The Pressure Builds

Hookergate: Criminals and Libertines in the South

The truck stop operators feel the squeeze of Whiteheads increasing demands. Whitehead feels the pressure from a local deputy. Rodney receives backlash from unexpected sources after his initial reports are published. Tommy reveals his dark side to Janet.

Written and hosted by Lindsay Byron - goodtimesbadgirls.com

Music and sound design by Guy Kelly - guykelly.com

CAST:

Newscaster - Lauren Vogelbaum

Prosecutor - Ben Bowlin

Harold Wayne Dowdy - Joe McCormick

Janet Barker - Anney Reese

SOURCES:

All courtroom scenes come from The United States VS Joseph Whitehead, Landon Wayne Holley, and Aubrey Henderson trial trial. These transcripts are located in the National Archives in Philadelphia.

The newscast that describes Officer Moss’s unpleasant encounter with Whitehead comes from the 1977 Grand Jury Report indicting Whitehead, Holley, Henderson, Boyd, Dowdy, and Barker (“The Big Six”) on Federal RICO charges. 

The first-hand accounts from Rodney Smith come from an interview I conducted with him on January 26th, 2022.

The courtroom exchange in which Harold Wayne Dowdy describes negotiations with Whitehead comes from US Prosecuting Attorney James Hastings’s direct examination of Dowdy on Dec 12, 1977.

The courtroom exchange in which Janet Barker details the deterioration of her relationship with Thomas Barker comes from her cross examination by Defense Attorney David Epstein on December 9, 1977.

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