I'm Anna Garcia, host of True Crime News, the podcast.

Every week we bring you in-depth coverage on cases making headlines, as well as those that go under the radar.

Tune in for murders that defy explanation, mystery seeking exploration, and shocking secrets that will leave you breathless.

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Crime never stops, and neither do we.

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The topic for today's episode came from one of our previous guests, Patterson Hood, co-founder

of the band Drive-by Truckers.

Patterson was born in Alabama, and he's written a lot of songs about the South.

But he's also tried to write songs about various southern stories that just haven't come together yet.

For instance, he's tried to write a song about Stringbean, the country music star who was shot

and killed with his wife during a home invasion outside Nashville in 1973 after the two

came home from the Grand Ole Opry.

Patterson's also tried to write about Spade Cooley, a musician and TV personality known as the King of Western Swing back in the 40s and 50s.

In 1961, Cooley, who was known for his violent temper, murdered his second wife, Ella Mae Evans, at their home in Willow Springs, California, and was sentenced to life in prison.

These are interesting stories, but there's another one Patterson has tried to turn into a song that got my attention.

It's about a guy named Sputnik Monroe.

As Patterson told me, Sputnik was a pro wrestler who became famous in Memphis in the 1960s. He was friends with Elvis and Johnny Cash. He was

repeatedly arrested for socializing in black nightclubs as a white man, and he played a key role in desegregating Memphis' wrestling venues,

years before the major civil rights wins of the mid-60s.

I'd never heard of Sputnik Monroe, but it seemed like a story worth pursuing.

In my research, I met a guy who not only knew Sputnik as a kid,

...