Viola Virginia Hyatt was born 3 Feb 1929 in Rabbittown, AL to Martin Boley Hyatt (1884-1961) and Virgie Laura Robertson (1889-1934).
Cutie little Viola with her baby doll
What happened to Viola? Why did she become a murderess and why didn't she ever tell her story?
Her mother died when she was 5 years old, and her father re-married to Jessie Wheeler a year later. Did her father hurt her? Did her step mother hurt her?
We may never know, but I might be able to shed little light on her and her family.
Here are some notes that were taken by the detectives in charge of the case.
Interview with Viola's parents
60 333 out 7:30 a.m.
60 506 out 4:30 p.m.
Old woman "It's been so lonesome. You
take 3 away from a place..."
If tried to harm her "She'd keep it to herself... wouldn't tell us.
But then was some kind of trouble
out there that nite. I don't know
nothing about it
but if I had I'd been out there, rains'
She slept in room w/father - in single bed
Dad was sick at times
She was best to wait on somebody
I ever saw."
Miss Hyatt -
Your couple stopped - said
"We all got children - don't
know what they'll grow up to be."
Hyatt - be 72 Friday
Viola was 31 Feb 3 Mrs Hyatt - 64 Aug 27
Mrs H - "It looked like she ought to been happy
here at home...She must not a thought...
Mr. H - "They must been crazy mad. Give her a beatin
I told him (Lee) if he ever hit her I'll kill him... and I would.
Mrs H - "I thought they was married.
She'd tell me
"We may be married, we may be not"
Mr H - "I knowed they'd never marry.
I told him "He'd never see the day to call her his."
He'd been married before"
"Bout ready to put 'em out - they was too rough."
Lee "got in w/Viola"
that's how he came to live here.
Fred Harper visit here w/brothers
Dad - "I never saw her take a drink - if she did."
Told her folks - took him to Anniston to meet a bus
- going to Lee's home in Andalusia."
Lee - a welder at Bynum
Emmett - worked on a road machine - "when he worked."
Lee & Viola went to Anniston
about 4 pm
After dark when came home after 8 pm
Emmett on front porch with me when came home
Emmett went back to car and brought in groceries.
Viola didn't come in afterward until 1-2 am
She woke me up and told me
"Going to Anniston, carry them fellers."
Saw her again next morning "after sun up - She was out there in lot w/car."
Went off in car about 8-9 am
Back at 11.
Bathed, cleaned up before went to singing.
Shotgun - 12-gauge
w/hammer on it
"When you pulled trigger, she'd shoot, too."
She stayed with me all the time.
Taught her to shoot when 7 years old -
killed 7 robins soon afterward
Shot possums in yard at night
Shotgun in other room from where she slept
Viola went thru 9th grade -
quit with 6 others - got mad at teacher.
Had "right smart" temper. Never did see her mother mad.
He'd been married 19 yrs before she was born.
Viola's mammy died when she was 5 (1934).
Married again in 1935.
Helped her dad in fields - "followed right behind me."
She's main stake at this place.
I feel like they won't take her away from me.
"Couldn't stand to see me in trouble."
"That's reason she didn't come and get me that nite..."
I am not sure what you think of this interview but I already think this family is mighty strange. Why is she sleeping in a small bed with her father at any age, especially at 30 years old?
Attorney R.B. Norred
"informal thing"
conference with three doctors
Viola not cooperating with doctors either
"exploring case still"
Can talk to her now, beginning
to realise we're trying to help her.
But still won't discuss any facts of case.
3 hrs Sat
2 hrs Sun
"Frustrating."
Attorneys intend to ask for
postponement
arraignment
Plea - not guilty by reason of insanity - if cannot get continuance
Indictments - first degree murder
Norred appointed in Lee Harper case
Phillips appointed in Emmett Harper case
"Never had a client who wouldn't talk to me."
They interviewed several people:
1 Main Story
2. Sidebars -
phone call
announcement
step-by-step to solution
color on suspects
color on house and attorney
Wallace Beatty
3 Sisters
33 yrs. old on July 13, when tip
received about him
Beatty stays at 35 w/Jay.
Beatty will be divorced from wife
July 25. He threatened her life recently &
her daddy
(McKay) is out to get him.
Beatty ex-Hayes man.
Jay said to be a paint salesman bet.
B'ham v Atlanta
Donald Duck
B'ham Nooze
Killers - men who called lawyers
Bill Jay - w/accent
Wallace Beatty - N.C. accent
Lee Harper - St. Claire
3 sisters under surveillance
since Tuesday pm
Cecil Rogers - 45 about - known bootlegger
burned to death Nov. 27, 1958
happened about 10 pm that night Steele, Ala.
burned completely up - limbs were gone - head shrunk - had drunk
steadily for 3 mos.
chimney still stands
Mrs. Rogers says she and daughter at Ashville at square dance -
but Chief Vance say no dance.
Some of nabors neighbors said she'd gone to show
at Attalla or Gadsden
They drove up while shack afire. Had to restrain both of them.
directed tip from Huey Pahotwer
ME Sims
Herman Chapman
Harper brothers from Andalusia
Lee 55
Emmett - mid 48 both formerly of Dozie
Floyd Mann
Bill Jones
WL Allen
Bob Harper -- Andalusia
brother of dead men
Allen fly to Andalusia last nite -- also Mann and Wright
had photos at 1:30 am
went to White Plains early Thursday and
chartered state plan
Viola arrested
She only one
Statement released by WL Allen
left Gadsden about 9 a.m.
went to a farm and found brothers had been missing since Saturday nite June 27
Brothers lived in house behind trailer
Occupants of house say brothers had gone to south Alabama
for a visit
a check at the old home revealed brothers not been since there since December
Johnson called -- work with investigators said
"Physical evidence" at scene indicated torso case may have originated at the farm
3 persons detained
Colvard
Veasey had girl at breaking point for a time
but she'd quit talking and pay
"I don't know anything -- I'm scared."
"Girl named Dewey as killer. said she saw two bodies beside the car and heard car drive away."
trailer
"in good shape"
3 suits
suede jacket
small trailer
jacked up on concrete blocks
beds made
80-90 inches from back of house
door unlocked
White Plains
3 stores - few houses
light - then suddenly dark no lights
approach from Alabama #9
Old house
eerie weird
no lights on car in drive
long porch
unpainted, wood frame
wide driveway with gate
half-way back
Colvard --
"Boy, I'm real glad it's over. We've worked hard and long"
"I've sure lost a lot of sleep"
"I figured we'd get it sometime or other"
"Young women really
shook up. Old man just sit and watch us or feed his chickens."
Family cordial -- stuck to story about brothers in Andalusia most of day.
Girl began to bread in after. Give different story.
fastest way to area would be over "moonshine route" back roads which would
pass thru outskirts of
Jacksonville.
Distance to Mr. X about 38 miles
to Mr. Y nearly 49 miles up in lead
deputies from Calhoun and Etowah got punching rods to
probe for arms and legs at farm area.
Crime scene photo's below taken by
Lee Harper and Viola Hyatt
Description of the bodies found before being identified
Emmett Harper
Haytt Farm years later
What happened to Viola? Why did she become a murderess and why didn't she ever tell her story?
Her mother died when she was 5 years old, and her father re-married to Jessie Wheeler a year later. Did her father hurt her? Did her step mother hurt her?
We may never know, but I might be able to shed little light on her and her family.
Here are some notes that were taken by the detectives in charge of the case.
Interview with Viola's parents
60 333 out 7:30 a.m.
60 506 out 4:30 p.m.
Old woman "It's been so lonesome. You
take 3 away from a place..."
If tried to harm her "She'd keep it to herself... wouldn't tell us.
But then was some kind of trouble
out there that nite. I don't know
nothing about it
but if I had I'd been out there, rains'
She slept in room w/father - in single bed
Dad was sick at times
She was best to wait on somebody
I ever saw."
Miss Hyatt -
Your couple stopped - said
"We all got children - don't
know what they'll grow up to be."
Hyatt - be 72 Friday
Viola was 31 Feb 3 Mrs Hyatt - 64 Aug 27
Mrs H - "It looked like she ought to been happy
here at home...She must not a thought...
Mr. H - "They must been crazy mad. Give her a beatin
I told him (Lee) if he ever hit her I'll kill him... and I would.
Mrs H - "I thought they was married.
She'd tell me
"We may be married, we may be not"
Mr H - "I knowed they'd never marry.
I told him "He'd never see the day to call her his."
He'd been married before"
"Bout ready to put 'em out - they was too rough."
Lee "got in w/Viola"
that's how he came to live here.
Fred Harper visit here w/brothers
Dad - "I never saw her take a drink - if she did."
Told her folks - took him to Anniston to meet a bus
- going to Lee's home in Andalusia."
Lee - a welder at Bynum
Emmett - worked on a road machine - "when he worked."
Lee & Viola went to Anniston
about 4 pm
After dark when came home after 8 pm
Emmett on front porch with me when came home
Emmett went back to car and brought in groceries.
Viola didn't come in afterward until 1-2 am
She woke me up and told me
"Going to Anniston, carry them fellers."
Saw her again next morning "after sun up - She was out there in lot w/car."
Went off in car about 8-9 am
Back at 11.
Bathed, cleaned up before went to singing.
Shotgun - 12-gauge
w/hammer on it
"When you pulled trigger, she'd shoot, too."
She stayed with me all the time.
Taught her to shoot when 7 years old -
killed 7 robins soon afterward
Shot possums in yard at night
Shotgun in other room from where she slept
Viola went thru 9th grade -
quit with 6 others - got mad at teacher.
Had "right smart" temper. Never did see her mother mad.
He'd been married 19 yrs before she was born.
Viola's mammy died when she was 5 (1934).
Married again in 1935.
Helped her dad in fields - "followed right behind me."
She's main stake at this place.
I feel like they won't take her away from me.
"Couldn't stand to see me in trouble."
"That's reason she didn't come and get me that nite..."
I am not sure what you think of this interview but I already think this family is mighty strange. Why is she sleeping in a small bed with her father at any age, especially at 30 years old?
 |
| Viola's Father Martin Boley Hyatt and wife Jessie Wheeler |
pic
Mr. and Mrs. Hyatt on porch
Attorney R.B. Norred
"informal thing"
conference with three doctors
Viola not cooperating with doctors either
"exploring case still"
Can talk to her now, beginning
to realise we're trying to help her.
But still won't discuss any facts of case.
3 hrs Sat
2 hrs Sun
"Frustrating."
Attorneys intend to ask for
postponement
arraignment
Plea - not guilty by reason of insanity - if cannot get continuance
Indictments - first degree murder
Norred appointed in Lee Harper case
Phillips appointed in Emmett Harper case
"Never had a client who wouldn't talk to me."
They interviewed several people:
1 Main Story
2. Sidebars -
phone call
announcement
step-by-step to solution
color on suspects
color on house and attorney
Wallace Beatty
3 Sisters
33 yrs. old on July 13, when tip
received about him
Beatty stays at 35 w/Jay.
Beatty will be divorced from wife
July 25. He threatened her life recently &
her daddy
(McKay) is out to get him.
Beatty ex-Hayes man.
Jay said to be a paint salesman bet.
B'ham v Atlanta
Donald Duck
B'ham Nooze
Killers - men who called lawyers
Bill Jay - w/accent
Wallace Beatty - N.C. accent
Lee Harper - St. Claire
3 sisters under surveillance
since Tuesday pm
Cecil Rogers - 45 about - known bootlegger
burned to death Nov. 27, 1958
happened about 10 pm that night Steele, Ala.
burned completely up - limbs were gone - head shrunk - had drunk
steadily for 3 mos.
chimney still stands
Mrs. Rogers says she and daughter at Ashville at square dance -
but Chief Vance say no dance.
Some of nabors neighbors said she'd gone to show
at Attalla or Gadsden
They drove up while shack afire. Had to restrain both of them.
directed tip from Huey Pahotwer
ME Sims
Herman Chapman
Harper brothers from Andalusia
Lee 55
Emmett - mid 48 both formerly of Dozie
Floyd Mann
Bill Jones
WL Allen
Bob Harper -- Andalusia
brother of dead men
Allen fly to Andalusia last nite -- also Mann and Wright
had photos at 1:30 am
went to White Plains early Thursday and
chartered state plan
Viola arrested
She only one
Statement released by WL Allen
left Gadsden about 9 a.m.
went to a farm and found brothers had been missing since Saturday nite June 27
Brothers lived in house behind trailer
Occupants of house say brothers had gone to south Alabama
for a visit
a check at the old home revealed brothers not been since there since December
Johnson called -- work with investigators said
"Physical evidence" at scene indicated torso case may have originated at the farm
3 persons detained
Colvard
Veasey had girl at breaking point for a time
but she'd quit talking and pay
"I don't know anything -- I'm scared."
"Girl named Dewey as killer. said she saw two bodies beside the car and heard car drive away."
trailer
"in good shape"
3 suits
suede jacket
small trailer
jacked up on concrete blocks
beds made
80-90 inches from back of house
door unlocked
White Plains
3 stores - few houses
light - then suddenly dark no lights
approach from Alabama #9
Old house
eerie weird
no lights on car in drive
long porch
unpainted, wood frame
wide driveway with gate
half-way back
Colvard --
"Boy, I'm real glad it's over. We've worked hard and long"
"I've sure lost a lot of sleep"
"I figured we'd get it sometime or other"
"Young women really
shook up. Old man just sit and watch us or feed his chickens."
Family cordial -- stuck to story about brothers in Andalusia most of day.
Girl began to bread in after. Give different story.
fastest way to area would be over "moonshine route" back roads which would
pass thru outskirts of
Jacksonville.
Distance to Mr. X about 38 miles
to Mr. Y nearly 49 miles up in lead
deputies from Calhoun and Etowah got punching rods to
probe for arms and legs at farm area.
Crime scene photo's below taken by
pic
Willie B. Painter inside trailer photographing
pic
Alton Hall
Cir Sol Williams
Sheriff Roy C Snead
Officers here
Calhoun
Sheriff Roy C. Snead
Chief Deputy LC Marshall
JA Jackson
Etowah
Sol. L Charles Wright
Sheriff Dewey Colvard
Chief Deputy Tony Reynolds
Assistant Chief Deputy Felton Yates
St Clair
notified but didn't come.
State
Floyd Mann
Bill Jones
WL Allen
Ben Allen
AF Mason
WB Painter
Highway Patrol
MA Nunnally
WA Hornsby
JW Cairnes
LA Jemison
Herman Chapman
Harry S. Series
Viola questioned almost constantly
until 2:15 am.
Carroll sent to bed about 1:45 then roused
at 2:15 a.m.
At 2:30 am Viola, WC Allen and Mason
left in car
at 4:35 am Carroll driven home
by highway patrol
-- blood stains around trailer
-- door of trailer blasted by shotgun
two bloody axes
two axes found "on the premises"
shotgun blast on door of trailer - "how old it is I don't know."
Old cemetery about 150 yards behind house on knoll
Farm about 40 acres
Lee Harper formerly jailed in Anniston for driving
while intoxicated October 1955
"I knew when they called his name he'd been in jail here. I knew he was going with that
damn gal, too."
Lee and Emmett both arrested in Calhoun County in 1951
Lee 55
Emmett 48
"She will be charged with murder"
"I'll sign that warrant myself. That woman won't be out of jail anytime soon"
Some of limbs arms located in Calhoun County
Sam
Lon
Go to Highway Patrol Office now meet
"found everything"
Farm
little grass -- just hard clay and 4 huge trees
wide driveway with crude wooden gate. Fence posts hand-hewn from limbs.
House unpainted with long porch - red brick chimney. broken brick chimney on roof at back
Old man swinging gently
Woman sit immobile in rocking chair
Black dog lying on porch
Hand-made, aluminum trailer - TINY
Whole area gives feeling of primitiveness and backwardness
Old shacks, dirt, things scattered everywhere -
Generally a mess
Trailer - 2 small windows each end
1 square wooden step leading up to door. resting on concrete blocks
1. small table
2. floor model TV set
3. refrigerator
4. table - electric skillet; small electric
hot plate - 2 burner
5. small chest
6. mirror
7. 1 bed, 1 cot
8. chair
9. small fan
10. small trunk
11. clothes
12. other misc items
picture
WL Allen
Highway Patrol J.W. Cairnes
with bloody underwear
found near Highway 278 2 1/2 miles
west of Piedmont
just thrown out
found Friday am
general scene
people milling around
writing reports
huddling
flash bulbs popping
bulbs and cigarette packs litter ground
So then Viola is in jail by this point and the investigation continues, here's more notes:
Question - How are you
Mrs - "Pretty sad"
Mr - "Won't you have a chair and sit awhile?"
Question - People are just walking all over the place, aren't they
Mr - I ain't never seen nothing like it. Think I'll have a show sometime.
Mrs - Well, it couldn't be no more awful.
Holding hands to mouth - sobbing - eyes red
Viola Hyatt's 1st day in jail
- 7 am get back to jail
sleep til 9 am
9 am statement
1:15 pm
1:30 pm - out with Allen and Mason to re-enact crime
2:15 at scene - about 30 onlookers
1. walk up on porch, briefly talk to Dad - he never got
out of swing.
Both go into house with A and M
2. She feed chickens from back of house
3. Out back door and thru gate in chicken yard - went to bathroom
4. bring broom out to back fence in chicken yard - rake in dirt with broom handle
show them something then back to house
(she wearing blue dress with brown moccasins)
(crowd whispers about her - giggles - cluster together as after church crowd
5. take Allen to back of trailer - stop briefly
6. go to crib
7. then to back gate to path stay back there about 30 min
rain began while they out there
8. Back to trailer pause briefly, then into back door
9. Change dress (royal blue)
10. Come out on porch -
shake hands with a neighbor - then talk to dad
11. Mason get raincoat - carry to her
3 come out together - 3:36 pm
Reason why chop them up
"to place them in trunk of auto and also to lighten the load."
killing according to her
"in the trailer"
"she did a marvelous job of housekeeping"
cut up outside trailer
6. Killer wanted bodies to be found
7. hacked off arms
and legs to keep victims from being associated with each other
8. maybe a mania for
revenge - victims might have whipped killer's ass
at one time
9. Shot with #6 shot
10.
Etowah
no blood
urine
green from St. Clair's shirt in stumps.
new, clean undershirt maybe new undershorts pretty white
St. Clair
.12 alcohol content had been drinking
"xo" in stump
green shirt
outside type
Local man angle because
shotgun #6 birdshot and hunting season over
axe shotgun knife in car
familiar with highway
quote Talmage on some stuff
agreed that Etowah's face
stationary when shot
indicates
knocked out
passed out ambushed
Facts known
1. Dead men knew each other
2. Also knew killer - man or woman
3. killed by sam person(s) in same place
4. Killer afraid of individual - maybe why hack up face and shot
one full in face
5. One had fresh shave and new underwear
6. White magnum filling
Urge them to come forward -
names will be kept in strictest confidence
Wed
Bill E. Keenam
915 16th St N
FA 4-5385
found by 2 little boys
Chevy 58 Impala convertible
Initials on desk BEK
17313 miles
map of East Gadsden
switch key
under front floor mat
in one trunk
stainless steel silverware employed by
Stainless Steel Cooking Utensil Co
placemats
stainless cookingware
another briefcase
aluminum siding samples -
all dates were June 16
Also briefcase with Jodi Biddle on it
Biddle Construction Co
2302 20th St
Tuscon
briefcase - #3
proposed improvement loan application for
William Orman Weaver
Rt 2, Cottondale
date May 28
File on Jasper
Biddle Construction Co
2121 35th Ave No
bowling ball in case
new zip case
another side wall veneer case
raincoat
2 shoe trees
also in front
whiskey flask
Polaroid coater kit
man's tie
also sidewall veneer samples
2 notebooks on Lumaside
brand new briefcase with application forms for United Insurance Co
another Lumaside metal folding case
2 new women's sweaters blue beige
also a large permastone sample
good prints on flask
rear view mirror
partial one off Coke bottle
Shorts at Fyffe
EH Stanford had pair just like ones worn by Etowah
Cut
March shipments
Frank L. Robinson
Los Angeles
JL Turner & Son
Scottsville, Ky.
Helena Wholesale
Helena, Ark.
William R Moore
Memphis
Economy Store
Clarksdale, Ala.
At this point I am seriously wondering how she managed to cut these men's arms and legs off with an axe all by herself. Maybe she did kill them by shooting them with the 12 gauge but to drag their bodies and cut them up with 2 axes they found on the property is really blowing my mind.
Lee Harper
Violet went to prison for about 10 years being released on parole in Apr of 1970 she lived with her Aunt in Jacksonville, AL
Viola died 12 jun 2000 at age 72.
Haytt Farm years later
| This collection of notes, photographs, and newspaper clippings includes some of the source materials used by Donald Brown (b. 1936) for his book, Mr. X and Mr. Y. Mr. Brown was a reporter for the Birmingham News who covered the so-called "torso murders" -- the murders of brothers Emmett and Lee Harper, whose dismembered bodies were found in Etowah and St. Clair counties in Alabama in June 1959. A 31-year-old Calhoun County woman, Viola Hyatt, confessed to the murders, was tried, convicted, and sentenced to Tutwiler prison. http://cdm16070.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16070coll3/id/98/show/67/rec/2  |
I remember this case.
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