Loading summary
Transcript59 lines
- [00:01]
A
This message is sponsored by Greenlight. Every true crime story has money in the mix. The motive, the pressure, the moment everything goes wrong. Financial stress pushes people to desperate decisions and a lack of financial literacy makes kids and teens easy targets. Teaching your kids about money isn't just smart parenting, it's protection. Greenlight is an award winning app and debit card for kids and teens that keeps your family's financial and personal safety from becoming another cautionary tale. Parents can send money quickly to a child's debit card, set spending controls and get real time notifications for every swipe. While kids learn to earn, save and invest, parents get peace of mind with safety features like location alerts, SOS signals and identity monitoring to protect against scammers. Don't let your kids navigate the world exposed. Join millions of parents and kids using the number one family finance and safety app. Every day they're handling money without guidance is a missed opportunity. Start your risk free Greenlight trial today@greenlight.com GoneSouth don't wait to teach your kids real world money skills. That's greenlight.com gonesouth to get started greenlight.com gonesouth I've noticed there's a point where healthcare stops feeling like just appointments and starts feeling like constant admin work. That's why I'm glad I came across Solace. It's a platform that connects you with a dedicated healthcare advocate who steps into that process with you. A Solace advocate can find the right doctors and schedule appointments, fight denied insurance claims to help get care approved and and make sure your doctors are actually staying in sync so you're not repeating yourself everywhere you go. They can also join your appointments, remotely translate medical jargon into plain language and break down test results and treatment plans so you actually understand your care. You connect with your advocate by phone, text, email or video call through the platform and instead of handing you more to manage, they take on the work page patients usually end up doing alone. These are experienced healthcare professionals, often nurses with an average of 16 years in the field and they've already helped tens of thousands of patients. Go to SolisHealth.com to see if you qualify. It takes about two minutes and it's covered by insurance. That's Solish. Health.com must be 18 or older. Advocates do not provide medical or legal advice. This is the second part of a two part series. In the last episode we told you about the murder of Leta McClinton. Lita was a black woman from a prominent family in Atlanta who, against her Parents Wishes had married an eccentric white millionaire 10 years her senior named Jim Sullivan. Their marriage was rocky from the start, but it got rockier when Jim bought a mansion in Palm beach and started sleeping with other women, causing Lita to file for divorce. The divorce proceedings dragged on for over a year. Then, on the morning of January 16, 1987, someone shot and killed Lita on the doorstep of her Atlanta condo. Her husband Jim was the prime suspect, but he was in Palm beach at the time, and the cops had trouble tying him to the scene. That changed when the FBI got involved. They discovered that shortly after the murder, someone had placed a call to Jim's mansion from a Howard Johnson's outside Atlanta. An agent traced the call back to an individual in North Carolina, and the Bureau's North Carolina office promised to take it from there. But for one reason or another, they never acted on it. And the case, after finally gaining traction, went cold. By most accounts, Jim was unfazed by Lita's death. Eight months later, he'd married his former mistress, a beautiful Korean socialite and serial divorcee named Suki Rogers. The two could be seen driving Jim's Rolls Royce around Palm beach, where they were regulars at the exclusive Bath and Tennis Club.
- [04:34]
B
Jim and Suki are traveling all around the world, spending money like it's going out of style.
- [04:39]
A
This is writer Deb Miller Landau, who spent years investigating the Lita McClinton case.
- [04:45]
B
And then, you know, what quickly happens between them is the same thing that happened between Jim and Leda. He starts to get super, super cheap. He starts to be very controlling of Suki, starts to follow her, quite question her. Every purchase and life for Sukie is not as good as it once was. And she starts sort of looking at her exit strategy.
- [05:07]
A
It was now 1991, more than four years since Lita's murder. Under federal law, the statute of limitations on a murder for hire charge runs out after five years. The U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta was aware of the deadline and they were debating whether they had enough to charge Jim.
- [05:27]
B
And you know, what they've got is largely circumstantial. They have a phone call from Atlanta area rest area to Jim's house that he says he doesn't know who answered. They have this connection between the Howard Johnson's hotel and Jim, but there's nothing sort of concrete. They don't at this point have a hitman, they don't have a weapon. They don't have any sort of narrative that tells them exactly what happened or any kind of paper trail. That connects Jim to anyone. You know, they've looked into all of his financials and don't see any sort of a big purchase like a payment to somebody flagged anywhere in his financials. But the time is ticking. And so, you know, the U.S. attorney's office decides, well, we don't want this to just sort of go. So. Five days before the statute of limitation expires, Jim Sullivan is indicted for murder in Atlanta.
- [06:19]
A
The indictment marked the Fed's first serious attempt to hold Jim Sullivan accountable for his wife Lita's death. But as he'd already shown, Jim was used to getting his way. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is gone south. Jim Sullivan's federal trial began in November of 1992. Everyone in Atlanta was watching. Lita's case had been in the news for years, and Jim had always been the main suspect. Locals were ready to see Lita get justice.
- [06:57]
B
The trial starts, and the prosecution gives its side of the story, and they lay out, you know, all of the theories that they have and all of the circumstantial evidence that they have. And the trial breaks for the weekend. And, you know, one of Jim's defense attorneys, sort of right before the weekend happens, he says, you know, they don't have enough to go on. You know, we should call this a mistrial. And, you know, it's a common sort of tactic for defense attorneys, but they break for the weekend, and it's a super stormy weekend in Atlanta and all sorts of power is out and everything. So when they come back on Monday, it's, you know, windy and cold, and everybody's sort of settling in to sit down for another long day of trial. And the judge says, you know, this is before the defense has even given its side of the story. The judge says, I don't think the U.S. attorney's office has enough to go on. And so, sort of to the shock of absolutely everybody, the judge dismisses the case, and Jim is a free man.
- [07:54]
A
After the dismissal, Jim painted himself as the victim of prosecutorial overreach. Lita's parents, meanwhile, were furious with the decision. They felt a jury should have been allowed to decide Jim's fate. Other reactions were mixed.
- [08:10]
B
You know, there were conflicting views. Some people who were on the jury and interviewed later said that they believed that, yeah, they didn't really have enough. You know, they need to. In a case like that, you need to, beyond a shadow of a doubt, understand what happened. And nobody could really talk about that without the hit team and without, you know, really understanding what happened.
- [08:30]
A
That day, shortly after the federal case was dismissed, Lita's parents filed a civil suit against Jim in Palm Beach County. In a criminal case, jurors have to be certain of someone's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But in a civil case, the bar is lower. A jury only needs to believe it was more likely than not that the defendant did it. The worst they can face is a financial penalty, not prison time.
- [08:58]
B
So it's an incredible scene. Jim decides to fire all of his lawyers and represent himself, you know, to sort of say that he doesn't have enough money to pay for lawyers, but, you know, they believe it's sort of a ploy so that the jury will feel, you know, compassion for this poor guy who's know, has to stand up and speak for himself. But after that trial, the verdict, the jury decides that Jim is in fact guilty of wrongful death and is ordered to pay the McClinton family $4 million. It's a huge win for the McClintons, who do not want his money, but do not want him to continue to use his money to defend himself.
- [09:33]
A
And yet Jim managed to get out of this one, too. His lawyers appealed the verdict, arguing that Leda's family had missed Florida's two year deadline to file a wrongful death suit. Three years later, in 1997, the Florida Supreme Court agreed and reversed the verdict. Once again, Lita's parents found themselves back at square one. Feeling as if they'd run out of options, they decided to take their case to the media. In 1998, 11 years after Lita's murder, they gave an interview to the tabloid TV show Extra and made a public plea for information about the case. The federal case was dead, but in Georgia, there's no statute of limitations on murder. The fact that over a decade had passed made no difference. After the episode aired, dozens of tips rolled in. Most of them went nowhere. But one of them had legs. It came from a young woman named Belinda Trahan. Belinda was a receptionist at a small law firm in Beaumont, Texas, a blue collar refinery town outside Houston. Around the time the extra episode aired, Belinda had walked into her boss's office
- [10:47]
B
and told him, I got something I gotta tell you. Way back in 1987, my then boyfriend, a trucker named Tony Harwood, took money from a man who asked him to murder his wife back in Atlanta. And of course, her boss is like, wait, what? You know, what are you telling me? What is this crazy story? And Belinda sort of tells him, you know, that she had been living with Tony in North Carolina at the time. And he was a long haul trucker who did, you know, moving for people. And he moved some furniture for a wealthy white man and the guy asked him to, quote, take care of his estranged wife up in Atlanta.
- [11:30]
A
Belinda said that was all she knew, that a wealthy white guy had once tried to hire her ex boyfriend Tony to kill his wife. She'd broken up with Tony years before, but he'd recently started calling her again and wanted to talk. Belinda didn't know what to do, but she thought she ought to tell her side of the story.
- [11:51]
B
So her boss quickly tells her, you know, stop. Don't meet with him. Don't meet with this guy. Let me figure out what we're going to do here. He goes home and he says to his wife, you won't believe what Belinda told me today. And his wife, who was also an attorney, had seen the extra episode that had just come out and she said, this is the story.
- [12:10]
A
The next day, Belinda's boss called the authorities in Atlanta. The LEDA case was over 11 years old by this point and detectives didn't immediately recognize it. But supervisors with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation did, and they assigned one of their agents to the case. What that agent found would break the case wide open. Now that summer's almost here, all the polyester blends in my wardrobe go to the back of my closet. I need fabrics that breathe. And for that, my go to brand is Quint's. They have a great balance of elevated high quality basics that feel effortless but look high end, like their organic cotton fisherman sweater which I recently picked up online. It's that perfect cool summer night layer. You can also get their European linen shirts and pants starting at just $34, which is a steal considering they use the same premium materials as brands that charge double or triple that. And because they work directly with ethical factories, you're saving 50 to 80% by skipping the brand markup. They've even expanded into ceramic cookware and home decor so you can quince your entire life, elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.comonesouth for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Quincy for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com GoneSouth Sometimes historic events suck.
- [13:56]
C
But what shouldn't suck is learning about history. I do that through storytelling. History that Doesn't Suck is a chart topping history telling podcast chronicling the epic story of America decade by decade, from the 18th century to the 20th original music and immersive sound design accompany us on our storytelling journey. Listen to and follow history that doesn't suck. An Odyssey Podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [14:23]
D
Happy 250th birthday, America. I've decided to spend this semiquincentennial as our founding fathers would have wanted me to, checking out the furniture America's waited 250 years for at Bob's Discount Furniture. At Bob's, I know I can find everything from ultra comfy tower reclining sofas with genuine leather seats and stylish dining sets with convenient lift top storage to best selling bedrooms with over 700 five star reviews and a feature packed pop up sleeper sofa with built in shelving, charging storage and those signature Bob O Pedic seats. Because nothing is more American than a sofa that's a bed and a library and a closet. So if you want to join me in decking out your house with the finest affordable furniture this 4th of July, why not stop in or shop online at Bob's Discount Furniture, where America shops for furniture.
- [15:15]
E
May I ask you this? Do you have the capability of editing things that I say? Yes, because sometimes I use vulgarity.
- [15:28]
A
This is John Lang. He's a retired special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. At the time of Lita's murder, John was working narcotics and he wasn't too familiar with the case. But in 1998, a woman named Belinda Trahan told authorities that her ex boyfriend, a former truck driver named Tony Harwood, may have had something to do with it. So the GBI put John on the case. Soon John and his partner were flying to Beaumont, Texas to interview Belinda.
- [15:59]
E
What happened during the interview, quite interesting. You know, from my narcotics experience, I was used to recording just about everything that we did just to memorialize events. But she began explaining the series of events. And then I decided, I said, well, why don't we get you in touch with this Tony Harwood guy and record a conversation between you and Harwood. And so I can hear his voice and see what he says about this. And, and she agreed to that. She reached out to him and said, hey, you remember what you told me back when you were going to Atlanta for those trips? And you told me that you were going with a guy named John the bartender and somebody else to take care of this woman. And he goes, yeah, I remember that. She said, well, there was a TV show on and they're talking about that case and there's a likeness of you with these composites. That they have. So that really kind of stuck with Tony there, and it piqued his interest. And he said, well, I can't talk now or whatever. And he said, I'll call you back in a day or two.
- [17:04]
A
Tony eventually called back. When he did, John was in the room with Belinda listening in. He sat next to her and scribbled notes, coaching her on what questions to ask. While Tony didn't admit to killing Leda, John was convinced he was involved in some way. At this point, you might be wondering, why did Belinda Trahan wait 11 years to tell anyone that her ex boyfriend had admitted to being involved in a murder? According to John, there were two likely reasons for this. One was that when Tony first told her the story, Belinda thought he was lying. At the time, they'd been living in Albemarle, North Carolina, and she thought Tony had made up a crazy story about taking care of a black woman in Atlanta to cover for the fact that he and his buddies had spent a week blowing money at Atlanta strip clubs.
- [17:59]
E
She thought, and what she told us is she said, tony's going to Atlanta and going down there and going to these titty bars. That's the words that she used. And so she just kind of dismissed it, you know, him and his buddies going down there and hanging out. And I have no reason to believe that she knew. She'd never seen Tony with a gun or anything like that. She'd never met any of his associates that she knew of.
- [18:24]
A
The other possible reason Belinda dismissed Tony's story was that she wasn't in the best frame of mind back then.
- [18:31]
E
Without degrading Belinda's lifestyle. I guess I'm trying to choose my words here. She was doing a lot of drugs at the time and really wasn't up to day to day events.
- [18:44]
A
Regardless of why Belinda had failed to mention this story before, she was now fully cooperating. In addition to recording calls with Tony, she told special agent John Lang everything she knew about him at the time of the murder. For example, she said that Tony was working for a moving company called North American Van Lines in Greensboro, North Carolina, about an hour's drive from their house. She believed Tony had moved some furniture for Jim Sullivan when Jim proposed that he take care of his wife. So John called the office of North American Van Lines to see if Tony still worked there.
- [19:21]
E
I said, look, I'm a homicide investigator and I'm working on a case that happened a long time ago where one of your truck drivers may have witnessed something. And I made up a story about A traffic fatality, I think, to make him want to cooperate and not anything about a murder. And I said, did you have a guy named Tony Harwood working for you? He goes, yeah, yeah, I remember a guy named Tony Harwood. And I said, well, does he still work for you? And he said, no, he's no longer with us. And this is, you know, a lot of time had passed.
- [19:50]
A
John asked if they had any records confirming that Tony had worked there back in 1987, the year Lita was killed. The guy wasn't sure, but he said he had some boxes up in his attic that dated back to the 80s. He said John was welcome to look through them.
- [20:06]
E
So when I got up there, I told him, you know what the real scoop was about? Tony was being involved in a homicide investigation in Atlanta. He said, here, go up in the attic. And lo and behold, the first box that I went to was 1986 or whatever, and opened it up and went through about three folders, and there was a Jim Sullivan moving documents, and Tony Harwood was the driver. So I had Harwood's signature, and I had Sullivan's signature. I said, shit, this is real. This is the guy here.
- [20:38]
A
The moving documents revealed that Jim Sullivan had hired a company to move some furniture from his home in Macon, Georgia, to his new residence in Palm BEACH in late 1986, just months before Lita's death. Those documents, combined with the recorded phone calls, were enough to secure an arrest warrant for Tony Harwood. Tony, it turned out, was still living in Albemarle. With the blessing of local cops, John and his partner set up a small office at the Albemarle Police Department. John wasn't sure how Tony would react to his arrest or if he'd agree to talk, so John decorated their little office to make it look like they had more info on Tony than they actually did.
- [21:23]
E
So I got these file cabinets down there, and I printed up labels, I guess, and put them on the file cabinets, and I labeled them. Lita Sullivan, Homicide Task Force. And then I have another label put up on a file cabinet drawer, and it said, Tony Harwood. And, you know, I had all this stuff. It was all just. But it looked impressive if you came in there and you say, hey, holy. Look at all the stuff they've been doing on me.
- [21:48]
A
It turns out John didn't need the theatrics when he and his partner knocked on Tony's door to arrest him. Tony answered. Here's Deb Landau.
- [21:58]
B
Tony answers. It's early in the morning. He's about to go to church. She's living with his wife and her children. And he opens the door, stands in the doorway, and he says, I've been waiting for you boys for a long time.
- [22:10]
A
John brought Tony back to the police station for questioning. To John's surprise, he was willing to talk.
- [22:17]
B
Tony is a big brick of a guy. He's affable, though. He's friendly. He grew up kind of in a dirt patch in this part of North Carolina, had a grade nine education. At 17 years old, he was arrested for petty theft and burglary and spent seven years in jail. So, you know, he spent a good chunk of his formative years in prison. But he knows how to talk to people, and he really likes to be liked. It's important for him to be understood and liked. And so when he sits down with John Lang, an Atlanta police detective who's accompanied him, Tony's nervous. But he's like, I got this. You know, he's thinking, okay, like, I can talk my way out of this because I've spent my lifetime talking my way out of everything.
- [23:03]
A
In the interrogation, Tony admitted that Jim Sullivan had paid him $25,000 to take care of his estranged wife. He also confessed to orchestrating the hit, but he adamantly denied that he was the shooter. When John Lang asked who the shooter was, Tony said he wasn't sure. That was a long time ago, he said, and, you know, his memory wasn't what it used to be. John wasn't buying it.
- [23:29]
E
Tony Harwood's so full of shit that a little bit of truth goes a long way with this guy. He lied so damn much about this stuff. He said the guy had a ski mask on that he went down there with. And when they got the flowers and he drove around to the side of the building there, and the guy with the ski mask gets out and takes the flowers. And he said, I know what he's going to do. But I just sat there, I was driving the car, and I'm thinking to myself, well, who the fuck is going to get out of their car? And Buckhead, which is an affluent area of Atlanta, at 8 o' clock in the morning or whenever it was, 7:30 with a damn ski mask on and walk up down the street and then walk up to somebody's door without arousing some suspicion. So I knew that was just total bullshit.
- [24:15]
A
Still, Tony's confession represented the biggest break in the Leta McClinton case thus far. For the first time, the cops had someone who placed Jim Sullivan at the center of the murder conspiracy. But Jim had spent the last 11 years outrunning justice, and he wasn't about to stop now. When your day moves fast between getting everyone out the door, meal prepping, and trying to find a small moment for yourself, the products you use should make things easier, not harder. That's where Ello comes in. Ello makes thoughtfully designed water bottles, tumblers and glass food storage containers. Containers that fit right into your routine. Their water bottles are easy to refill, easy to carry, and leak proof so you can toss them in your bag without second guessing it. They're designed to keep up with your busy day and make staying hydrated feel a little more doable. And when it comes to leftovers or meal prepping, their glass food storage containers make it simple to save dinner for tomorrow. Or take meals on the go with secure lids that help keep everything, everything where it should be and not in the bottom of your bag. Visit eloproducts.com and use code TRYLO20 for 20% off your first purchase. That's e L L O P R O D U C T S.com code TRYLO20 as you may have noticed, I'm a narrative podcaster, not a fitness influencer, but as a man in my 40s who tries to stay in shape, I'm realizing I need more protein than I used to. I've experimented with a lot of different protein powder over the years, but the one I recommend most is Metabolic Power Protein by Verasity. Verasity is revolutionizing health by tackling the root cause of so many metabolism. This is a drug free, clinically proven and doctor formulated way to help your body use protein more effectively so you're building a stronger metabolic foundation. Every two scoops provides 20 grams of plant based protein without unnecessary sugars or toxins. The secret is an ingredient called Myovera which amplifies how your body uses protein. I started using the vanilla cinnamon flavor a couple weeks ago and it actually satisfies my midday cravings. Plus it's third party tested for heavy metals so you get the fuel without the baggage. So get the protein in your diet you need and satisfy your cravings the natural way with verasity. Head to VerasityHealth Co and use the code Gone south for up to 65% off your order. Once again, that's V E R A C I T Y Health Co for up to 65% off and make sure you use my promo code Gonesouth so they know I sent you. Not long after Tony Harwood was extradited back to Atlanta The Fulton County DA secured an arrest warrant for Jim Sullivan and charged him with felony murder. After more than a decade, it looked like Jim's days on the outside were finally numbered. The problem was Jim Sullivan wasn't in Atlanta. He wasn't even in Palm Beach. As investigators learned, he was most likely at another one of his homes in Costa Rica. So John and his partner were told to go find him.
- [27:55]
E
We were in Miami. We'd gotten our overnight passports. We had our photos done. Everything had the airline tickets. And Atlanta police called us back at the last minute, called back and said, no, we're not going to authorize you guys to go because something could happen to you down there. We don't know how far Sullivan's tentacles reach. We're going to pull you back.
- [28:18]
A
So John flew back to Atlanta. At this point, the fact that the DA had an arrest warrant for Jim had not been made public. And John says he warned the DA to keep it that way. Jim was a major flight risk and was already living in a foreign country. If he learned there was an arrest warrant out for him, he would almost certainly run. The DA's name was Paul Howard. John, put it this way, told Paul
- [28:44]
E
Howard, make sure that Sullivan's attorneys don't find out about this. Don't let Sullivan find out there's an arrest warrant for him. Well, what if Paul Howard do? He called his defense attorney and let him know that there was a warrant for him. And that's when Sullivan booked up and took off over to Panama. I mean, it was days, and he was gone. Calls a pilot and called somebody else, and he's gone.
- [29:10]
B
And what ensues after that is, you know, an international manhunt. They cannot find Jim. He vanishes, and nobody knows where he is.
- [29:19]
A
Lita's parents were aghast. Investigators had finally gathered enough information to arrest Jim, but the county's lead prosecutor had let him slip through their fingers. The FBI put Jim on their most wanted list. Interpol agents fanned out in search of him.
- [29:36]
B
They're looking for Jim. They can't find him. All over the world, tips are coming in, and they don't find any trace of him. They hear rumors that he might be in Thailand, but there's no evidence of him coming through the Thailand borders.
- [29:49]
A
Jim was profiled on America's Most Wanted. Unsolved Mysteries did an episode about him, but nothing happened. A year passed, then another, then two more. By 2002, Jim had been on the run for four years. During these years, John Lang befriended Leta's family and kept them abreast of the search for Jim.
- [30:13]
E
They lived not far from where I lived in Atlanta. So my son and I would go where I'd stop by their house, the McClintins, and she give my son. I don't know, he was six or seven years old. Give him a Coke and sit on the couch and talk about the case, about what was being done to facilitate his arrest.
- [30:29]
A
Then, just when it seemed like Jim might never be found, the feds got a tip. The caller lived in a fancy resort in the seaside town of Cha Am, Thailand. He'd seen a rerun of the America's Most Wanted episode and recognized Jim Sullivan's mugshot.
- [30:47]
B
And he's like, oh, my God, that guy lives in my building. They call the local police, and sure enough, Jim Sullivan has his name on the door. He's living in a resort community with another woman and is seemingly sort of oblivious to the fact that there's an international manhunt for him.
- [31:08]
A
The FBI told Thai authorities to place Jim and his girlfriend under surveillance while they secured the paperwork for his arrest. Two months later, the Thai police moved
- [31:19]
B
in, and they finally knock on his door July 2, 2002, and say, you're under the arrest for the murder of Leda McClinton. And he's like, what do you mean I'm under arrest? I didn't know there was a warrant out for my arrest.
- [31:34]
A
After his arrest, Jim was taken to a Thai prison to await extradition. Amnesty International had recently published a report detailing the horrific conditions inside Thai prisons. But apparently Jim preferred to stay there than face the music back in Atlanta.
- [31:52]
B
So he fights extradition, and it takes another two and a half years before finally, the US Marshals load him onto a plane and bring him back. And he lands at Hartsfield International Airport. And he is a shadow of his former self. He's wearing a mask. It's the time of sars. He's got a brutally infected tooth. He's wearing a single shoe because his gout is so bad.
- [32:18]
A
Another two years would pass before Jim finally stood trial in Atlanta for Leta's murder. By this time, Tony Harwood had finally admitted to being the gunman and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Jim was charged with five counts, including malice murder and felony murder. The state was seeking the death penalty. Once again, the city of Atlanta held its breath. Jim's first trial had taken place in federal court 14 years earlier. Back then, the prosecution's case depended largely on circumstantial evidence, including a phone call placed from an Atlanta area rest stop to Jim's house in Palm beach shortly after the murder. But the feds could never prove what was actually said on that call, and the judge dismissed the case. This time, prosecutors had something they didn't have before. The alleged hitman and his ex girlfriend, both of whom agreed to testify on the stand. Tony described how Jim had asked him to take care of his wife. He also admitted that he was the one who'd called Jim from that payphone to confirm the job was done.
- [33:29]
B
But Jim's defense team does a really good job of saying, you know, you had not enough in the 1992 trial, and now you've got Tony and Belinda, who never tell the same story twice, who were active drug users back in the time of the murder, and you're going to believe them. So for a while there, it's a little bit hairy, and the McClinton family is like, oh, my God, are we headed to this again? Is he going to get out of the noose again? But finally, it takes the jury just a few hours to deliberate, and the jury comes back and finds him guilty of murder and eventually saves him from the death penalty, but says that he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. So Jim today is almost 84 years old. He is still in prison in Georgia and will never, ever get out again.
- [34:26]
A
As I mentioned earlier, Deb Landau had originally covered the Leta McClinton story for Atlanta Magazine, but after years of interviews and research, she expanded it into a book called A Devil Went down to Georgia, which was published in 2024. Until then, Lita's story had existed mostly in fragments. A headline, a court filing, a segment on America's Most Wanted. The thread picked up, only to be dropped again.
- [34:55]
B
And so one of the things that I think is important about looking at stories like this again is that you can be the carrier of the thread that has been dropped again and again and again. And it gives you the opportunity to sort of put it all together and respectfully honor the life that was lost. And then in a way that you can look at it through the lens of what the things that we're reckoning with today in our culture, around race, around economic disparities, around relationships and power dynamics between men and women. I think it's important to look at historical sort of cases through new lenses so that we can better understand both what happened to them and better understand ourselves.
- [35:49]
A
If you have information, story tips, or feedback you'd like to share with the Gone south team, please Email us@gonesouthpodcastmail.com that's gone southpodcastmail.com for bonus content. You can follow us on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram at Gone south podcast. You can also sign up for our newsletter on substack at Gone south with Jed Lipinski Gone south is an Odyssey original podcast. It's created, written and narrated by me, Jed Lipinski. Our executive producers are Leah Rees Dennis, Maddie Sprung Keyser and Lloyd Lockridge. Our story editor is Katie Mingle. Gone south is edited, mixed and mastered by Chris Basel. Production support from Ian Mont and Sean Cherry. Special thanks to Maura Curran, Josefina Francis, Kurt Courtney and Hilary Shof. Thank you for listening to Gone south.
- [36:49]
F
At Lowe's. We're about to kick off something epic for fans who want more Messi. And trust us, you'll want to be a rewards member when it happens. Join for free and get access to Messi exclusives, surprises and more. Head to lowe's.com More message Now's the time to get in because members get more at Lowe's loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Visit lowe's.com terms for details. Subject to change.