Small Towns, Dark Secrets: Social media, reality TV and murder in rural America

by Eileen Ormsby

Two true tales of small-town murders How a social media feud led to a double homicideWhen the bodies of Bill Payne and Billie-Jean Hayworth were discovered in their Mountain City, Tennessee home on January 30 2012, investigators initially assumed it was a drug deal gone awry. However, soon their attention was drawn to a vicious online feud that had been simmering in full view of the entire town of Mountain City for over a year.

What followed was an unbelievable case involving a CIA agent, a secret relationship, and an impressionable local man who had never had a girlfriend. At the center of the chaos was the Potter Buddy, Barbara, and their daughter, Jenelle. Could something as simple as unfriending someone on Facebook really lead to a double homicide?

A Bluegrass The "Wife Swap" murdersThe Stockdale Family was private and insular, the children homeschooled, their only outlet playing in the family Bluegrass band. The internet and television were banned, movies and radio programs vetted to ensure they adhered to the family’s fundamentalist Christian values.

They kept to themselves on their farm in Ohio, until an unexpected call from the producers of reality TV series Wife Swap upended their world. Was it the scrutiny of a skeptical public that led to the tragic double homicide?

Mountain City, Tennessee and Bolivar, just two small towns that harbored dark secrets... and murder

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2022

About the author

Eileen Ormsby is a lawyer, author and freelance journalist based in Melbourne. Her first book, Silk Road was the world's first in-depth expose of the black markets that operate on the dark web.

Eileen's gonzo-style investigations have led her deep into the secretive corners of the dark web where drugs and weapons dealers, hackers, hitmen and worse ply their trade. Many of these dark web interactions turned into real-world relationships, entanglements, hack attempts on her computer and even death threats from the dark web's most successful hitman network as she researched Darkest Web. She now lives a quiet life off-grid as much as possible.

Reviews

[Elisabeth Brookshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tad underwhelmed

Let me just say, I've read all of Ormsby's other books and really liked them, especially the dark web books, but I don't know what was going on here. The first case, I saw on 20/20 years ago and unless you really want to read email after email you can watch the episode (first aired in 2015) on YouTube in 38 minutes. The second story had me really going till 3:00 in the morning when it abruptly just ended with zero closure as there is none to be had. And exactly what were the dark secrets anyway? That the Stockdale family lived on a farm, played in a band, and were religious? Then I just couldn't sleep theorizing on what could have happened and why. If you are really worried about going to Hell you probably wouldn't commit a murder/suicide...so many questions. Lastly, and this somewhat petty, but I felt like the author was just phoning it in. Like a paragraph in the first case was repeated twice verbatim and names would be spelled differently at various times. Come on, let's edit a bit. The second story could be summarized in a few paragraphs as it is all over the Internet. Glad I got this free on Kindle Unlimited.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good overview of two cases that have always caught my interest. It was good but not amazing.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Eileen Hornsby new book small towns we meet in book one the Potters there’s Buddy, Janelle and Barbara. Jenelle wasn’t all together there an although in her late 20s, she was treated like a child an acted like one as well. They were new to Mountain city in Johnson county Tennessee, But that didn’t stop Janelle from walking up to almost strangers and hugging them like they had been friends forever. All you had to do would speak to her nice and the next thing you’ll be on her MySpace page as her best friend and they may even have a testimonial of how sweet you think Jenelle is and how great she is written in the same misspelled English as Janelle. A girl from the pharmacy felt bad for Jenelle and knew her cousin who was in his 30s and had never had a girlfriend might be the right fit for her. The cousin didn’t know Jenelle had already had her sights on her other cousin Billy unfortunately Billy started seeing Billy Joel and eventually it would have a son baby Tyler. As the months went along Janelle was happy to be the secret girlfriend for Jamie. He was in his 30s and he too was a little off but loved Jenelle and more than nothing but for the family to except him. This would only happen after Janelle waged war on herself by though she called “the mean girls.“ The saddest part of the story is in the beginning of the verbal battle the girls didn’t even know they were in a war with Janelle Potter. How Janelle convinced her mother and her new boyfriend Jamie that the “CIA “was emotionally invested in her happiness and wanted the Billy‘s dad is beyond me but it’s all in this book. In book to it is a little stranger a strict Dugan like family who had their own van and even stored on wife swap despite the fact they themselves didn’t watch TV and alternatively lived a very structured lifestyle with the four boys. One day the police would be called to their home and inside they were fine one son dead and the mother dead in the fiddle playing virtuoso still alive but unconscious they had no answers and no guesses as to why. I’d love these books since I’ve read this one I have since bought for others by Ilene Hornsby and find her talent for riding true crime awesome. This is definitely not a copy and paste book but one you can tell the author took time to research. If you love true crime this is definitely a great addition to your library. Please forgive any grammar or punctuation errors I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own. I was given this book by book sprout and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[L Powers (Bookish_Mum) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another great read from Eileen Ormsby. This time she shares two stories of small-town living with us. Both stories were perfectly written, keeping us hooked with every world.

The first story is about a girl called Jenelle who is consumed with immense jealously, a jealously which goes a step too far and ends up with two people dead and a child left orphaned.

The second story follows a strict Christian family who early in their lives moved out to a far and began living as much as possible off the grid. Upon starting a Bluegrass Band, they were approached to star in an episode of Wife Swap USA, which left them facing a heap of criticism due to their strict lifestyle and upbringing of their four boys. However, with their newfound fame, disaster strikes when two members of their family are found murdered and one is left critically injured. Now it's just a question of who really fired the gun and why did he do it?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I went on to do a bit of research on the two cases myself. The appendix at the end of the book was an interesting touch and it would be nice to see that more in true crime books.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Elise Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eileen Ormsby is, without a doubt, my favourite true crime author. I've thoroughly enjoyed every one of her books to date, and I always have high expectations when diving into her new releases. "Small Towns, Dark Secrets" was no exception to this! My expectations were met and exceeded once again.

As someone who consumes a lot of true crime content across a number of different platforms, it's often hard to come by books that cover cases that I know nothing about. "Small Towns, Dark Secrets" covers two cases of small town murders, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that both of these cases were entirely new to me. This is often the case with the cases that Eileen covers in her books, and it is something that I enjoy and appreciate immensely.

Eileen's writing style is captivating and suspenseful, whilst also remaining factual and respectful. A breath of fresh air amongst the dry writing style of many true crime novels.

I couldn't recommend "Small Towns, Dark Secrets", and all of Eileen Ormsby's other books, more!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Alayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first account in this book was awful, showing appalling behaviour in a small American town. I felt that the author did NOT need to include all the awful text messages because they were sickening. After the first dozen or so, I skipped them. She also included the unedited texts at the end of the book - I skipped them too! The second account was just sad, and there was no way she could positively link the murders to the Wife Swap show. The so-called "reality" tv shows are in no way "real" and I think most of us know that. The only "link" was a comment by a young boy years before the murders, and it gaslighted the mother who was murdered. So I didn't really enjoy this book and wouldn't recommend it.

[Brittani Collett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained the stories of two different murders. The first story was very well developed. It read more like a fiction book and less like a non-fiction. Which is probably why it didn’t take me much time to breeze through it. I was honestly blown away by Janelle and her mother. Honestly though, I wasn’t surprised that social media platforms played a large role here.

However, the second one seemed very short & I feel like a lot of information was left out. That could definitely be because not much is known about the motive here. I wish there was more of a tie-in back to the Wife Swap episode if that is really what played a large role in the murders.

[Fleur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about two different towns and what occurred in each, the first one "Unfriendly" allows you to see how things spiralled out of control until two people lose their lives. You know how thing are going to end, but it blew me away how with everything that was occurring nobody stepped in including the authorities of the town. It is also a good reminder about how keyboard warriors if left unchecked can cause mayhem as well. This story well and truly blew my mind of how it all escalated and people were drawn into it leaving me at times thinking how crazy do things need to get!

[Charlotte Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book by Eileen that I have finished. I am finding her others very informative, but not had the chance to finish. I loved the idea of this book, having two stories looked at in depth. The stories were very gripping, and it's clear that Eileen has researched fully. I am definitely interested in reading more from this author, and look forward to any future books from her.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Cynthia S. Robins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Sure These Two Stories Belong Together

The first story is well written and engaging. The Potter family was clearly quite a mess but it's an interesting read nonetheless. The second tale, however, is pretty meaningless. There's not much "there" there and the motive of the antagonist remains unknown. The book would have been better if the author had closed after the first tale.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting deep dive on 2 true crime cases I had already known of, but did not have knowledge of the intimate details. The story of Jenelle Potter, how absolutely batshit she was, and how everyone around her was so naive and absolutely stupid, was quite riveting. I will add the authors other books to my TBR.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - kindle unlimited ebook- what odd stories and so sad. The writing wasn’t great but the content was interesting and a very quick read. I liked that she included extras such as transcripts of the actual original communions in the first story and the Wife Swap manuals for the second story. I admit I really just skimmed them but it was nice they were included.

Cautionary tales

[Hope Vollm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. I’d heard of one of these cases but somehow not the other. I feel like we could talk about a thousand small towns in America.

I enjoyed the writing style and the way it was laid out. You hear about the murder, then work through the lead up and then trials.

[Angela Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad

Sad story of hate, jealousy and fear of HELL. fiber crime is wrong. Social media is to enjoy and share. Not treat others with disrespect. 2nd story most parents raise their children trying to give and do the best for them Still it can go wrong.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story telling

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was a sad tale and the second story heartbreaking but the author did a good job researching and retelling.

[Rebecca Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great true crime read!

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite interesting little read.