A Deed, a Divorce, and a Death

Hometown Murders & Mysteries | December 2021

Image: ©Kirly Lis | Adobe Stock • Post Image Design: jrgrigsby

In late 1937, Eliza Tarter walked out of Pulaski County Circuit Court with a fresh divorce decree in hand. Just one month later, she was the sole heir to a 400-acre estate... and her wealthy employer, local attorney Simpson Phelps, was dead.

What followed was a saga that would grip the Commonwealth for nearly a year: an exhumation, lab tests, FBI involvement, and a sensational trial that put Eliza at the center of a suspected poison murder. Was she a cunning killer, a grieving caretaker, or simply a woman caught in the wrong story at the wrong time?

In A Deed, a Divorce, and a Death, we trace the steps of a scandal steeped in local power, hidden relationships, and a paper trail that raised more questions than answers. This isn’t just a tale of arsenic and accusation—it’s a look at how truth can be obscured by timing, testimony, and small-town politics.

🎧 Listen in as we revisit the courtroom drama, the divided jury, and the enduring mystery surrounding the Phelps Farm. Because in Pulaski County, the past never truly stays buried.

🔗 Available from Amazon or Audible.