of Columbia.

He was the youngest of three children to his parents John and Bonnie Polson.

John started out as a paper mill worker and then became a successful jewelry maker while his wife stayed at home to raise the children.

All of the Polson children were encouraged to make their own way in life, where Margaret was encouraged to follow a typical path.

Joel was raised to be an independent free thinker.

As a child, he loved to go away to scout camps or play soldier with his siblings.

He had plenty of friends and loved to ride his bike and climb trees.

It was a rough and tumble childhood where kids were out until the sun went down and where the value of exploring was greater than being holed up inside with TV.

While that might sound idyllic or nostalgic to many, Joel was one of the many kids whose free-range childhood was spoiled by a seemingly innocuous accident.

When Joel was 13 years old, he was playing outside with his brother when he slipped and fell.

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