Murder at the Castle on the Cumberland
A Story of a True and Faithful Wife
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The "Battle of Eddyville, the prison break that attracted nation-wide attention. On the morning of October 3, 1923, three disciples of the devil made a mad dash for freedom. Only by the quick thinking and action of one guard, Hodge Cunningham, was their escape thwarted. Over the next 81 hours, the outlaws stood off all attempts to subdue them. Mrs. Walters, the gang leader’s wife, went on trial for conspiracy and murder, as an accessory before the fact in the death of Hodge Cunningham. This is the story of cold and cruel domination of a woman that loved her husband to the extent that her desire was for her husband and his rule over her. She confessed, “I feel that I have done no more than any wife should and would do toward her husband.”
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About the Book
Early on the morning of October 3, 1923, the inmates of Eddyville penitentiary in western Kentucky were preparing to leave their cells for breakfast. That was when Chester Walters, known as Monte Tex Walters, made a mad dash for freedom along with two other inmates, killing three guards in the attempt. A three-day siege that would later be called the Battle of Eddyville ensued, ending with the deaths of all three prisoners. When it was over, twenty-one-year-old Lillian Walters, the gang leader’s wife, was left to stand trial for conspiracy and murder, as an accessory before the fact in the death of Hodge Cunningham, one of the guards. Conviction carried the possibility of the death penalty. In Murder at the Castle on the Cumberland, author Tom Grassham recreates the case and trial in which his great-uncle, C. C. Grassham, served as Lillian’s defense counsel. Based on documented facts, Murder at the Castle on the Cumberland narrates the story of cold and cruel domination of a woman who loved her husband. Lillian maintained she had done exactly what any good wife would do. The authorities never could shake her loyalty to her husband.
About the Author
Tom Grassham studied banking at North Texas State University and earned a graduate degree in trust from the ABA at Northwestern University. He served in the US Army and worked thirty-three years as a certified financial institutions examiner for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. His great-uncle, C. C. Grassham, was defense counsel for Lillian Walters. Grassham lives in Paducah, Kentucky.