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Description

In late November of 1989, the burning body of a 33 year old woman was found in a wooded area in the Mississippi Delta. Olivia Browning was the ex-wife of a prominent planter’s son named Ralph Hand III. Local gossips said that though Ralph and Olivia divorced, they had a passionate but toxic relationship and couldn’t stay away from each other.

After Ralph confessed, the media gushed about this southern gothic soap opera, to the detriment of Olivia’s character. Did public perception as well as the Hand family’s political connections influence the justice Olivia’s family got for her murder?

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Show Notes

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley

Researched and written by Haley Gray & Erica Kelley

Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner

Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio

Edited by Chaes Gray of Gray Multimedia

Episode Suggested by: Jennifer Wood

Sources

  1. https://www.djournal.com/news/man-convicted-of-killing-his-ex-wife-dies-in-glendora/article_469febd7-3b3e-56f7-b904-3249ae6ca028.html

  2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137176313/ralph-thomas-hand

  3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41331692/olivia-browning

  4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/282881735/?article=d91320f9-25dd-4ba8-a166-e70829c1d2fe&focus=0.032750547,0.08342364,0.37022054,0.2027833&xid=3355&_ga=2.96047580.1179498627.1615482614-1789801159.1610661381

  5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/268432249/?article=77139630-5708-447b-ae39-8bcac12c5407

  6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/237771770/?article=9ca4b288-ce91-42d7-b367-b89f1a535802

  7. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/clarionledger/obituary.aspx?n=ralph-hand&pid=177789055&fhid=13790

  8. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113410/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt

  9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/237771640/?terms=ralph%20hand&match=1

  10. https://www.newspapers.com/image/268410259/?terms=ralph%20hand&match=1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/268410772/

  11. https://www.newspapers.com/image/237771728/?terms=ralph%20hand&match=1

  12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/268430349

  13. https://www.newspapers.com/image/237763998/?terms=ralph%20hand&match=1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/237764031/

  14. https://www.newspapers.com/image/183681156/?terms=ralph%20hand&match=1

  15. https://www.newspapers.com/image/183680619/?terms=ralph%20hand&match=1

  16. https://www.newspapers.com/image/400159713/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/400159826

  17. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/09/04/the-delta-prince-and-his-doomed-princess/e0895ec9-e70a-4f5b-afab-2c3b29c9d3e2/

  18. https://www.newspapers.com/image/268599393/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1

  19. https://www.newspapers.com/image/181952850/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1

  20. https://www.newspapers.com/image/181959216/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1

  21. https://www.newspapers.com/image/181959073/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/181959216

  22. https://www.newspapers.com/image/268438049/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1

  23. https://www.newspapers.com/image/271557467/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/271557529/

  24. https://www.newspapers.com/image/185246791/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/185246977/

  25. https://www.newspapers.com/image/185066252/?terms=ralph%20hand%20iii&match=1

  26. https://www.newspapers.com/image/275572553/, https://www.newspapers.com/image/275572648/?terms=olivia%20nelson%20browning%2025%20million&match=1

  27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallahatchie_County,_Mississippi

  28. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendora,_Mississippi

  29. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Delta

  30. The Lifetime movie based on Olivia Browning's murder: https://archive.org/details/inthenameofloveatexastragedy1995/In+the+Name+of+Love+A+Texas+Tragedy+(1995).mpg