Title Goat Castle : a true story of murder, race, and the gothic South / Karen L. Cox

Published Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2017] ©2017

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Description 1 online resource (227 pages) Contents Reclusive aristocrats -- The residents of Glenwood -- Pink and Sister -- Murder at Glenburnie -- The investigation -- Jim Crow's investigation -- National scandal -- Sideshows -- Cold justice -- Hollow victory -- Longing for home Summary In 1932, the city of Natchez, Mississippi, reckoned with an unexpected influx of journalists and tourists as the lurid story of a local murder was splashed across headlines nationwide. Two eccentrics, Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery--known in the press as the "Wild Man" and the "Goat Woman"--Enlisted an African American man named George Pearls to rob their reclusive neighbor, Jennie Merrill, at her estate. During the attempted robbery, Merrill was shot and killed. The crime drew national coverage when it came to light that Dana and Dockery, the alleged murderers, shared their huge, decaying antebellum mansion with their goats and other livestock, which prompted journalists to call the estate "Goat Castle." Pearls was killed by an Arkansas policeman in an unrelated incident before he could face trial. However, as was all too typical in the Jim Crow South, the white community demanded "justice," and an innocent black woman named Emily Burns was ultimately sent to prison for the murder of Merrill. Dana and Dockery not only avoided punishment but also lived to profit from the notoriety of the murder by opening their derelict home to tourists. Strange, fascinating, and sobering, Goat Castle tells the story of this local feud, killing, investigation, and trial, showing how a true crime tale of fallen southern grandeur and murder obscured an all too familiar story of racial injustice Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-212) and index Notes Online resource (HeinOnline, viewed July 29, 2021) Subject Merrill, Jennie, 1864-1932. Dana, Dick, 1871-1948. Dockery, Octavia, 1865-1949. SUBJECT Dockery, Octavia, 1865-1949 Dana, Dick, 1871-1948 Merrill, Jennie, 1864-1932 Dana, Dick, 1871-1948 fast Dockery, Octavia, 1865-1949 fast Merrill, Jennie, 1864-1932 fast Subject Murder -- Mississippi -- Natchez -- History -- 20th century Judicial error -- Mississippi -- Natchez -- History -- 20th century African Americans -- Segregation -- Mississippi -- Natchez -- History -- 20th century African Americans -- Civil rights -- Mississippi -- Natchez -- History -- 20th century SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Criminology. TRUE CRIME -- Murder -- General. African Americans -- Civil rights African Americans -- Segregation Judicial error Murder Mississippi -- Natchez Genre/Form Electronic books True crime stories History True crime stories. Récits criminels. Form Electronic book LC no. 2017013168 ISBN 9781469635040 1469635046 9781469635057 1469635054 1541490932 9781541490932

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