
The kids at Cahawba Christian Academy crowd around a fading yearbook to get a glimpse of their unlikely hero. But if the geeky, bespectacled senior from the class of '83 is not immediately recognizable to the wider world, perhaps his name is: John B McLemore.

McLemore is the posthumous star of the blockbuster new podcast, S-Town, the critically acclaimed successor to 'Serial', the most downloaded audio show in history.

Its creator, Brian Reed, an investigative journalist and This American Life producer, met McLemore five years ago when he visited his rural Alabama home to examine an unsolved murder. Reed established that the murder never happened but developed a close friendship with the reclusive clock restorer who committed suicide in June 2015 by drinking potassium cyanide.

John B. McLemore is the central figure in the blockbuster new podcast, S-Town, the critically acclaimed successor to 'Serial', the most downloaded audio show in history. The seven part mini-series lays bare McLemore's battle with depression, his secret homosexual liaisons and the ugly skirmish for his property and possessions

The tatted up McLemore first contacted American Life podcast producer Brian Reed in 2012 urging him to investigate the son of a wealthy man who allegedly boasted about getting away with murder. But the blockbuster podcast soon morphed into an exploration of McLemore's bizarre life

The kids at Cahawba Christian Academy crowd around a fading yearbook to get a glimpse of their unlikely hero. But if the geeky, bespectacled senior from the class of '83 is not immediately recognizable to the wider world, perhaps his name is: John B McLemore

Rather than abandoning his project, he began piecing together the labyrinthine mysteries of McLemore's eccentric life, from the sprawling maze he built in his garden to his rumored fortune in buried gold.

The resulting seven part mini-series lays bare McLemore's battle with depression, his secret homosexual liaisons and the ugly skirmish for his property and possessions in the absence of a will. The setting for this twisting, turning narrative is S-Town, or 'S**t town', McLemore's unflattering nickname for his tiny hometown of Woodstock, which he derides as a hotbed of racists, rednecks and corrupt cops.

More than 16 million people downloaded S-Town in the first week after its release with fans across the globe pouring over every facet of McLemore's life.

But the series has polarized opinion among Woodstock's 1,500 inhabitants, with many torn between their admiration for Reed's storytelling and unease at being thrust into the national spotlight.

'I've listened to it three times. The story is well told, well investigated and they have a pretty good read on things,' says Jeff Dodson, the mayor of Woodstock and a one-time business partner of McLemore. 'But it wouldn't have mattered where John lived because S**t Town is his world, not ours.'

Others, like Woodstock's veteran Chief of Police Len Price, roll their eyes at the mere mention of S-Town. 'It's a bunch of bulls**t. I haven't even listened to it,' he tells DailyMail.com. 'We got a pretty good little town here. These are pretty good people.

The reclusive clock restorer, here at the entrance to his elaborate maze, committed suicide in June 2015 by drinking potassium cyanide

DailyMail.com can reveal that friend Tyler Goodson, who helped John build the maze, may not have been the only alleged intruder accessing the property, after McLemore's death, with reports circulating locally about S-Town fans creeping through woodland to catch glimpses of McLemore's house and maze

McLemore's intricate hedge maze has adjustable gates for 64 possible solutions

S-Town producer Reed said that throughout work on S-Town he was drawn to how different McLemore was from other people. 'Being with him really felt like really being off the grid in a way that the normal rules of society don?t totally matter, and he created that feeling'

S-Town chronicles an alleged murder in Bibb County, but changes direction to place McLemore at the center

An online 'Save the Maze' campaign is dedicated towards finding a way to preserve the acre-wide labyrinth although recent shots posed online show the once pristinely manicured hedgerows already looking shabby and overgrown

The maze today has not been tended to.. Ionically the land is now owned by 54-year-old Kendall Burt, father of Kabrahm who McLemore had suspected of murder

'John, well he was different. Probably a genius but odd as they come.'

Despite his apparent scorn for Woodstock, McLemore spent his entire life in the tumbledown, wooden home without TV or air conditioning that he shared with his mother, Mary Grace.

John B as he was known to friends, was schooled at the private Cahawba Christian Academy in the neighboring town of Centerville where his photo still hangs in the hallway to this day. The then-teenager looks as clean-cut and studious as any of the fellow class of '83 graduates posing beside him, nothing like the disheveled, heavily tattooed figure with pierced nipples that he became in middle age after surrounding himself with a coterie of hard-drinking, younger men.

By then McLemore had alienated most of his former friends by subjecting them to endless profanity-laced lectures about climate change and societal breakdown. When they tuned him out he would resort to calling police through the night to leave lengthy messages complaining about the townsfolk.

'He was normally fussing about neighbors or gunshots. He kept on going until the tape ran out,' revealed Price.

Faye Gamble, the former town clerk of Woodstock and the last person to speak with McLemore before he killed himself, says he had a brilliant mind but no social skills. 'He had so much negativity but his intelligence put him above most other people,' she told DailyMail.com.

'I knew he was not a Christian like I am. I would say "if you read my bible I will read your articles". But he never did.'

McLemore first contacted Reed in 2012 urging him to investigate 'the son of a wealthy man who allegedly boasted about getting away with murder.' But while the alleged murderer, 24-year-old Kabrahm Burt, freely admitted on tape to badly beating a man in self-defense it transpired that the supposed victim had made a full recovery.

McLemore's suicide at age 49, however, marked the turning point for S-Town as it morphed from a murder mystery to an exploration of his eccentric life and character.

Reed learned that despite his dysfunctional reputation, McLemore was revered among the world's dwindling community of horologists, who study the science of time and clock making.

Contemporaries perplexed by ancient, dilapidated clocks would travel across the country to his dusty, cluttered workshop, where they watched in awe as McLemore handcrafted tiny parts without plans or diagrams to breathe new life into their rusted mechanisms.

He never completed college but nonetheless spent decades creating an ornate, bespoke sundial for his favorite teacher, Tom Moore, who can be heard breaking down in tears at the sheer, dazzling beauty of the gift as he showed it to Reed, describing McLemore as 'one of the most incredible people' he had ever met.

As well as forging lifelong friendships with horologists and academics, it transpires the mercurial McLemore has also enjoyed brief but passionate gay relationships without ever finding the lifelong partner who may have teased him out of shell or persuaded him to leave behind his quiet, homely life taking care of Mary Grace and his dozens of rescued dogs.

He was also notorious for practicing a dangerous, outdated gold plating technique named 'fire gilding' that likely exposed him to toxic levels of mercury, a possible explanation for his depression and suicide.

The then-teenager looks as clean-cut and studious as any of the fellow class of '83 graduates , nothing like the disheveled, heavily tattooed figure with pierced nipples that he became in middle age

McLemore was notorious for practicing a dangerous, outdated gold plating technique in his work on clocks named 'fire gilding' that likely exposed him to toxic levels of mercury, a possible explanation for his depression and suicide.

Tyler Goodson at his home in Woodstock, Alabama, holding Pipsqueak, one of John B. McLemore's dogs that Tyler rescued after John died

Goodson regarded McLemore as a father figure and insists he was promised the entire 148 acre estate, complete with the exotic flowers, orchards and the giant hedge maze the two men build together

Reed learned that despite his dysfunctional reputation, McLemore was revered among the world's dwindling community of horologists, who study the science of time and clockmaking.

He was also notorious for practicing a dangerous, outdated gold plating technique named 'fire gilding' that likely exposed him to toxic levels of mercury, a possible explanation for his depression and suicide.

Perhaps most intriguingly of all, Reed heard rumors that McLemore was sitting on a vast fortune in gold bullion after 'de-banking' his wealth because of his mistrust of financial institutions. But as for its whereabouts, he had remained silent save from ringing Gamble on the night of his death to say there was gold bar in a freezer, wrapped in a towel. It was never found.

Gamble, a 63-year-old payroll administrator with five grandchildren, was on the line when McLemore poisoned himself on his front porch, telling her 'if you call the cops I will kill them.'

'He said tonight is the night. I'm going to drink potassium cyanide,' she told DailyMail.com. 'I heard him drink the stuff. I heard his body hit the floor and his phone bounce.'

Gamble raced to the McLemore property but insists she only dashed inside briefly to evacuate 88-year-old Mary Grace, who suffers from dementia, not to search for gold.

Len Price backs her version of events and says his men immediately sealed off the property to prevent anyone else from breathing in toxic fumes. 'People who don't know me think I took it,' says Gamble, who has taken down all her social media accounts. 'I'm not angry because I think it's ignorance. But I do think the podcast left my reputation hanging.'

Despite his apparent scorn for Woodstock, McLemore spent his entire life in the tumbledown, wooden home without TV or air conditioning that he shared with his mother, Mary Grace

A secret passage near the maze is just one of the many mysteries in McLemore's life

As well as forging lifelong friendships with horologists and academics, it transpires the mercurial McLemore has also enjoyed brief but passionate gay relationships without ever finding the lifelong partner who may have teased him out of shell or persuaded him to leave behind his quiet, homely life taking care of Mary Grace and his dozens of rescued dogs

McLemore poses with a classmate from the Cahawba Christian Academy.Photograph: Courtesy of the Cahawba Christian Academy for DailyMail.com

While most of Woodstock has come to regard McLemore's gold as an elaborate hoax, his close friend Tyler Goodson, 26, is convinced not only that the hidden fortune exists, but that he is its rightful heir.

Goodson regarded McLemore as a father figure and insists he was promised the entire 148 acre estate, complete with the exotic flowers, orchards and the giant hedge maze the two men build together.

But his attempts to scour the site with a metal detector have landed him in a nasty legal feud with McLemore's cousin Reta Lawrence, 65, who now looks after Marcy Grace and handles her legal affairs.

Lawrence persuaded police to slap Goodson with multiple charges of theft, forgery and trespassing relating to buses, cars, lumber and tools he allegedly stole from the property and used to build a giant trailer-style house across town. The married father to four little girls maintains his innocence and the case goes to court June 16.

Woodstock Police Chief Len Price Woodstock's veteran Chief of Police Len Price, roll their eyes at the mere mention of S-Town. 'It's a bunch of bulls**t. I haven't even listened to it,' he tells DailyMail.com

'The story is well told, well investigated and they have a pretty good read on things,' says Jeff Dodson, the mayor of Woodstock and a one-time business partner of McLemore. 'But it wouldn't have mattered where John lived because S**t Town is his world, not ours'

McLemore called Faye Gamble as he was committing suicide and she was also responsible for contacting people on John's list after he died

"For the second time, I find myself embarking on an investigation at the behest of an Alabamian horologist." Ch. IV https://t.co/i1MOojQ5E7 pic.twitter.com/bFwxrEOw2W — S-Town Podcast (@stownpodcast) March 31, 2017

DailyMail.com can reveal that Goodson may not have been the only alleged intruder accessing the property, with reports circulating locally about S-Town fans creeping through woodland to catch glimpses of McLemore's house and maze.

There is even an online 'Save the Maze' campaign dedicated towards finding a way to preserve the acre-wide labyrinth although recent shots posed online show the once pristinely manicured hedgerows already looking shabby and overgrown.

Ironically the land is now owned by 54-year-old Kendall Burt, father of Kabrahm, and part owner of several local businesses, including K3 Supply and KyKenKee Lumber, along with his brothers Keefe and Kyle.

Burt has installed gates and no trespassing signs after buying the land from Lawrence and her husband Charles, 57, to harvest for timber.

He was unavailable for comment when DailyMail.com visited his workplace but the brief taped interview he gives Reed in S-Town make plain his thoughts on McLemore and his giant puzzle with adjustable gates for 64 possible solutions.

McLemore first contacted Reed in 2012 urging him to investigate 'the son of a wealthy man who allegedly boasted about getting away with murder.' But while the alleged murderer, 24-year-old Kabrahm Burt (above), freely admitted on tape to badly beating a man in self-defense it transpired that the supposed victim had made a full recovery

The series has polarized opinion among Woodstock's 1,500 inhabitants, with many torn between their admiration for Reed's storytelling and unease at being thrust into the national spotlight

McLemore had alienated most of his former friends in Woodstock by subjecting them to endless profanity-laced lectures about climate change and societal breakdown. When they tuned him out he would resort to calling police through the night to leave lengthy messages complaining about the townsfolk

Tyler Goodson's mobile tattoo shop.

Brian Reed, an investigative journalist and This American Life producer, met McLemore five years ago when he visited his rural Alabama home to examine an unsolved murder. Reed established that the murder never happened but developed a close friendship with the reclusive clock restorer who committed suicide in June 2015 by drinking potassium cyanide.

John B. McLemore's grave in the Green Pond Presbyterian Church Cemetery

McLemore's grave in the Green Pond Presbyterian Church Cemetery

'I would like to see the maze reach maturity but I probably will not put forth the effort or the money to do so,' he dryly tells Reed. 'But it's a real neat concept.'

Kendall and his brothers are perhaps those with the biggest axe to grind against S-Town, which allows McLemore free reign to accuse Kabrahm of murder and hint that the names of his father's various business are a nod to the Ku Klux Klan.

The Burts' payroll include Jeff Dodson's 24-year-old adopted African American son, Rahsheen, a fact Dodson suggests is inconvenient for those trying to paint his longtime friend as racist.

Dodson cautions listeners to think twice before believing everything John B McLemore has to say from beyond the grave. 'There's a John B McLemore type in every town in America,' he adds. 'Ours just happened to get popularized.'