There were two more murders, 15 miles away.

When police arrived, they found the telephones and electricity lines.

We have a weird homicide.

A scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird...

Our history is filled with tragic events that one would hope,

seem outlandish and barbaric with more modern eyes.

On May 15, 1916, a young man became the victim of a lynch mob, in a case that saw for the first

time a widespread distaste for, unfortunately, a common crime.

So if you like your coffee hot but your bones chilled,

sit back and start your day with a morning cup of murder.

To understand some of the details of today's story,

you must understand the backdrop from which the crime itself took place.

In the late 19th and early 20th century,

thousands of lynchings took place in the southern parts of the United States,

primarily occurring in the states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas,

and primarily against African Americans, all of which were conducted outside the legal

system, but saw little in the ways of repercussions against the guilty. We've covered a few of

these stories, so I know you are familiar by now. As the sides were clearly divided, those in support of lynchings seeking to maintain dominance over

an entire race, in the year of 1916, Waco, Texas, where today's story takes place, long associated with

crime, began clawing itself out of that reputation and began sending out delegations across the U.S.

to promote the idyllic city. In the midst of this booming economy, a black middle class emerged

along with two black colleges in hopes of providing further education for what was by this point

...