The Pottses—Murder in the Hills

Part 2

February 1987. 

My mother calls with news about the Pottses. Did one of them pass away? I ask.
  

Sure did, says Mary Belle. Mr. Potts had been stabbed to death at 1:30 in the afternoon the day before, when he opened the door to . . . someone. They stabbed Mrs. Potts, too. She was in the hospital in "guarded condition" but she'd be okay.
 

My god.

Mr. and Mrs. Potts were in their late 70s at the time. It had been ten years since they'd opened the door to me the night I wrecked my Chevy.

* * *
 

There was some sketchy information, sources unclear; things never did seem to get any clearer either. Police described the attacker as a young white male. (Not much help. There are a lot of those in Appalachia. And saying "white" is unnecessary—nearly everyone is white. With a little Delaware or Cherokee in them.) 

Mrs. Potts had been lying on the couch when she heard a scuffle. She ran out front to see her husband being stabbed over and over on the porch. That's when they entered and stabbed her. Mrs. Potts didn't know how she had gotten clear back into the kitchen, but she called the closest neighbor (two miles away), saying, I need help. Hurry, come down! He's stabbing both of us!
 

It was reported a brown sedan had been seen in the driveway around noon. Mrs. Potts reported the attacker wanted money. No one knew why he had up and left with one dead, one alive, and no money. 

* * *

Eventually, people got to wondering. . . . Why would the guy leave off Mrs. Potts when she was alive and running for the phone? Why would he not have searched for money?

Where would this young male have come from? You had to drive miles off I-77 to get on that road. No one from outside went down it randomly. And if he did, why would he pick such a poor little home to go into for money? With a knife he was so willing and ready to use? Mr. Potts, at 79, wouldn't have given much of a fight. . . .

My mom told me that some people were saying Patty Potts was involved. Mrs. Potts' sister had had a baby when she was in her teens. A young Mr. and Mrs. Potts adopted Patty but in her teens she turned into a real piece of work. People said the Pottses were afraid of Patty. That she hated them. Patty was an adult now, living in Zanesville, and rumored to be into drugs and bad boyfriends—bad white males.

Time passed: one year and then getting onto another before there were new developments. . . . Astonishing new developments.

Part 3 (of 3)
. . . to come soon . . .