Early Graves by Thomas H. Cook (December 1990)

I hope she fries…
Review by Kim Cantrell

….as did everyone else who read this book of Judith Neelley’s, who along with her husband Alvin, committed some of the most vicious crimes against 13-year-old Lisa Ann Millican and 22-year-old Janice Kay Chapman.

While focusing mainly on the rape, torture and horrific murder of Millican, readers are always invited to a bird’s eye view of how investigators and prosecutors worked hard to make sure this cold, calculating female was put to death; as well as her loser of a husband.

And apparently the Judge agreed when he trumped a jury vote of 10 to 2 for life in prison without possibility of parole and sentenced Judith Neelley to death. 

Living within miles of Judith’s hometown, I enjoyed reading Early Graves. It’s always interesting to recognize many landmarks and some of the people involved in her arrest in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Yet the book is a little outdated, as today, Murfreesboro is no longer the seedy little town the author described but a thriving metropolitan that has almost merged with Nashville, the country music capital just 30 miles North.

I most definitely recommend reading Early Graves by Thomas Cook. Well-written, fast-paced, and thoroughly researched, it’s one that’ll captivate readers from beginning to end.

Ready to read it? Here’s where you can find it:
            

In 1999, Alabama Governor Fob James commuted Judith Neelley‘s death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now, at age 46, she remains behind bars at Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka, Alabama.

In October 2005, Alvin Neelley died at the age of 52 while undergoing surgery. At the time of his death, he was incarcerated at the Bostwick State Prison in Hardwick, Georgia.