Six Inches Deeper: The Disappearance of Hellen Hanks

by William Rawlings

On August 31, 1972, Hellen Hanks, a pretty thirty-four-year-old mother of three disappeared from her place of employment at Wilcox Advertising in Valdosta, Georgia. After a brief investigation by local and state authorities, the case went cold. In the fall of 1980, a farmer clearing a field south of town discovered a buried object, a box containing the dismembered remains of the missing woman. After several months of investigation, police arrested "Foxy" Wilcox, his son Keller Wilcox, and two long-term African American employees of Wilcox Advertising. Keller was charged with Hanks's murder, and the others with concealing a death. The Wilcoxes were members of a prominent and wealthy Valdosta family. To defend their case, they hired famed defense attorney Bobby Lee Cook. Keller Wilcox's murder trial in January 1982 pitted Cook against a local prosecution team led by district attorney Lamar Cole. The case against Wilcox was entirely circumstantial, making the outcome uncertain. After a trial marked by controversy and conflicting testimony, Wilcox was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, all the while proclaiming his innocence. In 1985 he was freed by a federal judge based primarily on the harsh interrogation of the black witnesses. The true story of this horrific murder has all the elements of a work of suspense fiction: money, power, sex, race, and the haves vs. the have-nots. Multiple lives were forever changed. The outcome would have been totally different if the box had been buried only six inches deeper.

Genres: Crime

256 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2021

Reviews

[Renee Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

SIX INCHES DEEPER is a great read. A well written account of the death of Hellen Hanks. Based on the actual timeline involved in Ms. Hanks disappearance and murder.

[Lauren Linn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting only because it is a local story.

[Wes Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written account of a Georgia tragedy.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the research that went into this, a sort of Law & Order procedural in rural South Georgia.