"This is a great book about a great American hero. It was my privilege to portray Sheriff Lamar Potts in the movie Murder in Coweta County." -Johnny Cash "A thrilling experience for me." -Andy Griffith "One of the best crime trial recreations ever written." -Chicago Sun-Times Murder in Coweta County received the coveted Edgar Allan Poe Special Award as an outstanding fact-crime study by the Mystery Writers of America and has been used in sociology and criminal law courses at schools and universities throughout the United States. Filmed as a CBS television movie starring Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith in 1983, the story gained even more acclaim and is still available on video and DVD. This book is a detailed and chillingly realistic reconstruction of the brutal murder of tenant farmer Wilson Turner that took place in rural Georgia in 1948 and the brilliant investigation that eventually brought the murderer-a powerful county "lord"-to justice with a conviction that set legal precedents. When that county "lord," John Wallace, crushed Turner's skull with a sawed-off shotgun, he did not even give a passing thought to being prosecuted by the police in his "feudal kingdom" of Meriwether County. However, Wallace had unknowingly crossed the county line into Coweta County, which was under the jurisdiction of the tenacious Sheriff Lamar Potts. Sheriff Potts emerges from the incident as a classic American lawman, honest and unintimidated, a man of action and integrity determined to see justice done.

Over two centuries, Coweta County has been home to diverse residents who mastered the art of reinventing the county. Initially home to Creek-Muscogee Native Americans, subsequent settlers ushered in an era of plantations, slavery and textile manufacturing. By 1851, the new Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad increased traffic locally. The new railroad contributed to Newnan becoming a major healthcare hub during the Civil War, home to seven hospitals. Coweta County maintains its status as a major healthcare destination today, with the establishment of Cancer Treatment Centers of America's southeast regional hospital in Newnan. The county is now also known worldwide as the backdrop for major television productions like The Walking Dead and films like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Author and historian W. Jeff Bishop details Coweta County's history of transformation.

Excerpt from A History of Coweta County From 1825 to 1880 There is always some change in the history of every thing. If I mistake not, one of our lawyers was stricken from the bar. I will leave that to our legal friends to find out their erring brother. Two others ran away. I will not mention any names or the crimes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.