Authored By seanphippster

A Chattanooga author’s latest book on the infamous 1982 “devil worshiper” murders in a North Georgia town will be released next month.

“The Corpsewood Manor Murders in North Georgia” by Amy Petulla offers an overview of an eccentric couple’s lifestyle in their “castle among the woods”-and their controversial murder in December 1982.

The book will be released through History Press/Arcadia Publishing Aug. 8.

All preorders made here will be autographed by Petulla.

Petulla, an attorney and owner of Chattanooga Ghost Tours, has always been fascinated with the Corpsewood case. When she began practicing law in 1986 in Georgia, she was privy to the legal side of the case. After she started offering walking ghost tours in downtown Chattanooga, she realized the general public’s knowledge of the case is more focused on the bizarre stories and alleged hauntings.

The idea for the book has always been on her mind.

“In 20 years of practicing law, there has never been a more bizarre case that I’ve heard of,” she said. “You have LSD, the church of Satanism, rumors of orgies, a hand-built castle in the middle of the woods and curses. It has everything you could want.”

According to a description Petulla wrote for the book, the story begins with Dr. Charles Scudder and his “housekeeper,” Joey Odom, in 1976. A Loyola professor, Scudder relocated to Trion, Georgia, from Chicago.

The couple was openly gay and spent much of their time building their own castle in the woods by hand and, according to the book, “filled it with Satanist symbols and named it Corpsewood after the vista of trees that greeted their arrival.”

Rumors of the two dabbling in the occult and devil worshiping were prevalent throughout the region at the time. It was November 1982 when 17-year-old Avery Brock befriended the couple while deer hunting.

Brock thought the couple’s lavish lifestyle was an indication the two were wealthy. A month later, Brock and his friend Tony West brutally murdered the couple at their home, turning a would-be robbery into a double homicide. The case put a spotlight on Trion, and “Corpsewood” became a name associated with Satanism and murder.

Items recovered from the manor following the murders only fueled this belief that Scudder and Odom were practicing Satanists.

According to an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, two human skulls were discovered, as were “miscellaneous items of witchcraft, cult paraphernalia, black candles, etc.”

But what really happened?

Petulla’s book seeks to offer a general overview of the case with voices from all sides. But she also realizes the difficult task of pleasing all parties and theorists.

Regardless, Petulla hopes to paint a “complete portrait” while maintaining objectivity.

“The people in this area are very polarized,” she said. “You will find people saying the victims were angels or devils. I don’t think anybody is saying the murderers were good guys at all, but people still have strong opinions.”

She said the book will serve as a compilation of the truth about the case.

“For people who don’t have strong feelings or ties to the case, I think they’ll find it interesting,” she said. “But there will be parts of the book that people on both sides aren’t going to be happy with.”

Nooga.com visited the dilapidated homestead in 2014. Click here for more information on the case and to view a slideshow of the site.

Extended information on the story is available from author Ken Summers via this website. And images of the original structure are available here.

Petulla said much of the paranormal elements associated with Corpsewood were omitted from the book. But to celebrate the launch of the book, Petulla is hosting a flash fiction contest at the Chattanooga Ghost Tours website. Guests can submit their own fiction for a chance to win tickets to upcoming ghost tours.