In this episode, we examine the lives of two legendary North Carolina hermits: David Greer, the Hermit of Bald Mountain, and Robert Harrill, the Fort Fisher Hermit.

David Greer became a hermit due to unrequited love and became famous for the murder of Holland Higgins.

Robert Harrill left a state mental institution in 1955 and hitchhiked to Fort Fisher, where he lived for 17 years. His mysterious death in 1972 may have been a murder. Some saw him as a modern-day Henry David Thoreau.

00:00 Intro

01:36 The Murder of Holland Higgins

03:50 A Deranged Trial

05:48 David Greer Facts and Folklore

06:30 The Poll Tax Incident

07:18 Greer’s  Life on the Mountain

09:17 The Death of David Greer

11:25 The Fort Fisher Hermit

13:53 Surf, Sand, and the Wild Man

15:15 Hurricanes 

16:16 People Problems

17:46 The Hermit Business

19:40 The Hermit’s Mysterious Death

22:13 Harrill’s Legacy

23:16 Epilogue

Shout out to Listener Cheryl W for suggesting the change in intro music.

Sources

Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links

For more info, click the links below:

William Holland Higgins Find a Grave Memorial

The Fort Fisher Hermit: Enigmatic Life and Mysterious Death

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Blood on the Blue Ridge on Amazon (written with Scott Lunsford)