The Lawson Family Murders of Christmas 1929
Perhaps a picture really is worth a thousand words.
In December of 1929 in Germanton, North Carolina, Charles Lawson gathered his family and took them into town. He purchased expensive new clothes for his wife Fannie and seven children before having a family portrait taken. It was unusual for Charles, a tobacco farmer, to spend money unnecessarily when finances were already tight in the Lawson household.
Christmas morning was particularly busy for the Lawsons. Their eldest daughter, 17-year-old Marie woke up early to bake a cake while her 16-year-old brother Arthur was sent on an errand to gather more ammunition for hunting. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Carrie and 7-year-old Maybell planned to visit their aunt and uncle who lived in a farmhouse nearby.
As Carrie and Maybell left their house, their father was waiting behind the barn with a loaded shotgun. Charles shot Carrie and Maybell, bludgeoned them, and dragged their bodies inside the barn.
Fannie, who was sitting on the porch at the time ran into the house screaming. There was no place to hide. Charles shot his wife, killing her.
Marie and her two younger brothers, 4-year-old James and 2-year-old Raymond, were screaming and crying hysterically in the kitchen as they watched their…
