On November 11, in High Point, a murder captures the attention of the community. Back in 1924, a double homicide shook the town when two young men from Tennessee, Everett DeVone and Charles Montooth, were found shot to death and dumped in Deep River, just outside the town’s limits. The alleged perpetrator was a young man from High Point named Duncan Culp, who was turned in by his teenage girlfriend, Zera Durham.
The High Point Enterprise first reported the story on October 28, 1924. Durham revealed that Culp had shot DeVone months earlier on Valentine’s Day, and later dragged the body into the woods, leaving her to find her way home alone. She also implicated Culp in the death of DeVone’s pal, Montooth.
Durham provided crucial information to the police by disclosing that Culp had shown her the bodies of the two victims anchored to a rope near Deep River. Despite Culp’s denials and Durham’s repeated claims of telling the truth, the bodies mysteriously disappeared, leading to doubts about her credibility.
Subsequently, it was discovered that both DeVone and Montooth were alive, and Culp was released from police custody. Durham tried to cover her initial accusation by claiming she had been drugged and pointing the blame at another man, Will Owens, who she accused of taking her to see a body and drugging her. Police dismissed her story as another fabrication and committed to sending her for a mental health evaluation.
The outcome for Culp and Durham remains unknown after this bizarre turn of events, but it seems likely that their relationship did not survive the fallout from this mythical murder. Accusations of murder can certainly put a strain on any relationship.
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