Introduction
In the small town of Alexander City, Alabama, a series of mysterious deaths rocked the African American community in the 1970s. At the center of these deaths was Reverend Willie Maxwell, a local preacher who seemed to have an uncanny ability to profit from the demise of those close to him. As the body count rose and suspicions grew, the case caught the attention of one of America's most beloved authors - Harper Lee, the reclusive writer of "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Casey Cep's "Furious Hours" unravels the fascinating true story of Reverend Maxwell's alleged crimes, his eventual murder, and Harper Lee's attempt to write her own true-crime masterpiece about the case. This gripping narrative explores themes of justice, race, and the challenges of writing, offering readers a glimpse into a little-known chapter of literary history and a perplexing series of deaths that captivated a community.
The Mysterious Deaths Begin
The story begins in 1970 when people close to William Maxwell started dying under suspicious circumstances. Maxwell, an African American veteran of World War II and Baptist preacher, lived in Nixburg, Alabama with his wife of 21 years, Mary Lou. Despite his religious position, Maxwell had a reputation for infidelity, which added to the intrigue surrounding the events that would unfold.
On August 3, 1970, tragedy struck. According to the couple's neighbor, Dorcas Anderson, Mary Lou received a late-night phone call from Maxwell claiming he had crashed his car and needed her to pick him up. Concerned for her husband, Mary Lou rushed out to find him after informing Dorcas of the situation.
The next morning, Mary Lou's bruised and bloody body was discovered inside her car on a lonely stretch of highway. She had been viciously beaten to death. Given Dorcas's account of the previous night's events, the police immediately suspected Maxwell of Mary Lou's murder.
Maxwell, however, had a different version of events. He claimed that Mary Lou had gone out that evening to visit her sister and must have encountered trouble on her way home. The police were skeptical of Maxwell's story, and on August 6, 1971, a grand jury indicted him for Mary Lou's murder.
A Shocking Turn of Events
The trial for Mary Lou's murder took an unexpected turn when Dorcas Anderson, the key witness for the prosecution, dramatically changed her story on the stand. In a shocking reversal, Dorcas claimed that she had been mistaken about the events of that fateful night. She now stated that Mary Lou had not received a phone call from Maxwell and that she had seen Maxwell arrive home much earlier in the evening, providing him with an alibi.
This sudden change in testimony dealt a devastating blow to the prosecution's case. Without their star witness, the state's argument fell apart. The jury found Maxwell not guilty, and he walked out of the courtroom a free man.
The community was left stunned by this turn of events, but an even more surprising development was yet to come. Just 16 weeks after his acquittal, Maxwell married his next-door neighbor, Dorcas Anderson - the very woman whose testimony had secured his freedom.
This swift remarriage raised eyebrows and fueled gossip throughout the local community. People couldn't help but wonder about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Mary Lou's death and the convenient timing of Maxwell's new marriage to the key witness in his trial.
Adding to the intrigue was the fact that Dorcas had been married to someone else until a few months before her marriage to Maxwell. Her previous husband, Abram, had suffered from a motor neuron disease and was confined to a wheelchair. While Abram's death from pneumonia wasn't entirely unexpected, the timing raised suspicions. Doctors had predicted he would live for another two to three years, and some in the community speculated that Maxwell might have had a hand in hastening Abram's demise.
As the newlyweds began their life together, they did so under a cloud of suspicion and whispered accusations. Little did anyone know that this was just the beginning of a series of tragic events that would continue to unfold over the coming years.
A Pattern Emerges
In the years following his second marriage, William Maxwell's extraordinary streak of bad luck continued, leaving a trail of deaths in his wake. Each incident added to the growing suspicions surrounding the preacher, but hard evidence remained elusive.
In early 1972, less than three months after marrying Dorcas, Maxwell received a call from the county sheriff's office. His older brother, John, had been arrested for drunk driving and needed Maxwell to bail him out. Maxwell paid the bail and promised that John would attend his court hearing in February.
However, John Maxwell never made it to his day in court. In a chilling echo of Mary Lou's death, John's body was found by the side of the road just one day before his scheduled hearing. The autopsy revealed a massive amount of alcohol in his blood, and his death was officially attributed to a heart attack brought on by excessive drinking.
Once again, the local community harbored suspicions about Maxwell's involvement. Some speculated that he might have forced his brother to drink excessively or used the alcohol to mask the presence of another, undetectable poison. Despite these rumors, the police had no concrete evidence of foul play, and no charges were brought against anyone for John Maxwell's death.
Tragically, the failure to take action would have fatal consequences for Dorcas, Maxwell's second wife. Just eight months after the death of her brother-in-law, Dorcas herself was found dead on the side of the road. Passersby discovered her lying face down in her car, which appeared to have suffered only minor damage.
The circumstances of Dorcas's death baffled law enforcement and medical examiners. There were no obvious wounds on her body, and the car showed no signs of a serious accident. When an autopsy was performed, pathologists struggled to determine the cause of death. They found no alcohol or poisons in her blood and no conclusive evidence of violence.
Reluctantly, and to the frustration of the police and local community, Dorcas's death was eventually attributed to natural causes. Once again, no charges were brought against Maxwell, who had now lost two wives, one brother, and one next-door neighbor in the span of just two years.
As with his previous loss, Maxwell's grief over his spouse appeared short-lived. Within months, he had married again, this time to a woman named Ophelia Burns. After the wedding, Maxwell moved in with Ophelia and her adopted 16-year-old daughter, Shirley Ann Ellington.
The Body Count Rises
The string of deaths associated with William Maxwell continued to grow throughout the 1970s. In February 1976, Maxwell's cousin James Hicks became another victim, found dead in a car under suspicious circumstances.
But it was the death of Shirley Ann Ellington in June 1977 that would prove to be a turning point. The 16-year-old adopted daughter of Maxwell's third wife, Ophelia, was found dead by the side of the highway. Her body was discovered underneath her car, apparently crushed to death as she attempted to change a flat tire.
As the body count increased, so did William Maxwell's bank balance. In a disturbing twist, it was revealed that Reverend Maxwell held several life insurance policies on each of the people who had died. This financial aspect added a new layer of suspicion to the already mysterious circumstances surrounding these deaths.
Maxwell's first payday came just weeks after the death of his first wife, Mary Lou. He wrote to ten insurance companies with whom he held policies on his wife, requesting payouts. Notably, he failed to mention that he was a suspect in her murder at the time.
Despite the cloud of suspicion hanging over him, Maxwell managed to collect nearly $100,000 in life insurance in the months following Mary Lou's death. Some insurance companies initially refused to pay while he was still under investigation, but Maxwell and his lawyer, Tom Radney, simply waited until he was found innocent before pursuing these claims. Eventually, Maxwell won nearly all his cases.
Thanks to the skills and determination of his lawyer, Maxwell was successful in making hundreds of thousands of dollars from the deaths of his alleged victims. This financial windfall did not go unnoticed by the community, further fueling suspicions about his involvement in the deaths.
Interestingly, despite his growing fortune, Maxwell didn't use the money to pay off his considerable debts to various individuals and businesses throughout the state. He also continued to work several jobs over the decade when he was amassing life insurance money. This behavior puzzled many who knew him, as it seemed at odds with someone who had suddenly come into a large sum of money.
As the years went by, most people who knew Maxwell became convinced of two things: he was profiting from the deaths of innocent people, and anyone in town could potentially be his next victim. The community lived in fear, wondering who might be next on Maxwell's list.
However, after the death of Shirley Ann Ellington, one man decided that enough was enough. The stage was set for a confrontation that would bring the reign of the alleged serial killer to a dramatic end.
A Public Execution
The funeral of Shirley Ann Ellington marked a turning point in the community's response to the string of deaths associated with William Maxwell. On the day of the service, the local church was packed with mourners paying their respects to the teenager. Among them was Robert Burns, Shirley Ann's adopted uncle, who carried a concealed gun in the pocket of his mourning suit.
As the funeral progressed and mourners filed past the open casket, the atmosphere in the church became charged with emotion. Shirley's sister, Louvinia, overcome with grief and anger, suddenly screamed across the church, accusing Maxwell of killing her sister and declaring that he would pay for what he had done.
Her words had an electrifying effect on Robert Burns, who was seated in the pew directly in front of Maxwell and his wife, Ophelia. In a moment of raw emotion and vigilante justice, Burns turned around in his seat, pulled out his gun, and fired three bullets into Maxwell's skull, killing him instantly.
The shooting, witnessed by approximately 300 people, caused panic and a stampede from the church. In the chaos that followed, Burns was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The community, which had lived in fear of Maxwell for years, was stunned by this sudden and violent end to his alleged reign of terror.
In a twist that added another layer of complexity to the case, Burns chose Tom Radney as his defense attorney - the same lawyer who had defended William Maxwell during his trial for Mary Lou's murder and had assisted Maxwell in pursuing life insurance payouts for years.
Radney's defense strategy was as audacious as it was unusual. He argued that Burns had suffered from temporary insanity when he shot Maxwell and thus couldn't be held responsible for his actions. The crux of Radney's argument was that Burns had been driven insane by William Maxwell's voodoo preaching.
This line of reasoning, while seemingly far-fetched, was not entirely without basis in the local context. Since the death of Mary Lou, rumors had circulated in the community that Maxwell could kill his victims without a trace and continually evade justice because he practiced voodoo. It was said that he kept the police away from his house by painting his doorstep with blood and that he could cast spells on people if they made the mistake of looking directly into his eyes.
Radney argued that the jury should understand how someone as allegedly diabolical as William Maxwell could have tested Burns's sanity and driven him to commit homicide. This unusual defense strategy set the stage for one of the most remarkable trials in Alabama's history.
But perhaps the strangest aspect of the trial was the presence of one of the world's most famous authors in the courtroom, silently observing the proceedings. Harper Lee, the reclusive writer of "To Kill a Mockingbird," had found her way to this small Alabama courthouse, drawn by a story that seemed stranger than fiction.
Harper Lee's Struggle
As the trial of Robert Burns unfolded, few in the courtroom realized that one of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century was sitting among them. Harper Lee, whose novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" had become a literary phenomenon, was there to witness the proceedings. But unlike 17 years earlier, when her book topped bestseller charts around the world, not a single reporter recognized her that day.
The reason for Lee's anonymity speaks to the curious trajectory of her career after the monumental success of her debut novel. Despite selling over a million copies of "To Kill a Mockingbird" each year and its enduring popularity, the world had barely heard from Harper Lee in the intervening years.
Lee's journey to literary stardom had been anything but straightforward. In her early 20s, she had dropped out of law school in Alabama and moved to New York to pursue a writing career. However, by the time she reached 30, success still eluded her. Instead of writing, Lee found herself working in administration for an airline to make ends meet.
A turning point came in December 1956 when her friends Michael and Joy Brown gave Lee an extraordinary Christmas present - enough money for her to quit her job and focus on writing for a full year. This act of generosity proved to be a catalyst for one of the most beloved novels in American literature.
Four years later, "To Kill a Mockingbird" was released to widespread critical acclaim. The novel's unflinching depiction of racial discrimination in the American South, coupled with its heroic portrayal of small-town lawyer Atticus Finch, who defends an African American man falsely accused of raping a white woman, struck a chord with readers across the nation. Here was a book that dared to confront the ugly truth about the country's racism while offering a vision of a more noble future through the character of Atticus Finch.
Naturally, after the runaway success of "To Kill a Mockingbird," the world eagerly anticipated Lee's next work. However, the years following the novel's publication brought a series of setbacks for the author. In 1962, Lee lost her father to a heart attack, a loss that deeply affected her. In the following years, it became an open secret that she struggled with alcoholism.
But perhaps the most significant obstacle Lee faced was her own perfectionism. Convinced that her next project needed to surpass the phenomenal success of "Mockingbird," Lee found herself paralyzed by the pressure to produce another masterpiece. Over the next two decades, rumors circulated that she was continually discarding manuscripts, living a reclusive life, and finding solace in alcohol.
By the mid-1970s, Harper Lee had largely fallen off the literary map. The world wondered what had become of the brilliant author who had captured the hearts and minds of millions with her debut novel. Little did they know that Lee was about to embark on a new literary journey, one that would bring her to that courtroom in Alabama, silently observing the trial of Robert Burns.
A New Direction for Lee
In 1977, after years of struggling to produce a follow-up to "To Kill a Mockingbird," inspiration finally struck Harper Lee. However, unlike her celebrated novel, this new project would be a work of non-fiction. Lee had become captivated by the true-crime story of William Maxwell, his alleged victims, and the man who killed him.
That summer, Lee left New York and returned to Alabama to research the mysterious case of the murderous voodoo preacher who was killed at his victim's funeral. This wasn't Lee's first foray into the world of true crime writing. In fact, she had played a crucial role in the creation of one of the most famous true crime books of all time - Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood."
Lee and Capote were close childhood friends, and their paths had crossed again in adulthood as they both pursued writing careers. Capote had achieved literary success first with his celebrated novels "Other Voices, Other Rooms" and "The Grass Harp." When he turned his attention to non-fiction with the story of the Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kansas, he enlisted Lee's help.
At the time, Lee had just submitted her final draft of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and was anxiously awaiting its publication. To distract herself from the anticipation, she accepted Capote's offer to assist him with his research in Kansas. Lee threw herself into the work, interviewing everyone connected to the Clutter family and compiling over 150 pages of detailed, insightful research into the case.
However, when "In Cold Blood" was finally published, Lee was surprised to find that Capote had taken significant liberties with the facts. Whole conversations had been invented, and details about the family, their murder, and the subsequent investigation had been manipulated to create a more compelling narrative.
Although Lee was too loyal to her old friend to publicly dispute his version of events, she privately disagreed with Capote's approach to crime writing. She believed that true crime stories could be both compelling and accurate without resorting to embellishment or fabrication.
In 1977, Lee saw an opportunity to prove this point. After a chance meeting with Tom Radney, the lawyer who had represented both William Maxwell and Robert Burns, Lee learned about the strange series of events unfolding in Alabama. Intrigued by the story and seeing a chance to flex her long-unused writing muscles, Lee decided to pursue her own true crime project.
This decision marked a new chapter in Lee's career. After years of struggling with the pressure to produce another work of fiction that could match the success of "To Kill a Mockingbird," she had found a different path. The true story of William Maxwell, with its elements of murder, voodoo, and small-town justice, seemed to offer the perfect material for Lee to craft a compelling narrative while staying true to the facts.
Lee's approach to the Maxwell case was meticulous. She spent months in Alabama, conducting interviews, poring over court documents, and immersing herself in the community where these events had taken place. Unlike Capote, who had relied heavily on Lee's research for "In Cold Blood," she was determined to do all the legwork herself for this project.
As she delved deeper into the case, Lee became fascinated by the complexities of the story. The multiple deaths, the allegations of voodoo, the insurance fraud, and the eventual vigilante justice all combined to create a narrative that was as compelling as any work of fiction. Yet Lee was committed to telling the true story, with all its ambiguities and unanswered questions.
For Lee, this project represented more than just an opportunity to write again. It was a chance to reclaim her voice as an author and to prove that she was capable of producing work beyond "To Kill a Mockingbird." The Maxwell case, with its themes of justice, race, and the complexities of small-town life, seemed to resonate with the issues she had explored in her novel.
As Lee worked on her research and began to shape her narrative, the literary world buzzed with anticipation. Would this be the long-awaited second book from Harper Lee? Could she translate her skill for fiction into the true crime genre? The stage was set for what many hoped would be a triumphant return for one of America's most beloved authors.
The Verdict and Its Aftermath
On that hot September afternoon in 1977, as Harper Lee sat in the courtroom, the jury returned with their verdict in the murder trial of Robert Burns. To the shock of many, Burns was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. This stunning defeat for the prosecution, who had been certain of a conviction given the 300 eyewitnesses to the shooting, sent ripples through the community.
Burns walked out of the courtroom a free man, much to the delight of many locals who viewed him as a hero for ending Maxwell's alleged reign of terror. The verdict also represented a significant triumph for Tom Radney, the lawyer whose unconventional defense strategy had proven successful.
For Harper Lee, witnessing this verdict firsthand provided a dramatic conclusion to the story she had been researching. It seemed to offer the perfect ending to her true crime narrative - a tale of alleged serial killings, voodoo, and vigilante justice that had captivated a small Alabama town.
However, despite five long years of meticulous research and the wealth of material at her disposal, Lee never completed her account of the case. The book that many in the literary world had been eagerly anticipating never materialized. The reasons for this are complex and multifaceted.
One significant challenge Lee faced was the difficulty in finding concrete facts about the lives and deaths of Maxwell's alleged victims, as well as about Maxwell himself. This scarcity of information was partly due to the fact that all the key players in the case were African American. In the 1970s, white authorities often showed little interest in accurately recording the lives and deaths of black Americans, leaving Lee to rely heavily on the accounts of friends, relatives, and acquaintances of those involved.
This approach, however, presented its own set of problems. Many of the people Lee interviewed still believed that Maxwell had killed his victims using voodoo magic. Given Lee's disapproval of Capote's distortion of facts in "In Cold Blood," she was reluctant to include these supernatural elements in what was supposed to be a factual account.
Lee found herself caught between her commitment to telling the truth and the challenge of crafting a compelling narrative from a set of facts that were often elusive or contradictory. The very elements that made the story so fascinating - the allegations of voodoo, the mysterious deaths, the whispered suspicions - also made it difficult to pin down in a factual, journalistic manner.
Moreover, Lee may have struggled with the ethical implications of telling this story. Unlike the Clutter murders that Capote had written about, many of the people involved in the Maxwell case were still alive. Lee, known for her integrity and respect for privacy, might have grappled with the potential impact her book could have on the lives of those involved.
As the years passed, Lee's project remained unfinished. In 1987, she wrote to a fellow author expressing her frustrations with the challenges of writing this true crime story. The letter hinted at the difficulties she faced in reconciling the factual requirements of non-fiction with the more sensational elements of the case.
Sadly, Lee's second book never materialized, and the extraordinary true crime story of William Maxwell remained largely untold until now. Lee herself passed away in 2016 at the age of 89, taking with her the full story of why she never completed this project.
In the final years of her life, another book by Lee, "Go Set a Watchman," was published. However, this work was actually a previously unpublished manuscript that she had written in 1957, before penning "To Kill a Mockingbird." While it provided readers with another glimpse of Lee's writing, it did not represent the true crime book she had labored over for so many years.
The story of Harper Lee's unfinished true crime book adds another layer of intrigue to the already fascinating case of William Maxwell. It serves as a reminder of the challenges faced by writers, particularly when dealing with complex, real-life events. It also raises questions about the nature of truth in storytelling and the responsibilities of authors when dealing with real people and events.
In the end, the reasons why this literary genius never wrote another book after "To Kill a Mockingbird" remain a mystery, much like many aspects of the Maxwell case itself. The unfinished manuscript stands as a testament to Lee's enduring fascination with issues of justice and morality, themes that had defined her seminal work and continued to captivate her throughout her life.
Final Thoughts
"Furious Hours" by Casey Cep unravels a complex web of events that captivated a small Alabama community and drew the attention of one of America's most enigmatic authors. The story of Reverend Willie Maxwell, the deaths that surrounded him, and Harper Lee's attempt to chronicle these events offers a fascinating glimpse into a little-known chapter of literary history and a perplexing series of alleged crimes.
The book highlights several key themes:
The challenges of seeking justice in a system plagued by racial inequalities and small-town politics.
The power of suspicion and rumor in shaping community perceptions, especially when combined with elements of the supernatural.
The ethical dilemmas faced by writers when dealing with true crime stories, particularly the balance between factual accuracy and narrative compelling.
The pressures of success and the impact it can have on creativity, as exemplified by Harper Lee's struggles to produce a second book.
The complexities of human nature, as seen in the actions of William Maxwell, Robert Burns, and even Harper Lee herself.
Cep's work not only sheds light on a series of mysterious deaths but also provides insight into the creative process and the challenges faced by writers. It serves as a reminder that truth can often be stranger than fiction and that the lines between justice, vengeance, and morality can become blurred in the face of extraordinary circumstances.
The story of William Maxwell and Harper Lee's unfinished book leaves us with many unanswered questions. It invites readers to reflect on the nature of truth, the power of storytelling, and the enduring impact of works like "To Kill a Mockingbird." In the end, "Furious Hours" is not just a true crime narrative or a literary biography, but a complex exploration of human nature, justice, and the elusive nature of truth itself.