Fannie Lillian Madison & Susan Watkins

The Forgotten Files — Episode Two: Two Murders, Two SecretsTwo women. Two murders. Two courtroom dramas that captivated Virginia more than a century ago.In this episode of The Forgotten Files, Shawna and David open two forgotten murder cases from nineteenth-century Virginia. First, we travel back to Richmond in 1885, where the death of 23-year-old Fanny Lillian Madison leads investigators to a young attorney, a shocking secret, and a trial that captured national attention.Then we head west to Salem, Virginia, in 1891, where the murder of Susan Watkins in the mountains of Roanoke County sparks a fugitive manhunt, tangled relationships, questions of race and justice, and a courtroom battle that would end with a man facing the ultimate punishment.No DNA. No surveillance cameras. No modern forensic technology.Just witnesses, letters, physical evidence, newspaper headlines—and twelve people deciding whether the accused were guilty.Were the right men convicted?Or did the truth disappear somewhere inside the evidence?The files are old. The questions aren't.So grab your flashlight, open the case file, and join Shawna and David as they blow the dust off the files and begin.