Blue Ridge True Crime
Podcast Description
Appalachian true crime stories and history, examining crimes and stories from the notorious to the obscure, from frontier times to modern-day mysteries.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
Focuses on criminal history and folklore within Appalachia, with episodes detailing both famous and obscure crime stories, highlighted by discussions such as the life and legend of Otto Wood, exploring themes of myth-making and cultural impact in Appalachian balladry.
Appalachian true crime stories and history, examining crimes and stories from the notorious to the obscure, from frontier times to modern-day mysteries.
In this episode, we examine the lives of two legendary North Carolina hermits: David Greer, the Hermit of Bald Mountain, and Robert Harrill, the Fort Fisher Hermit.
David Greer became a hermit due to unrequited love and became famous for the murder of Holland Higgins.
Robert Harrill left a state mental institution in 1955 and hitchhiked to Fort Fisher, where he lived for 17 years. His mysterious death in 1972 may have been a murder. Some saw him as a modern-day Henry David Thoreau.
00:00 Intro
01:36 The Murder of Holland Higgins
03:50 A Deranged Trial
05:48 David Greer Facts and Folklore
06:30 The Poll Tax Incident
07:18 Greer’s Life on the Mountain
09:17 The Death of David Greer
11:25 The Fort Fisher Hermit
13:53 Surf, Sand, and the Wild Man
15:15 Hurricanes
16:16 People Problems
17:46 The Hermit Business
19:40 The Hermit’s Mysterious Death
22:13 Harrill’s Legacy
23:16 Epilogue
Shout out to Listener Cheryl W for suggesting the change in intro music.
For more info click the links below:
William Holland Higgins Gravestone and Greer’s Indictment
My Medium article on Robert Harrill
Blue Ridge True Crime Substack
Check out the Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube channel.
Buy my book, written with my friend Scott Lunsford:
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