Murders in the Heartland

A teenage orphan girl found beaten to death by the roadside. A preacher's elderly wife and disabled teenage son mercilessly beaten. A deputy sheriff who lost his mind inside a movie theater. A lawman assassinated by moonshiners. Sometimes a community can appear quiet and peaceful while also harboring a dark past. From the Independent Herald — the voice of Scott County, Tennessee and Big South Fork Country — these are true crime stories that have reverberated throughout the history of Scott County. The stories are taken from the original series by the same name that was published in the Independent Herald, a series of famous murders that occurred over a period of 100 years — plus, the story of a modern murder that did not appear in the original series.