103. Moonshine and Murder in the Smoky Mountains: The Perry’s Camp Murders of 1949

In 1949, deep in the Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, Tennessee, a savage double murder shattered the stillness of a quiet Appalachian community.

Charlie Perry—a former Knoxville bootlegger turned tourist camp owner—and his longtime housekeeper, Josie Law, were brutally killed in their home at Perry’s Camp, a rustic riverside lodge in Flat Branch Hollow. Charlie had been tortured—his body bearing the marks of cruelty before the final blow was delivered. Josie was slain trying to defend him.

Three local men—Claude Robertson, Hermie Lee Jones, and Basil Jones—were arrested and charged with the murders.

Why would they do such a thing? What went wrong in those hills that  led to such bloodshed?

This episode of Hard Times and True Crimes takes you beyond the headlines and into the heart of the Smokies—through moonshine, hidden sins, local legends, and the astonishing redemption story of one of the killers.