The Legs Murder Case.....

I was on my way back to Taylorsville from Slidell, LA. Not only do I love Story telling, Genealogy, Cemeteries, and old country roads, I also love Antiques. (Takes one to know one!)

I had heard that Picayune (some folks call it Picky-une) had several nice Antique stores, so at Exit 4 I got off the Interstate. I was in no hurry to get back home and there were a few things I wanted …….not needed!

I headed toward town and turned on old Highway 11 to the downtown section. The first Antique store was closed, but I saw a “Flea Market” that was open. I kinda’ like those, too. I stopped and went in and saw, quickly, there was probably nothing I couldn’t live without. Of course, I was wrong….I found some Champagne Flutes, yes, in a Flea Market!

After paying, I asked the owner where the Antique stores were, and I was given directions to Angel’s Place. His exact words were “She’s got some real good stuff.” When I opened the door to Angel’s, my thoughts were “boy, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder!” And there was nothing, in Angel’s Place, that I couldn’t live without!!

After scoping out three good Antique stores, I did find some “real good stuff.” I headed on up I-59. I was determined to go back to McNeill and find the grave of the legs, and the grave where no grass grows. I’m nothing if I’m not inquisitive!

Have you ever gotten someplace and couldn’t remember why you were going? Well, I got to McNeill Cemetery and I could not, for the life of me, remember the last name of the people for whom I was searching. I literally was going to have to search for a grave without any grass.

The Legs Murder Case had occurred in 1930, so I immediately went to the old section of the cemetery. At one point, I decided it should be named The Spiers Cemetery, since that seemed to be the only folks buried there. I was amazed at how many small children and infant’s graves there were. I walked over the entire cemetery…..old section, new section, all sections…..and all the while I was going thru the alphabet, in my mind, trying to remember the last name of the people for whom I was searching.  

Finally, in the middle of the cemetery (some old stones, some newer stones) were two graves and Ouida Keeton’s grave had almost no grass. Ouida had been buried beside the legs of Daisy, the mother she had been accused of murdering some 40 plus years ago (and only her legs were ever recovered.)

They were both buried at the foot of the grave of John Monroe Keeton who had been killed, by a train, at age 37. (John Monroe was Daisy’s husband and Ouida’s father). Apparently, there had been unanswered questions surrounding his death which resulted in his young wife, Daisy, becoming a millionaire at age 29. Had Daisy’s horrible death somehow been the revenge of the God’s for her husband’s mysterious death?

Someday, when you have nothing better to do …find a copy of ‘The Legs Murder Case’ …but be forewarned, it can actually be pretty boring. The book goes into laborious detail, so I found myself skimming through some pages to get to the “meat” (sorry, no pun intended) of the book.

#Laurel #murder #LegsMurderCase #OuidaKeeton #DaisyKeeton