Chapter 1: What family story sets the stage for the episode?
Sometimes, in moments of crisis, it's instructive to look back in time, to think anew about the old family stories we once found so amusing. Like the night of the Shrine Dance in Conway, South Carolina, way back in 1988. Family stories have a way of fusing fact and fiction together after a few dozen tellings, and this is one of those.
It was getting late, the story goes, and Chris was getting antsy. He'd wanted to speak with Nancy's father, but he knew the timing needed to be right. When he finally saw his chance, Chris asked O'Neal Cannon to step outside.
And he said, Mr. Cannon, I would like to propose to your daughter, and I want to ask for her hand in marriage. And my dad said, well, son, I got something to tell you first.
What followed was a long story about Nancy and a squabble she'd once had with her brother Neil when they were kids. Something of a backyard baseball game.
Chapter 2: How did Chris Latham propose to Nancy's father?
Anyway, this is how Nancy tells it.
He said, when Nancy was a little girl, she and her brother were playing ball in the backyard. So whoever was catching was calling the strikes or balls. And Nancy happened to be catching. And when she called her brother out on a strike, he got so mad, he took the aluminum baseball bat in his hand and slammed it down on her hand that was on the ground as she was catching.
And he said, oh, Nancy screamed it.
What Chris was thinking as he listened to Nancy's father way back then, we cannot know. But listen he did, polite as any supplicant would be, as the story went on and on, until O'Neill Cannon said this.
In the middle of the night, I hear Neil screaming at the top of his lungs, and I run to his bedroom, and I see Nancy was standing on top of the bed, straddling Neil, and she had an aluminum baseball bat, and she was swinging it like Paul Bunyan chopping wood. He said, and I grabbed her and pulled her off of him, and she still threw the bat at his head.
According to family lore, Chris stood there slack-jawed as Nancy's father got to the point.
He said, well, son, I'm going to let you marry her, but I am going to tell you, if you ever hit her, don't go to sleep. And that was the prequel to our marriage.
Rather appropriate, don't you think?
I definitely think.
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Chapter 3: What insights do jailhouse phone calls reveal about the plot?
So if anybody could pull strings to make this happen, it was him.
In the end, an initial hearing of Nancy's case was put on the court calendar just six days before their divorce case was scheduled to begin. Nancy hired a lawyer and showed up on time for the late afternoon hearing.
Sullivan's Island was renovating their courthouse. So they had a little trailer off at the side is where they were holding court. And when you walk into the trailer, you are in the courthouse. You see the judge sitting at a table up front. There are a ton of chairs, my soon-to-be ex-husband sitting on a row. So we go and sit right behind him just for fun.
Because that's, you know, any time I can get like a little bit of irritation in there.
Chapter 4: Who is Wendy and what role does she play in the story?
As Nancy and her lawyer, a man named Rutledge, waited, they made small talk weekend plans. Nancy remembers telling him she might go to her dad's place. As they talked, Nancy noticed her husband sitting right in front of her, furiously tap, tap, tapping on his phone. But she didn't notice, as court was called to order, Chris used his phone to snap photos of her.
Well, the judge said, you know, who would like a jury trial? Rutledge grabs my arm, stands me up. We do, sir. And the judge said, okay, you're going to have a jury trial. Come back X day. Rutledge is like, yes, sir. Thank you so much. So once we say we want a jury trial, Chris Latham jumps up. You can see he's so irritated. And he starts walking to the door as fast as he can.
And I was like, well, there you go. I guess I won. I've irritated the bejesus out of him.
As she and her lawyer headed out, said Nancy, they noticed that Chris was standing by the door, still tap-tapping on his phone.
As we walk up, he said, here, let me get that. And he pushes the door open for us. We walk out, and as we're walking down, Rutledge said, well, that was mighty considerate. And I kind of look back, and there's Chris watching us walk away.
What was Chris Latham looking at? Who had he been texting or emailing? Nancy had no idea at the time. Only later, when she saw the hit packet splayed across Kathy Harrow's kitchen table, did she notice that the date and time of that court hearing was scribbled on the pages. So was her father's home address. Had Chris Latham somehow been communicating with the hit team that day?
Hard to say, but if he was, He was out of luck. The hitman, Sammy Yenawine, had returned to Louisville. Is that why Nancy survived? It was another restless night for Nancy Latham. She'd had so many since the plot on her life was uncovered, tossing and turning. The clock radio's red numerals seemed to mock her as she counted down the hours till daylight.
She flipped the pillow to the cool side and tried to drift off. But no, her mind kept churning, recycling the same old thoughts. She still couldn't fathom it. Her husband had actually wanted her dead. Did he still? Had he hired someone else? Someone who might be out there beyond the window, watching, waiting for a clean shot?
Chris had so much money that that was our thought during that time frame. Wendy's already arrested. Sammy's arrested. Aaron's arrested. What kind of evidence are they going to turn over? And so does he feel like I don't have anything else to lose if they arrest me? Should I go ahead and line something up now? And I think that was the fear.
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Chapter 5: What evidence links Chris Latham to the murder plot?
Sitting in silence all this time is painful.
He was in his early 50s when I met him, with sandy gray hair and sky blue eyes, and a soft southern voice that seemed designed to radiate calm. And I want my side of the story told as well. What do people not understand about you and your situation that they should know?
There's a lot. You know, everything that's gone on has been a media frenzy. There's only one side of this story that's been out there, and the media, in my opinion, has taken this, and I've been tried and convicted in the media long before this ever started.
And what was Chris Latham's side of the story? Well, it begins with adultery. Nancy's adultery. Had his divorce trial not been sidetracked by a certain murder plot, said Chris, his legal team would have proved that in court.
Yes, we had proof. What was your proof? Absolute proof. Well, number one is there were 9,355 phone calls. There were cloaking numbers that they used that we proved. Also that various emails back and forth between her and her paramour.
Pot calling the kettle black? I asked him about those reports from Nancy's private eyes of a woman sneaking into his hotel room, staying all night. Well, that, said Chris, was a simple misunderstanding. You're saying that's not true?
No, I'm not saying that that's not true. We spent some time... Do I need to get into this? See, I don't want to get in the weeds here.
I mean, she makes a claim, you make a claim. I don't know which one is right. That person was being a friend. And so it goes. He said, she said. Bitter exes squabbling over blame and pride and the size of the settlement package. Except in this case, all that was now moot. Chris was in jail accused of trying to have his wife killed. What's it like to be accused of plotting to kill your wife?
You know, I think it's horrible. It truly is. But I've been blessed with the people, friends, and family that truly know me. It's been remarkable how they've stood beside me throughout all this time. And I feel truly blessed that they've done that. They know who I am. They know that I would never even think, I have no desire, none whatsoever, to harm Nancy.
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Chapter 6: How did Nancy Latham react to the unfolding events?
I watched as Wendy turned around and smirked to her family. And I remember Chris kind of got this look on his face like, yeah, we're getting off.
What was going on in here in your head?
In my head, I thought, oh my gosh, this is not good. This is not good.
Murder and Magnolias is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Tim Beecham is the producer. Brian Drew is the audio editor. Thomas Kemmon is assistant audio editor. Keone Reed and Reese Washington are associate producers. Susan Nall is senior producer. Adam Gorfain is co-executive producer. Liz Cole is executive producer. And David Corvo is senior executive producer.
From NBC News Audio, Bryson Barnes is technical director, sound mixing by Bob Mallory. Nina Bisbano is associate producer.
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