Casey Sepp

So if you go to the New York Public Library, you can look in the Capote archive at these extraordinary reporting notes that Harper Lee made for Truman Capote in 1959 and 1960 during their first few reporting trips in Kansas. Author, Casey Sepp. And, you know, she's an incredibly scrupulous reporter. She made these very detailed notes for him.

So if you go to the New York Public Library, you can look in the Capote archive at these extraordinary reporting notes that Harper Lee made for Truman Capote in 1959 and 1960 during their first few reporting trips in Kansas. Author, Casey Sepp. And, you know, she's an incredibly scrupulous reporter. She made these very detailed notes for him.

You know, it's basically a prosecutor's dream. He just admits to everything and says, you know, we're not going to dispute any of these facts, but we're going to try and contextualize them and we're going to give you a reason. And of course, you know, that is a bold strategy.

You know, it's basically a prosecutor's dream. He just admits to everything and says, you know, we're not going to dispute any of these facts, but we're going to try and contextualize them and we're going to give you a reason. And of course, you know, that is a bold strategy.

So they got married in 1949 and they stayed married until 1970. And by all accounts, the kind of outward account of their marriage was one that was happy and faithful. So the beginning of their marriage isn't as notable as what happened several decades into it in 1970.

So they got married in 1949 and they stayed married until 1970. And by all accounts, the kind of outward account of their marriage was one that was happy and faithful. So the beginning of their marriage isn't as notable as what happened several decades into it in 1970.

And supposedly spent most of that night preaching and left his wife at home shelling peas and had told her to leave the phone on the hook because he was going to call when the revival had ended and he was on his way home so that she would know and What he says happened is he called home and she never answered.

And supposedly spent most of that night preaching and left his wife at home shelling peas and had told her to leave the phone on the hook because he was going to call when the revival had ended and he was on his way home so that she would know and What he says happened is he called home and she never answered.

And then when he finally got home from Auburn, she wasn't there and he didn't know what had happened to her. But he figured she was visiting a sister, which she did quite often. And so he went to bed and it was only several hours later when he woke up and she still wasn't home that he began to worry.

And then when he finally got home from Auburn, she wasn't there and he didn't know what had happened to her. But he figured she was visiting a sister, which she did quite often. And so he went to bed and it was only several hours later when he woke up and she still wasn't home that he began to worry.

That very night, they found Mary Lou Maxwell dead several miles from her home. She was in her car, but what had looked from the outside of the car like a car accident wasn't that at all, and her body was quite beaten and quite disturbed.

That very night, they found Mary Lou Maxwell dead several miles from her home. She was in her car, but what had looked from the outside of the car like a car accident wasn't that at all, and her body was quite beaten and quite disturbed.

When they began asking questions about the Reverend, they also learned that the marriage was not as happy as it had seemed in the kind of public facade offered by the Reverend to these congregations and to these places where he was invited to preach. And quite quickly, they were told that the Reverend had... been unfaithful to his wife and that there were several women.

When they began asking questions about the Reverend, they also learned that the marriage was not as happy as it had seemed in the kind of public facade offered by the Reverend to these congregations and to these places where he was invited to preach. And quite quickly, they were told that the Reverend had... been unfaithful to his wife and that there were several women.

And there was reason to believe that the marriage was not nearly as happy as the Reverend had led folks to believe.

And there was reason to believe that the marriage was not nearly as happy as the Reverend had led folks to believe.

And when the police went to speak with some of Mary Lou Maxwell's siblings, in fact, one of the very sisters the Reverend said she had probably been visiting that day, that sister said almost right away that she thought the Reverend had been involved and that probably he had murdered her sister.

And when the police went to speak with some of Mary Lou Maxwell's siblings, in fact, one of the very sisters the Reverend said she had probably been visiting that day, that sister said almost right away that she thought the Reverend had been involved and that probably he had murdered her sister.

asking for his checks. There was a kind of technical legal dispute over whether or not homicide constituted accidental death because he held all of these accidental death policies on his wife, which, again, at the start of things isn't, you know, isn't odd in any respect.

asking for his checks. There was a kind of technical legal dispute over whether or not homicide constituted accidental death because he held all of these accidental death policies on his wife, which, again, at the start of things isn't, you know, isn't odd in any respect.