From Crime Reporter to Author: S. Thorne Harper Speaks at Birmingham Public Library Saturday About Magic City's Forgotten 1927 Murder Mystery
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| Former reporter turned author S. Thorne Harper will speak at downtown Birmingham Public Library at 11 a.m. this Saturday, August 15, about his new book, "The Alabama Tryst Murder Mystery" |
The Alabama Tryst Murder Mystery — A Local Author Event
With: S. Thorne "Sam" Harper
When: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026 | 11 a.m.
Where: Birmingham Public Library, 1st Floor Grand Commons
Address: Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place, Birmingham, AL 35203
Come hear the story behind one of Birmingham's most forgotten murder cases...and the research by a veteran former journalist that dived into uncovering it nearly a century later.
The Alabama Tryst Murder Mystery explores a nearly century-old Birmingham case that led to Alabama's first electric-chair execution
Some stories refuse to stay buried.
For S. Thorne "Sam" Harper, one of those stories is a nearly forgotten 1927 Birmingham double murder that captivated newspapers across the country and ultimately led to Alabama's first electric-chair execution.
Harper, a veteran journalist whose career has taken him from crime reporting in Los Angeles to the battlefields of Iraq, spent 15 years researching and writing his first book, The Alabama Tryst Murder Mystery: The True Story Behind Alabama's First Electric Chair Execution.
He will bring that story to Birmingham Public Library on Saturday, Aug. 15, at 11 a.m. for a special local author event in the Arrington Auditorium.
The case raises a question that still has no easy answer nearly 100 years later: Was justice actually done?
A Murder Mystery That Shocked Birmingham
In 1927, Birmingham's "Tryst Murders" became a national media sensation.
A Southern Railway official and a woman—both married, but not to each other—were found dead in a car after being shot in the head on a cold January night in a wooded area outside Birmingham.
Investigators disagreed over whether the murders were the result of jealousy, robbery or something else.
Then the investigation took a dramatic turn.
The Ku Klux Klan publicly announced that it was joining the investigation. Within days, eight Black men were arrested.
Horace DeVaughn, a Black man and former convict, eventually confessed to the murders. His confession contained inconsistencies, and his trial lasted only one day.
DeVaughn was convicted and executed less than three months after his arrest.
He became the first person to die in Alabama's electric chair.
Harper's research raises serious questions about the evidence used to convict him.
What Started Harper Down This Road?
Harper's interest in Alabama's history of capital punishment grew from his own experience as a journalist.
In 2000, he witnessed and reported on the execution of Robert Tarver Jr., an African American man convicted of murder. Harper later appeared in the PBS documentary Race to Execution, which examined Tarver's case and the role of race in capital punishment.
That experience prompted Harper to look further back. "I went back to the beginning—to Alabama's first electric chair execution," he said.
What he found led to 15 years of research. Harper discovered a case in which racial politics, the criminal justice system, the Klan and questionable evidence all intersected.
"I wanted to explore whether Alabama has progressed in terms of race and justice," Harper said. "Not very far, as it turns out."
Who Was Horace DeVaughn?
One of the central questions in Harper's book is whether DeVaughn was actually guilty.
After researching the case for 15 years, Harper has reached his own conclusion.
"I don't believe so," he said.
Harper said that aside from DeVaughn's confession, he found no credible evidence clearly establishing his guilt.
His research also revealed that investigators initially appeared to be looking at other possibilities before the investigation abruptly shifted toward DeVaughn.
The Klan's involvement added another troubling dimension to the case.
Harper describes a Birmingham and Alabama in which the Klan wielded considerable political and social influence and used intimidation and violence to enforce racial and social norms.
Understanding that environment, Harper says, is essential to understanding what happened to DeVaughn.
Reconstructing a Case With Missing Records
Harper faced another challenge while researching the book: the original court transcripts from the case are missing and presumed lost.
Instead, he turned to newspaper archives.
Accounts of DeVaughn's arrest, trial and execution appeared in several Alabama newspapers, including The Birmingham Age-Herald, The Birmingham News, The Birmingham Post, The Montgomery Advertiser and the African American-run Birmingham Reporter.
For Harper, those old newspapers represent something much bigger than historical documents.
He calls them "first drafts of history."
The disappearance of local newspapers and the uncertainty surrounding the long-term preservation of digital news archives concerns him.
"What will be the primary source of history?" Harper asks.
From Birmingham to Iraq—and Back Again
Harper's journalism career has taken him far beyond Alabama.
He began as a crime reporter in Southern California before returning to his Alabama roots and working for the Montgomery Advertiser.
He later earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Iowa.
In 2004, while working for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Harper became one of the original embedded reporters covering the Iraq War. Traveling with the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade Infantry, his dispatches and photographs appeared in newspapers across the United States and internationally.
His work earned a Knight Ridder Special Citation Award for Excellence.
He also reported from Somalia and Kosovo and produced historical research and scripts for Alabama Public Television's Discovering Alabama.
Yet after decades of journalism, it was an almost 100-year-old Birmingham murder case that became his first book.
Why This Story Still Matters
Harper believes stories have the power to connect generations.
"Everybody has a story," he said. "Stories can bind us together and create a shared history."
That idea is at the heart of The Alabama Tryst Murder Mystery.
The book isn't simply about who committed a 1927 double murder.
It is about the people involved, the institutions that investigated the case, the racial realities of Jim Crow-era Birmingham and the consequences when a justice system fails to get the truth right.
Harper also believes the story shows how far Birmingham has come.
From the era of lynchings, segregation, police violence and church bombings to today's Birmingham, he says the city has undergone enormous change.
But remembering where we came from remains important.
From Reporter to Author
After spending more than three decades telling other people's stories, what does it feel like for Harper to finally become an author? His answer is surprisingly personal.
"It means my little contribution to what I might call an empathy-based history has a chance to exist beyond my earthly years," Harper said.
That may be the best reason for readers to hear Harper tell this story.
He isn't simply bringing an old murder case back to life.
He's asking us to look at the past with empathy ... and consider what it can teach us about the present.
Hear the Story at Birmingham Public Library
Harper will discuss The Alabama Tryst Murder Mystery and the research behind the book during a special local author event at the Birmingham Public Library this Saturday, August 15, at 11 a.m.
If you've never heard of the Tryst murders, Harper believes the story is worth hearing because it raises uncomfortable questions about race and justice that remain relevant today.
To learn more about Harper's book read his more in-depth Q&A with fellow former journalist Roy L. Williams, PR specialist for the Birmingham Public Library.
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