Murder at Asheville's Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger's Killer

by Anne Chesky

Did the phrase "That's what I was wondering…" solve a murder? In the morning hours of July 16, 1936, Helen Clevenger's uncle discovered her bloodied body crumpled on the floor of her small room in Asheville's grand Battery Park Hotel. She had been shot through the chest. Buncombe County Sheriff Laurence Brown, up for reelection, desperately searched for the teenager's killer as the public clamored for answers. Though witnesses reported seeing a white man leave the scene, Brown's focus turned instead to the hotel's Black employees and on August 9 he arrested bell hop Martin Moore. After a frenzied four-day trial that captured the nation's attention, Moore was convicted of Helen's murder on August 22. Though Moore confessed to Sherriff Brown, doubt of his guilt lingers and many Southerners feared that justice had not, in fact, been served. Author Anne Chesky Smith weaves together varying accounts of the murder and investigation to expose a complex and disturbing chapter in Asheville's history.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2021

Reviews

[Heidi]

"And the judge said, "Guilty," in a make-believe trial, Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile, And said, "Supper's waitin' at home and I gotta get to it."
Not a novel, but the ending left me in tears like some novels do. The "Good Ole Boys Club" that existed then continues to make way for it now. And "then," wasn't that long ago, as lovely Reva, who plays handbells directly next to me every Wednesday evening, was a baby over the approximately 6 months in which the events of this book transpired. It leaves me sad, and angry, especially as wrongful convictions, especially among men of color, continue to happen 90 years later. Thank you, Anne Chesky Smith, for writing this book and telling one story (out of the many, many that will never be told and are forever lost in history.)