Lonely Graves, a Texas Murder Trilogy
Journalist and
novelist Pete Hamill once said, “There is a growing feeling that perhaps Texas
is really another country, a place where the skies, the disasters, the
diamonds, the politicians, the women, the fortunes, the football players and
the murders are all bigger than anywhere else.”
That observation
proved true in the early years of the Texas Panhandle. Three sensational murder
cases made national and international headlines. Each involved a husband
murdering his wife. But the similarity ends there. One was a preacher, one a
farmer, and the other an attorney. One used poison, another an axe while the
other placed explosives behind the seat of the family car.
October 1897: a Panhandle,
Texas Methodist minister decides to slip his faithful wife of seventeen years a
lethal dose of strychnine the day after their 17th wedding
anniversary.
Christmas Eve 1926: authorities
in Parmer County discover the worst case of family annihilation this country
has ever recorded after unearthing the remains of eight children and their
mother.
June 1930: an Amarillo,
Texas peaceful summer morning was turned into pandemonium when a blonde colored
Durant drove through the gates of the quaint Country Club Addition and suddenly
exploded hurling metal and body parts all over the neighborhood.
There was a time
when all six subjects’ names, husbands and the wives they killed were notoriously
famous and news services carried the latest details in each case to newspapers
all over the country. Today all lie in Lonely Graves, where only occasional
curiosity seekers visit the sites.
Author Lana Payne
Barnett has woven a tale of deceit, false pride, rage and the ultimate, murder,
into an account that is a page-turner.
She began her research years ago when her father told her about a man
who shared his name, a man who had murdered his wife and maimed his son. He was
understandably curious about the case and asked her to see if she could learn
the details. By the time she did, her father had died and, curiously, was
buried in the same cemetery as the murderer who shared his name.
Barnett was born
in Memphis and lived her first ten years in Lakeview before moving to Tulia.
After marriage she lived in Canyon for
several years and worked for The Canyon News.
In 1991 she and her husband returned to Tulia where she was Chamber of
Commerce President/Director for many years. Until recently she had a weekly
newspaper column called Panhandle Tidbits and has a Facebook page by the same
name with over 11,000 followers. She has published other books, magazines and a
play about the area. Her latest before Lonely Graves was Route 66 Guide to the Texas Panhandle.
Lonely Graves can
be purchased through
Amazon.com
PayPal at http://lanapaynebarnett.blogspot.com/
Or by mailing
check or money order for $25.00 (includes tax & postage) to:
Lana Payne Barnett
103 North Dallas
Avenue
Tulia, Texas
79088
