On May 4, 1931, William and Mamie Wagner were murdered at their home in northwest  Mississippi. The Jackson Clarion-Ledger called the murders of one of the most prominent couples in the area, “the most brutal tragedy that has ever happened in this section of Mississippi”.

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Episode Sources

• The Commercial Appeal Mass Meeting on Charges Relative to Death of Rev H.P. Gibbs, May 6, 1899
• State Historical Society Archives Anti-Lynching Bill, 1921
• The Greenwood Commonwealth Water Valley Merchant and Wife Slain, May 5, 1931
• Biloxi Sun Herald Sheriff Gets Confession in Wagner Crime, May 6, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Atrocities in Northern Part of State Bringing Intense Police Efforts, May 7, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Murder Victims Are Laid to Rest, May 8, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Verdict Carries Dealth Penalty For Whitaker in Wagner Slayings, June 12, 1931
• North Mississippi Herald The Infamous History of Water Valley, May 14, 2008
• North Mississippi Herald Century Old Jail Is Piece Of History, April 6, 2011
• Hill Country History Water Valley (1858)
• Ancestry.com William Buford Wagner, Jr.
• Water Valley Chamber of Commerce Attractions - Carnival Info

Episode Music

Impromptu and Unanswered Questions by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/