LYING RANDALL: MURDER ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL

by Robert Wood

Randall Lee Smith is an American murderer who was active along the Appalachian Trail in Southwestern Virginia.
On May 19, 1981, Smith murdered two 27-year-old social workers from Maine, Robert Mountford Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay. Their murders were the first double homicide to occur in the Appalachian Trail.

156 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 10, 2023

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Reviews

[CJ Earls · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give zero stars, I would. This is a very interesting story told in perhaps the most poorly written book that I have ever read. I don’t know if this is supposed to be true crime or a novel, but aside from the repeated redundancies, irrelevant material, and disjointed narrative, the anachronisms are distracting. This is about a double murder that actually occurred in 1981 on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. Contrary to statements in the book, There were no arguments about hiking boots versus trail runners or any concerns with maintaining “social” connectivity in 1981. There are also the misstatements of facts such as “Randall was knowledgeable of the surrounding area” specifically mentioning Mount Washington, which is in fact on the Appalachian Trail but in New Hampshire far from where the double murders occurred in Virginia. I could go on, but I will stop there and just advise to skip this book.