Our Anthony episode– and his rebound trip to Las Vegas – was a perfectly adequate excuse for Salina to talk about the Dixie Mafia. Confused? OK, stay with us. When people think about Vegas, they think about the mafia. But what if we told you there was a Southern mafia? The Dixie Mafia. AKA the Southern mob, AKA the Cornbread Cosa Nostra.
Join us as we shed some light on their origins AND some of the most interesting figures and cases in their sordid history.
Come on y’all, let’s get into it!
Podcast recommendations as promised:
In the Red Clay – Seasons 1 and 2 for more about Billy Sunday Birt and his son
Gone South – Season 2 for more on Kirksey Nix, the Lonely Hearts scam, and the Sherry Murders in Biloxi
Southern Fried Crime – Episode 91 about the Sherry Murders and 194 about the Dixie Mafia generally
Other segment sources and interesting tidbits:
Uncovering secrets of the Georgia-based Dixie Mafia's criminal past | USA TODAY
These podcasts, movies and books relive the Dixie Mafia’s reign on the Gulf Coast
Triple murder solved after 50 years with clue from suspect's son, authorities say - ABC News
Remembrance celebration set for Sheriff Earl Lee | | douglascountysentinel.com
Charles Roberts - National Registry of Exonerations Pre 1989
Dixie Mafia boss who ordered murder of judge, wife, and possibly Buford Pusser’s shooting, seeks prison release - al.com
The Life and Crimes of the Dixie Mafia | Esquire | SEPTEMBER 1991
The Dixie Mafia’s Plot to Kill Martin Luther King Jr. ‹ CrimeReads
Or listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music.
Transcript
Extra Sugar is a weekly podcast from Sweet TNTV
Foreign. Hey, Nikki.
Hey, Salina.
Hey, y'all. and welcome to this week's Extra Sugar. So, earlier this week, we released our Anthony episode, and his rebound trip to Las Vegas was a perfectly adequate excuse to talk about something I've been eyeing for over a year now. And as you know, Nikki, all I need is a perfectly adequate excuse.
Just thinking, whatever it takes to get you there.
Just the loosest string from one thing to the next. And this is pretty loosey goosey, but stay with us.
I think you just described our podcast Loosest String from one thing to the Next.
And just stay with us.
You know, that should be our tagline, Sweet TNTV podcast. Just stay with us.
Just stay with us. Stay around so you can hit hear. Salina hit things at random during the episode, because she will. She will do it anyway.
Today we're going to talk about the Dixie Mafia
So, yes, Lucy Goosey, but it's hard to not think of the Mafia when you think of Vegas. So today I want to talk about the Mafia, but I don't want to talk about the Italian Mafia. I mean, I do.
She's waiting for that loose thread.
I do. Yeah. It's just not Southern enough. So what we're going to do instead is we're going to talk about the Dixie Mafia, AKA the Southern mob, AKA the Cornbread Cosa Nostra, which is my favorite version, by the way.
How much do you feel like you know about the Dixie Mafia
And, Nikki, to get us started, just curiously, how much do you feel like you know about the Dixie Mafia?
If anything, I wish so much I could be like, I actually read a biography of this group of people. I know nothing.
I don't want you to do that. That's terrible. I know.
It'd just be fun for me because you just played the game, just put.
You on the spot. And that was the extra sugar. Let's grill Nikki for how much she knows. And then it'd be like, all right, that's this week's Extra Sugar.
That sounds like a good time for no one.
let's not make that our tagline. Okay?
Sweet. TMT podcast.
Trying to do this full time. Trying to get paid. Anyways, so I know that I've heard of them, but maybe more so in recent years. They're part of storylines and shows like Justified and the Righteous Gemstones. and then semi recently, I was actually talking to my dad, and he used to be a police officer south of Atlanta in Henry and Clayton counties. And in the mid to late 80s, he told me that he had a few run ins with the Dixie Mafia, including, if I'm remembering this correctly, he, like, arrested A couple of people who then became unrest and then. And then maybe he got in trouble for arresting them. So I, I don't remember if which of those two counties it was, but here's something I can tell you.
Do you want to go ahead and say your dad's name and where he's located now, just in case anyone's listening?
I don't. Yeah, it's going to be boring.
Extra sugar.
Sorry about that. so here's his address. Anyways, so I thought the extra sugar.
Was going to be us watching the Mafia bust.
Your dad all right? Or me. So whatever. it's probably fine these days. Don't worry about it. what I can tell you though, having grown up in the area for about 40 years, there wasn't a Stockbridge police force, which is part of Henry county, and I'm pretty sure that's because of corruption. So just throwing some stuff out there.
This episode sheds some light on who the Dixie Mafia is or was
Here's what I'd like to do today. So I'd like to shed some light on who the Dixie Mafia is or was and their origins. And then I'd like to talk about some of the most interesting figures and cases that I've run across in this group's sordid history. Nikki for you. For listeners, please consider this more of a taster. I'm operating on secondary research, but there are several books, podcasts, and even one or two documentaries out there. I'll kindly ask Nikki to link to some of my favorites for those who want to explore further. I definitely recommend that you do. I've had some really good lessons in preparation for this episode. Hopefully this will be a good listen for you. because we're talking about a criminal enterprise. The roots of the Dixie Mafia are a little spotty at best. In fact, some people, these people are usually behind bars. say it's not even real. It was a concept invented by law enforcement. But others might tell you that this loose knit group of criminals got their start in bootlegging. Something that we briefly covered back in season four when we talked about Southern ties to Prohibition. Depending on the place and circumstance, they didn't stop at bootlegging. Rather, they were into everything from gambling rings and heists to extortion and murder. Quite a bit of murder, honestly. And like any good business, theirs was varied. It's important to diversify. As you well know, Nikki. And, as the host of Southern Fried True Crime putted. Excuse me, as she put it, there were, quote, corrupt businessmen, racketeers, extortionists, money launderers, Contract killers, bank robbers, bootleggers, petty thieves, pimps, and drug distributors all coming together towards a common, if nefarious, goal. Their heyday lasted from the early 60s until the late 1980s, though their activities were bubbling up far earlier than that. And I would add that in everything I've listened to and read, there was, an alarming amount of law enforcement with ties to the Dixie Mafia as well. I think one of the more egregious examples was in 1983, when federal authorities designated the entire Harrison County Sheriff's Office as a criminal enterprise. This is in Biloxi, Mississippi, so.
Oh, that tracks.
Oops. Yeah, Biloxi is where the Dixie Mafia took root and was considered home base, though there were operations in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, our home state of Georgia, other parts of Mississippi and Alabama, particularly around the cities of Birmingham, Baton Rouge, Hattiesburg, Corinth, Dallas and Atlanta. They also like to infiltrate smaller communities for crimes because it was harder to get caught in those smaller communities. So they were really quite the.
They had tentacles.
There you go. A lot of tentacles.
For the record, I said that tracks for Biloxi only because of the gambling ties. not because Biloxi is, like, a terrible place or anything. I don't know.
Oh, I. I think we know exactly how you feel, Nikki.
I know. I just want. For the Biloxians out there, Volusians. I just wanted to know. It's just your casinos that raise my eyebrows.
I think you've made your feelings clear. it's important to also say that they're not like Italian Mafia. Okay. they weren't connected by family or country of origin. And while some bigger names emerged, there wasn't, like a true figurehead. If you had the money, then, you had the power. Now, I would argue that was also the case for the Italian Mafia, but it's a little bit more complex. I think individuals might have a code, but there wasn't, like, a Dixie Mafia code. They. There was only one rule. Thou shalt not snitch to the cops. It's funny. Also my rule.
I thought it was going to be get caught, but that works, too. and maybe they would have been more successful if they had gone with don't get caught.
Maybe. But let me tell you something. If you did snitch, God help you. So all the stitches, you know what happens. So they certainly weren't afraid to go after law enforcement and others who stood in their way and sometimes in the most brutal fashion. So hopefully this gives you a feel for the kind of folks we're talking about here. Any questions before we move along?
No, I wouldn't ask him if I did have them. I need plausible deniability.
She's not trying to get kids.
I can't know any of these things. I tried to know where your dad was just so we could get a little show going, but that was a no go with you.
Oh. Gotta protect dad. So, okay, like I said, I've pulled some major Dixie Mafia figures, and along the way, we'll also talk about some of the lawmen they cross paths with. And I pass path with, and I do mean men.
Kirksey McCord Nix was convicted of murdering a supermarket executive in 1967
So first up, we have Kirksey McCord Nix. Nix is an Oklahoman from an, affluent family. His father was a judge on the Oklahoma Court of Appeals, and before that, he served in the House of Representatives and the state senate. And his mother was one of the first women in the state to practice law. Law. Nix's parents did divorce when he was really young, and his mom remarried a wealthy oil man. And through this remarriage, his new uncle was a US Senator. I think this really distinguishes him from a lot of the Dixie Mafia members that I read about, because he came from money, he had connections, and he had a lot of opportunities. He was a boss or a kingpin, pulling strings from behind bars in Louisiana State Penitentiary, AKA Angola, AKA Alcatraz of the South, AKA the Angola Plantation, AKA the Farm. So, just in case you needed to know all of that, it's like a lot of nicknames.
Southerners are storytellers. We just.
We just have give ourselves a narrative. I know Alcatraz. Southern Alcatraz. So his reach went far beyond prison and that of Louisiana. The crime that took him down. The murder of Frank Corso, a New Orleans grocery executive. He received a life sentence without parole in 1972. I'm gonna pause for questions or thoughts, not that you have to have any.
But why does one go after a grocery executive?
I'm just gonna guess. Money.
Big grocery.
Grocery. There is money in grocery.
I mean, eggs. Come on.
okay, so Nix's criminal career intersects with perhaps one of the most famous sheriffs in American history, Buford Pusser. So not the best. I know it's really hard to get through the name. You know what I'm saying? But Pusser is less well known to people maybe our age and younger. Really, really young people like you and I. Nikki. Can't get over the last name. Anyways, for our grandparents, however, this is, like, basically a celebrity for people their age and even people our parents age, like my Parents definitely know who this person is. Elder Millennials and the Rock fans may recall a, 2003 version in the movie Walking Tall. This is actually a remake of the 1973 movie about Pusser's life. And I am really sorry for all the times I'm about to say his name to try and hold it together. Okay, can you just call him Buford?
Wasn't his first name, like, why don't we.
I can call him Buford.
Thank you.
Well, I was trying to go with the reporter's attack. Let's call him Buford.
That's works way better in writing than it does verbally.
Okay. Well, Buford was the sheriff of McNary County, Tennessee, from 1964 to 1970. And then he was a constable in Adamsville from 1970 to 1972. And he is, quote, known for his virtual one man war on moonshining, prostitution, gambling, and other vices along the Mississippi Tennessee state line. So you can see how his war on crime likely ruffled the feathers of some criminals nearby. On August 12, 1967, this is what really makes him famous. He responded to a disturbance on New Hope Road with his wife Pauline in tower. I don't really understand why. I just feel like a terrible idea. I don't know if we're in the 60s of things or why that would happen, but it happened.
Maybe Pauline was buff. She was a sturdy woman.
Well, a car came up on them and opened fire, killing Pauline and severely injuring Buford. So they basically shot part of his jaw off. And he was in the hospital for 18 days after. And he had several surgeries to restore his face. You might be asking yourself, or even if you're not, we're going to talk about it. So, like, but how does Nix play into all of this? Well, he was the number one suspect for the slaying of Pauline and near assassination of Buford. Nix has never been charged and maintains that he wasn't involved. Pauline's, body was exhumed last year after it came to light that there was never an autopsy. She was reinterred a few months later. The investigation, as far as I could tell, remains active. And after surviving seven stabbings and eight shootings, it was a car accident that took Buford out at only 36 years old. Good Lord. Yeah. He hit an embankment at high speed and was ejected from the vehicle. The car then caught on fire and burned. The sheriff at the time said it was a drunk driving accident, but I will tell you the other suspected foul play. I'll take another quick pause in case you have anything.
You know, my very. I. In my mind, I was thinking of this old, gray Southern policeman. When you said 36 when he died, I was like, holy moly, it's a baby. Yeah, yeah. So sad.
He's a baby. And there was, a lot. There were, like, books about him. I think maybe there was, like, comic strips. He was just all in the culture at this time.
That's crazy.
I think he may have even been on the phone with the director or something that day talking about the sequel to Walking Tall.
Nix is best known for involvement in 1987 murder of Judge Vincent Sherry
so Nix is best known for his involvement in the 1987 murder of Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret in Biloxi, Mississippi. So the. This is the case that came up the absolute most out of everything that I researched for the Dixie Mafia. This is a long and twisted tale, and because of that, I'm going to try and truncate some of this. But essentially, Nix was led to believe that Judge Sherry had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from him. reminder, he is in jail. He ordered a hit on him from behind bars. The case went unsolved locally for two years. Then the FBI steps in in 1989. That investigation goes on for an additional eight years. It turned out that Judge Sherry's best friend and law partner, Pete Hallett, was the one who stole Nix's and then led Nix to believe that it was Vincent Sherry. I'm telling you, the closest we have to the full story would not come to light until 1997. Ten years after the murders, Hallett was sentenced to 18 years in prison, and Nix and the hitman each received life sentences. I'm going to tell you, it's way more complicated than this, and it's really, really, really fascinating. Another terrible fact in all of this is, in between the murders and his eventual conviction, Hallett would go on to be the mayor of Biloxi. You just can't make this stuff up.
Wow, that's crazy.
Oh, one thing I didn't add here, but I will say is that it was really the Sherry's daughter that kept this investigation going the whole time and seeking justice for her parents. And it sounds like she was just. It sounds like she's a really interesting woman, who was just really hell bent on doing something for that when something so unfair had happened to her parents. And the parents have an interesting relationship. It's just very layered and. And like, you can see why people want to talk about it all the time. I'll say that. And the last thing I'm going to share on this in particular, is that where all this money came from that got the Sherry's killed in the first place was actually something called the Lonely Heart scam. According to the FBI, this is where inmates at Angola, again, that's one of the nicknames for the Louisiana State Penitentiary of the South Alcatraz. The Farm.
The Farm.
So the inmates there paid guards to use prison telephones and subsequently place bogus ads and publications targeting gay men. And in these ads, they claim to be gay and looking for a partner to move in with them. And those who fell for it would eventually be told they needed money to leave where they were so that they could be together. They hooked all kinds of people. And in addition to scamming them out of thousands of dollars, they also extorted them and threatened to out them if they didn't get what they asked for.
That's so horrible.
M. Like you said, people, pieces of crap.
So not only problem that persists through.
History, it really does. not all through today. One might say today this very day. But not, only was Nyx the ringleader of the scam and making a ton of money doing this. His ultimate goal was actually to buy his way out of jail. that's a tall order from someone serving a life sentence without parole.
You got to have goals, Salina. I think it's him to hang it all up.
He's got a place really. But I think that also speaks to just how dirty law enforcement was. He must have thought he had someone like, why would you just do that for no reason? it didn't matter. Greed got him, and greed ultimately got the Sherry's killed. Nix is still alive, by the way. And in fact, In December of 2023, he made headlines again when he was trying to get released from prison due to health issues.
How does NASCAR play into all this? Is NASCAR completely unrelated to Dixie Mafia
So the thoughts. Comments. I don't mean to keep putting you on the spot. I just want you to know that you can jump in whenever you want.
But how does NASCAR play into all this? Is NASCAR completely unrelated to the Dixie Mafia? They had more to do with bootlegging.
So I think I say this, I have this in the conclusion to kind of like tie things back in to like things that we've talked about and things to do with Designing Women. So I'll just go ahead and rip the band aid off there, at least in this one aspect. So back in season four, when we meet Big Daddy and Big Daddy comes in and he has the moonshine for Bernice and everything, you know, we use that as a way to Very briefly mentioned bootlegging when we did our prohibition episode. Huge part of Southern culture. And, so there are some ties, including the next person that we'll talk about. And he was a bootlegger and one of the fastest drivers that there ever was in Georgia. In fact, a couple of years ago, he just got inducted into the Georgia Moonshine hall of Fame for his bootleg driving.
Perfect.
So, so it does relate. And then those bootleggers go on to be some of the, founders of nascar, if I'm remembering this correctly. Or at least some of the big drivers in the beginning. And, they sort of use those skills, but, like, on a track instead of running liquor.
So in a productive way, one might say.
Right. And I'm. I'm really glad that I knew the answer to that. Got scared there for a second. I was like, nascar, What? You just think we're just talking about, like, all activities of the South?
I just thought we were talking about stuff. I don't know.
I cleaned that up.
You said this was a Southern podcast. I thought we were gonna talk about stuff.
Man, I feel so bad that I don't have more NASCAR for you. Maybe next time. You do know I grew up around a NASCAR track, right?
Yeah.
Okay.
I thought you knew all.
I tried to get away from it. That was my goal. Again, bad Southerner.
Billy Sunday Burt is the most prolific killer in Georgia history
okay, so the next person I. I want to talk about. While a stone cold killer, I have found to have many redeeming qualities. And my affection for him is not just because he is from the Peach State. That man is Billy Sunday Burt, the most prolific killer in our home state's history. Have you heard of Mr. Sunday Burt?
I have not, but I'm fascinated to hear, why he's worked his way into your heart.
That's good, because you don't have a choice right now. I also would like to lobby that we change his name to Billy Burt Sunday, which is what I kept calling him. but, you know, his sons probably don't want to do that. That's okay. So, unlike Nix, Burt was born into extreme poverty in Winder, Georgia, in 1937. He didn't have access to a higher education or the same opportunities that Nix did. He didn't regularly attend public school even, and also had a pretty severe speech impediment. Bert initially did have regular jobs in sawmills and construction, but as he later shared, he was, quote, enticed by the easy money that came along with crime. So he wasn't trying to sugarcoat it. He just wanted Some money. I'm going to rely a little on a Jackson progress article I found because they do a nice job to selling his, resume. So Bert, quote, found work as an errand boy, driver, and contract killer for. For bootleggers and other criminals. What?
I need you to be my errand boy. Yeah, of course.
I.
You know, like, what can you pay me? Well, it depends. Are you gonna kill people for me, too? Oh, yeah. I don't know those two.
Imagine killing much later.
Okay. Okay.
I. I think. Yeah, I think this is. I think this is probably a little later.
My Uber eats delivery person and also contract killer.
Can you. Do you think anybody's trying that through Postmate?
Can you be my instacart shopper and contractor? Yeah.
So, But he did that, contract killing for bootleggers and other criminals. And I'm sorry I should know this, but is it Barrow or Barrow County? Barrow.
I've always heard of Barrow.
Okay.
Like wheelbarrow.
Sorry. You can tell I grew up on the south side, but Barrow Hall, Jackson and Gwinnett county areas. Home. Nikki. He was willing to, quote, steal from burnout, bomb, or even kill the competition. He hijacked sugar trucks, stolen strip cars, and helped run insurance scams when he wasn't actually moving liquor from stills to retail outlets.
And the sugar was like, his LinkedIn tagline. Was willing to bomb, burn out. Whatever. Whatever you need.
I mean, I like to think it was. Honestly, I might be changing it on mine, so we'll see. Bert smuggled drugs from Mexico, stole cars, and robbed banks on his own time. He even shot his own brother in a fight that broke out in a pool hall that he also owned. I just want to say, for the record, based on the story I heard, his brother was being kind of an ass. sounds like he deserved it.
Then. You don't fuss a bit.
What's that now?
You get what you get. You don't fuss a bit.
So I've read several sources that claim he killed 56 people, and some believe that tally is higher. In terms of his position in the Dixie Mafia, he's often described as more of a ringleader, particularly here in Georgia. He was respected. He was listened to. And he was also feared. Burt would eventually land on death row for the 1973 murder of Ro Fleming and his wife Lois, an elderly couple in Rims, Georgia, and I believe a life sentence for the 1972 murder of Donald Chancey, who I think was another member of the Dixie Mafia. Burt died in 2017. He was still in prison, having at the time served more than 40 years, he maintained the entire time that he did not murder the Flemings.
Salina: A confession, a recently solved 50 plus year old murder
For, Burt, I want to talk about three things. A confession, a, recently, quote, solved 50 plus year old murder, and an unlikely friendship. So I'm gonna hop into the confession unless you have anything for me.
Well, I'm hoping that maybe the unlikely friendship with, like, Bambi or something is what we're gonna learn about that. Wove his way into your heart. Because so far, Salina, I'm not seeing the redeeming qualities, and I'm starting to get a little nervous.
I'm, like, he murdered everyone.
I was waiting for, like, a Robin Hood moment or some sort of, like.
I have some examples.
Murdered old people.
What? I have some examples of these. Okay. Okay, okay. So, on May 7, 1971, two pathologists, doctors Warren and Rosina Matthews, were murdered in their Marietta home. It appeared to be a robbery gone bad. Is it not wild hearing about all these places that you know so well?
Yeah.
Okay. So the police wouldn't receive their first big break until a few months later in July, when a woman came forward, Deborah Ann Kidd, because she was arrested for shoplifting. So she didn't come forward. She's doing another crime. but anyway, she offered up information on the murders in exchange for immunity. So she implicated herself and nine other people. The seven men in the group who were prosecuted became collectively known as the Marietta 7. Six received life sentences, and one was sentenced to death. Here's where it gets wild. And I'm not even including George's Supreme Court decision requiring one of these guys to get a bullet removed from his back to see if said bullet match bullets on the scene. Spoiler alert. It did not.
That sounds like free health care to me.
Just getting by with stuff, you know?
Sounds good.
According to a Michigan University law article, the AJC and, appellate attorneys representing the Marietta Seven discovered suppressed evidence, specifically contradictory versions of the events from Kid, who, it turns out, had stayed with one of the detectives on the case for several weeks. They also had a sexual relationship. She wasn't even in the state on the day of the murders, and she had a severe pill problem. Oh, and get this. According to a true crime podcast, she was placed under hypnosis by federal investigators and fed specific crime scene evidence.
Oh, gosh.
It's also rumored that she was given illegal pills that were taken from the evidence from room at this time. So a federal judge eventually overturned the convictions of two of the men in June of 1975. Here's the kicker. Cobb county dropped all the charges by September. The reason, Billy Sunday, Burt. See his former associate, Billy Wayne Davis. Everybody's got three names. You know, through a complicated series of events that I'm not going to go into, he snitched on Burt. And he was the reason that Burt wound up on death row. So right after being sentenced to death in the Fleming trial, he confessed essentially on the spot to the Murphy's murders, taking down Davis with him. He had nothing left to lose and only revenge to gain. Thoughts or comments?
Are we getting to the part where he redeems himself?
I think this was redeeming. He got those seven myth, death, M.
Row or one of them motivated by revenge.
But yeah, okay, that's, that is true, that is true. but who among us hasn't felt motivated by revenge a time or two?
Sometimes it's the spite that fuels me.
Well, let me tell you what's hitting me because everybody's like so much crime, the seventies, man, wild. This is wild.
It's just a crazy time, I'm telling you.
In 2022, the Watuga County Sheriff announced the Durham murders had been solved
So I'm going to move on to this quote, solved murder, and hence my quotes, because there is some disagreement over whether this is actually solved or not. So in 2022, the Watuga County Sheriff announced that a 50 year old homicide known as the Durham murders had finally been closed in 1972. This is in Boone, North Carolina. Bryce, Virginia and Bobby Durham, who are husband, wife and 18 year old son respectively, were found murdered in their home. Virginia had been strangled. Bryce and Bobby drowned in their bathtub. The case remained cold and unresolved, that is until 2019 when investigators received a tip from Shane Burt, that is one of Billy Sunday Burt's sons, who claimed that his father had confessed the murders to him during a prison visit. Shane and his mother had been doing research for a book on his dad when this all came to light. Not suspect at all for a book promotion. In addition to Billy Sunday Burt, three other perpetrators were identified. Only one of them is still alive. Mr. Billy Wayne Davis. That's right. The man responsible for Burt winding up on death row. His interview, along with two additional sources corroborating evidence from the scene is what helped to close the case. Ironically, the investigators also noted the circumstances of the Durham murders were similar to the Fleming case. The murders that Burt adamantly denied for the rest of his life. So Bert's eldest son, who goes by Stoney, however, claims that his father had nothing to do with it because get this, he was killing Someone else.
Well, that's ironclad.
This is a bold alibi. Okay, but further while, yes, his father was a murderer, he also had a code. So according to Stoney, he didn't kill old people and he didn't torture people because he was a contract killer. It was business and nothing more. So I told you I'd end on.
Professional with a heart of gold. That's what that sounded like.
I told you I'd end on something good, something a little sweeter. Which is an unlikely friendship that developed between Bert, the most dangerous man in Georgia, and Douglas County Sheriff Earl Lee. Now, Nikki, it is not going to be a Bambi story, so just get it together. Okay?
Okay.
all of this also sounds like a chick's. This song.
The introduction of Earl now. And yeah, consuming bodies and removing bullets. Yeah, it's all feeling very familiar.
okay, so Bert had at one time been paid to kill the sheriff when he was coming out of church. And he had accepted it, he was going to do it. And then he had a change of heart when he came out of those doors along with his family, and he decided that he just could not go through with it. Years later, when Burt was in prison, the two became friends. And Sheriff Lee found ways for Burt to spend time with his family. And later he would bring Burt to God. He even got Burt out of prison and took him to be baptized in the church with his family present. This literally changed federal laws to ensure that a baptism like this would never happen again. Before this, sheriffs could pretty much do whatever they wanted with any prisoner. So not exactly Bambi, but it is an unlikely friendship between a killer and a sheriff. So there you go.
I don't know. In the south, in the Dixie Mafia though, is that really that unlikely when.
It'S a good guy.
Okay.
Like this. So Sheriff Lee was. He's got several different things named for him in Douglas county, and he actually is like a stand up individual. and he, I didn't go. I didn't go into a lot of details, but he did a lot to take care of Bert's family because Bert's family didn't have anything to do with all of these crimes and they needed help and he really stepped up to the plate because he felt he was just a good Christian man. So anyways, but yes, I, I agree with you. If, if it was something like nefarious, then I would say, yes, this is just like normal. And he was helping him do crimes while he's behind bars. But he was very like even when they went and did the baptism, he was very clear. He was like, if you try anything funny, I will kill you.
Good for him.
Wild. Bert should surely have been held accountable for his crime. So I'm m not saying that shouldn't have taken place. Again, I have to say, I just have a little bit of a soft spot for this guy. it has a lot to do with the podcast that I listen to, but I'll get to that here. Briefly. His first murder, as I understand it, was to protect a woman from a rapist. And then while on death row, he stopped two white supremacists from killing another prisoner just because he was black. That man was later found to be innocent of the crime and set free. And he publicly thanked Burt for saving his life when he was let go. And Burt took a mentally handicapped kid under his wing. This kid was also on death row. They put that poor kid to death and he had the mental capacity of an 11 year old. so there's just something about him that speaks to me and I, would point people to, in the Red Clay, which is a podcast, I've mentioned his son earlier, Stoney, and it's really a podcast about a father son relationship. It's about redemption. it's really beautifully, well it's really beautifully done. There's two different seasons. One talks about all about those Durham murders that they've now ah, like assigned blame to Bert for even though he swore up and down that he never had anything to do with that. in the first season really focuses more on his son. And actually his son owns a distillery and restaurant in Sugar Hill. So I think I'm gonna pop in there one day. You've probably seen him in the news. This is a really, this was a really big podcast and it's actually brought in people from all over the world to go to this distillery. So it's like a recipe that they've had in their family since like right after the Civil War. Really interesting guy from all things that I can tell.
Southern Fried crime episodes 91 and 194 are about the Dixie Mafia
All right, there's no great way to do this transition, so just roll with me here for a second. I wanted to connect at least a couple of things back to Designing Women if I could. We already talked about one, so I'm not going to go into that again. But we also had a connection to Delta Burke, specifically in our book club episode in her late 90s memoir. So there was a bit in her story about her taking black beauties. This was a pill that was basically legalized meth at one point and eventually made illegal. she first got a hold of them in the UK and used them to maintain her weight. If you remember, we did talk about that. those were a huge product moved by the Dixie Mafia. And it's featured a lot in the narrative about Billy Sunday Burt, who also used them. The undercurrent of these stories is that a lot of these guys were, in fact, quite strung out on drugs. So that's in the mix as well. but again, if you're interested in these stories, there's way more to them. I read a ton of articles. Like I said, in the Red Clay is a fantastic podcast. I would also recommend Gone South. That will give you more information about Kirksey Nix, the Home, the Lonely Heart Scam, and the Sherry Murders in Biloxi. Southern Fried crime episodes 91 and 194 are both about the Dixie Mafia. Very interesting. So thank you, Nikki, for indulging my request to cover this very interesting, very dangerous part of Southern history. And thanks, y'all, as always, for listening. You know the drill. DM us, email us, or find us all over the socials. Nikki will be sitting here looking at me, befuddled at why I love this man, Billy Sunday Burt. And that's this week's Extra Sugar.
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