gun. The pair were brothers, living in a trailer
on the property of Hyatt and her father; according to a Tuscaloosa News article dated July 18, 1959, Hyatt told police that the
pair had sexually abused her and physically
abused her father, were drinkers and arguers
and, at some point, Hyatt had enough. After
shooting both men, Hyatt took an axe and
dismembered the bodies, before distributing
the remains in various locations between Anniston and Gadsden.
The bodies were undisturbed until a man
looking for berries found a torso instead, according to another Tuscaloosa News article,
dated March 13, 1960. A housewife found
the second torso near her secluded home
soon after, and the police went on a search
for something that could tie either body to
an identity. Eventually the missing Harper
brothers were submitted as possibilities; by
the end of the inevitable interview with the
Hyatt family concerning their disappearance,
Viola was in custody.
Hyatt was a charismatic figure from then on;
according to the same March 13 article, her
court-appointed attorneys were quoted as
saying, “She’s willing to talk to everybody but
us.” Viola granted interviews, participated in
court proceedings with a “chipper” attitude
and seemingly felt no remorse for the crime
she readily confessed, so much that the courts
had doctors certify her sanity to preserve the
legitimacy of the trial. She was found guilty
and sentenced to two life sentences with
a chance at parole in ten years; she was released almost immediately after the decade
passed in 1970.
Hyatt quietly lived out the rest of her life in
INSIGHT
Jacksonville, passing away at Jacksonville
Hospital in 2000, leaving a gruesome legend
in her wake.
THE PLAY
The upcoming “To Tread Among Serpents”
takes the familiar story into a new, fictionalized account, following journalist Juanita Cohen as she investigates Rabbittown resident
Violet Haight’s murder of her boyfriend and
his brother. Haight won’t give away her motives for giving the men the axe, so Cohen
invents a story that blossoms into a media
powerhouse, paving a path for the journalist
from local newspaper articles to Hollywood,
with the sexy, dangerous (and invented) version of Haight becoming a celebrity — a position she enjoys without correcting the revised truth.
The story explores modern themes of media murder blitzes, calling cases like that of
alleged child-murderer Casey Anthony to
mind as Haight’s tale becomes legend. Perhaps intentionally, the play strays from factual basis, an ironic acceptance that in telling
stories, they sometimes grow larger than life
— a synopsis on the website of writer Kelly
McBurnette-Andronicos reveals that Haight’s
motives go beyond cruelty and abuse into
a more Hollywood direction — which may
make the tale even more effective in the telling.
“To Tread Among Serpents” runs in its first
ever production April 9-12 at Jacksonville
State University’s Stone Center Theater, at 7
PM April 9-11 and 2 PM April 12. Tickets are
$12 for adults and $8 for students, military
and kids. Call the box office at 256-782-5648
or click here to purchase tickets online. ✻
April 2015