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Charlie Lawson placed pillows under the heads of his victims after they were killed.Behind every "true crime" story explored in a Netflix documentary, Dateline episode or podcast are countless hours spent by local journalists committed to uncovering the truth.īefore and after a national publication or a production company swoops in, we are doing our job to provide the depth required to understand the full story of what happened and what it means for our communities.įor us, true crime isn't a genre, and we certainly don't talk about it that way it's the result of the work that our experienced journalists do every day to cover crime, corruption, and hold our institutions accountable. This is the inside of the Lawson Family home, left as it was when the family was found.Notice the chicken wire erected around the home to keep gawkers from stealing pieces of the home. The Lawson Family home after the murders, 1930.
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The guns believed to have been used by Charlie Lawson.Notice the tourist signs one marking the spot where Charlie killed his daughter’s and the other directing tourist to the place where Charlie committed suicide.
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After shooting Carrie and Mae Bell he dragged their bodies into this tobacco barn and placed rocks underneath their heads.
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“As humans, we have natural inclination to be interested in a murder or mystery, we have all these mystery TV shows and movies but this isn’t a movie, this is real life.” “There are some that say let it die, let it rest,” Berrier said. ”īut even without a family connection the mystery and questions surrounding the tragedy have kept the story from dying for all these years. “I had two great-grandmothers, one that was in the same class as Marie. “I’ve had family around this story as long as I can remember,” he said. His great-great-great-grandfather was a member of the junior order and helped lay the family to rest. “I started gathering information and I guess it progressed into the modern age,” said Kyle Berrier, a local historian who started a Facebook group about the Lawson family. Thanks to the internet, the number of people talking about it continues to grow. “I don’t really connect with the murders it’s more of how it became a local lore.” “Most ask, ‘What’s wrong with you?’” laughed Greene. Greene admits collecting things associated with such a tragedy draws some questions from his friends. “There is not that much stuff out there and to have it and to be able to hold it and say I’m preserving it is important to me,” Greene said. Marion Lawson sold souvenir pamphlets and photographs of the crime scene. “I came across the two souvenir pieces that were sold at the home.”Īfter Lawson murdered his family, interest in the story started drawing the curious to the farm and crime scene, so Charlie’s brother started charging admission. “I saw it and thought it was tragic, but it was also interesting especially that it became a tourist attraction,” said Aaron Greene, who stumbled across the story because of his interest in local history. Ever since Charlie Lawson killed six members of his family and himself on Christmas Day, 1929, people have been drawn to the story. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.