The Stabbin Stylist

In December 2000, 10 year old Joshua Lee Walden disappeared from his Chattanooga, Tennessee, neighborhood. Two days later, his body was discovered in a wooded area near East Lake Park.

More than 25 years later, Joshua’s murder remains unsolved, leaving his family and community searching for answers.

In this episode of The Stabbin Stylist, Ashley and Randa revisit one of Chattanooga’s most heartbreaking cold cases, the investigation, and the unanswered questions surrounding Joshua’s death.

🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM CLEVELAND, TENNESSEE! 💀🍂

Cleveland and Bradley County, Tennessee, have no shortage of haunted history, eerie legends, and Southern Appalachian folklore. And if you grew up around here, chances are you've heard at least one of these stories!

From the mysterious Phantom Monk of Charleston to the heartbreaking history and ghost stories surrounding Nina Craigmiles and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, we're exploring some of the most fascinating local legends that have been passed down through generations.

And of course, we couldn't celebrate Halloween in Cleveland without mentioning our most famous hometown Halloween legend, Tall Betsy! 👻

Just remember, y'all better listen, or Tall Betsy might come looking for you and drop your bones down the Old Arnold Well! 🦴

Whether you're a lifelong Cleveland resident, new to Bradley County, or simply love Tennessee ghost stories, haunted places, Appalachian folklore, and local history, there's something here for you.

🎙️ Listen to The Stabbin Stylist Podcast as we uncover the true history, local legends, and spooky stories hiding in our own backyard.

🔗 https://thestabbinstylist.com

🍁 Looking for Halloween activities, fall festivals, and seasonal events around Cleveland and Bradley County? Check out the local events calendar from Visit Cleveland TN:

https://visitclevelandtn.com/events/

In October 1976, the death of four-year-old Melisha Morganna Gibson shocked Cleveland, Tennessee, and drew national attention to a child welfare system that had already received warnings about the danger surrounding her.

Melisha had been removed from her home as an infant following allegations of abuse and spent much of her young life in foster care. Just months after she was returned to her mother, Wanda Maddux, and stepfather, Ronald Maddux, Melisha was dead. Ronald and Wanda Maddux were later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 99 years and one day in prison.

But Melisha’s story did not end with a criminal trial.

Her death forced Cleveland and Bradley County to confront difficult questions about how an abused child could have been returned to a dangerous home. The case received national coverage, including an extensive article by Calvin Trillin in The New Yorker, and became part of a larger conversation about child abuse, child protective services, and the responsibility of agencies charged with protecting vulnerable children.

In Cleveland, the response was immediate. Approximately 1,000 people attended Melisha’s funeral. Local advocates pushed for greater cooperation between agencies handling child abuse cases, and the community’s child shelter was renamed the Melisha Gibson Child Shelter in her memory.

Nearly fifty years later, Melisha’s name is still remembered in Cleveland.

In this episode of The Stabbin Stylist, we look back at the short life of Melisha Gibson, the warning signs that came before her death, the investigation and trial that followed, and the lasting impact her case had on child protection in Tennessee and beyond.

In nineteenth century Chattanooga, the booming railroad industry brought more than growth to the city. Saloons, gambling halls, brothels, political corruption, and violence flourished around Chattanooga’s early red-light district—and one woman became infamous enough that her name survived long after the streets she walked disappeared.

Alice Cooper, a successful Chattanooga madam later remembered as the “wickedest woman in Chattanooga,” built her reputation inside the city’s notorious vice district during the late 1800s. But with few official records surviving, the line between the real Alice Cooper and the woman who became a Chattanooga legend has become increasingly difficult to separate. In this episode of The Stabbin Stylist, we explore what is known about Alice, Chattanooga’s forgotten red-light district, her mysterious death, and how the woman eventually buried as the “Lady of the Night” became part of Chattanooga history, Southern folklore, and local ghost stories.

As spooky season creeps into East Tennessee, we’re heading up White Oak Mountain for one of the darkest stories in Bradley County history. On March 14, 1922, Bradley County Sheriff Israel L. Smith joined an early-morning Prohibition-era moonshine raid near Owl Hollow outside Cleveland, Tennessee. Before the sun came up, Smith was shot and killed in the mountains, becoming the only Bradley County sheriff ever killed in the line of duty. What followed was a massive manhunt through the rugged mountains of Bradley and Polk counties for brothers Luther and Jasper Borin.

This week on The Stabbin Stylist, we’re digging into Cleveland, Tennessee in the 1920s, Appalachian moonshine culture, White Oak Mountain, Owl Hollow, Prohibition, and the murder that shocked Bradley County. It’s a story of hidden stills, mountain families, dangerous raids, a storm that helped erase the killers’ tracks, and a piece of local history that happened right here in our own backyard. Follow The Stabbin Stylist for more Cleveland and Bradley County history, East Tennessee true crime, Appalachian stories, local legends, and spooky thangs from around the South.

Step inside two of the most haunted homes in Tennessee as we explore the chilling history of the Lotz House and the Carter House in Franklin, Tennessee. Standing at the heart of the Battle of Franklin, these historic homes witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, leaving behind heartbreaking stories of death, tragedy, and unexplained paranormal activity. 

From ghost sightings, disembodied voices, and mysterious footsteps to the lingering spirits said to roam the halls, the Lotz House and Carter House have become legendary destinations for paranormal investigators and history lovers alike. Join us as we separate documented history from local legend while uncovering the eerie hauntings, Civil War history, and enduring mysteries that continue to make these Franklin, Tennessee landmarks some of the most haunted houses in the South.

In this episode of The Stabbin Stylist, we travel back to Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1879 to uncover the forgotten murder of Warren Henderson in Anthony Town, one of Bradley County's earliest freedmen's communities. As we explore this true crime case, we also dive into the history of Reconstruction-era East Tennessee, the Trail of Tears, Fort Cass, the growth of the railroad, and the social tensions that shaped early Cleveland. Through newspaper accounts and historical records, we piece together the deadly confrontation, the hunt for fugitive Ben Tibbs, and a case that has largely faded from local memory. If you love Tennessee true crime, Appalachian history, Bradley County history, and forgotten Southern mysteries, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Journey with us into the Blue Ridge Mountains as we uncover the tragic history of the Swannanoa Gap Tunnel near Old Fort, North Carolina. Built through solid rock using the forced labor of incarcerated workers, the tunnel became one of the deadliest railroad projects in Southern history. We explore the lives lost during its construction, the haunting folk song it inspired, and the ghost stories that continue to surround the mountain today. Is the Swannanoa Tunnel simply a piece of Appalachian history—or is something still lingering in the darkness? Don’t whistle in the woods at night.

Marty Davis was a 35 year old Episcopalian priest in Chattanooga, TN. He was the first  gay priest in the area and the youngest ordained priest in Tennessee at the time of his ordination.

On the morning of July 16, 1997, Marty was found dead on his living room floor. Marty’s murder remains unsolved and there has been very little movement on his case. 

In 2022 we decided to make it our mission to get this case reopened. Join us as we discuss the Chattanooga cold case murder of Marty Davis. 

••• This is a graphic and disturbing case. To skip scene and autopsy details skip from 14 minutes to 36 minutes. •••

Episode 100! We honestly can’t believe we’re saying that.

To everyone who has listened along with us over these last few years, thank you. We are so happy you’ve stuck it out with us through 100 episodes of true crime, dark history, spooky stories, rambling, laughing, and everything in between.

We started The Stabbin Stylist because we wanted to tell people about the history, crimes, and spooky things here in the Southeast that they may not know much about. We’ve always loved the place we come from, and we’ve always believed some of the most fascinating (and sometimes darkest) stories are the ones that happened right here in our own backyard.

For our 100th episode, we wanted to do something especially meaningful for our local listeners. 

We’re digging into one of the darkest chapters in Bradley County’s past: the Indian Removal Act, the forced removal of the Cherokee people, the Trail of Tears, and the role our own area played in it. From Fort Cass and the removal camps scattered across Bradley County to the thousands of Cherokee people who were held here before being forced west, this history happened on the land we drive past and live on every single day.

This is a story about Bradley County’s dark past, but it is also a story we believe deserves to be remembered.

Thank you for 100 episodes. Thank you for listening. And thank you for sticking it out with us all these years. We truly could not have made it this far without you.