Terrifying & True | Corpsewood Manor Murders (1982): Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom

The 1982 Corpsewood Manor murders took place at the handmade brick retreat Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom built in the north Georgia woods near Summerville. The couple left Chicago for forty isolated acres, creating an off-grid home filled with art, music, gardens, stained glass, and the symbols of Scudder’s unconventional beliefs.

Their hospitality and eccentricity also inspired rumors that exaggerated their wealth and cast them as dangerous outsiders. This episode follows the planned robbery that brought Kenneth Brock and Tony West to the property, the subsequent investigation and trials, and the killing of Navy Lieutenant Kirby Phelps during the perpetrators’ flight. It examines how headlines and courtroom arguments leaned on homophobia, occult imagery, and the era’s growing Satanic Panic. The ruins later acquired ghost stories, but the human tragedy remains more consequential than any haunting.

Were Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom targeted only because of imagined wealth, or did prejudice help make violence against them seem excusable?

INSIDE THIS EPISODE

- Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom’s move from Chicago
- The construction and symbolism of Corpsewood Manor
- Kenneth Brock and Tony West’s robbery plan
- The murder of Navy Lieutenant Kirby Phelps The trials and competing defense claims Homophobia, occult rumors, and Satanic Panic

We're telling that story tonight.

🎧 LISTEN NOW and subscribe for spine-tingling horror stories every week!

🎉 Unlock exclusive bonus episodes and support the show on Patreon!
👉 WeeklySpooky.com/Join

📬 Contact Us / Submit Your Horror Story!

• Twitter: @WeeklySpooky
• Facebook: facebook.com/WeeklySpooky
• Email: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com

🎵 Music by Ray Mattis 👉 Check out Ray’s incredible work here !
👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com
🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com