1880
In 1880 George Washington Parton left his home in Georgia by horse-drawn buggy to sell sewing machines, and ended up in Decatur County, where he married a woman named Maggie.
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FILE 732 / 4 September 2026 / 73 MIN / express
We're going to Parsons, Tennessee... this is in Decater County about 0:05:01
In 1880 George Washington Parton left his home in Georgia by horse-drawn buggy to sell sewing machines, and ended up in Decatur County, where he married a woman named Maggie.
about 0:07:05Parton bought land on the Perryville-Lexington dirt road near the present Bear Creek church building and opened a general store, which drew cotton gins, doctors and other businesses.
about 0:07:59He applied for a post office to be called Partonville after himself; it was approved and he became the town's first postmaster.
about 0:08:17A railroad from Memphis was completed and ended at Perry Mount, missing Partonville by about a mile to the south, so Parton bought the first lot sold in the new town and moved his buildings there.
about 0:08:42In 1880 George Washington Parton left his home in Georgia by horse-drawn buggy to sell sewing machines, and ended up in Decatur County, where he married a woman named Maggie.
about 0:07:05Parton bought land on the Perryville-Lexington dirt road near the present Bear Creek church building and opened a general store, which drew cotton gins, doctors and other businesses.
about 0:07:59He applied for a post office to be called Partonville after himself; it was approved and he became the town's first postmaster.
about 0:08:17A railroad from Memphis was completed and ended at Perry Mount, missing Partonville by about a mile to the south, so Parton bought the first lot sold in the new town and moved his buildings there.
about 0:08:42The post office moved with him and the new town became Parsons; Partonville was gone.
about 0:08:54The town motto is 'Take pride in Parsons!'
about 0:06:54"2,462"
No direction stated.
As told in 2026 about 0:06:07
"$21,293"
Comparison: "less than half the national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2026 about 0:06:24
"$126,100"
Comparison: "extremely low". Direction: below.
As told in 2026 about 0:06:33
4.5 / 5 · average of 2
“Raised in Parsons and would not rather grow up anywhere else; a small town where everyone knows everyone, though there are few job opportunities.”about 0:09:38
“A small town where you get to know most residents within two years; friendly, with big towns and cities a 30 minute to an hour drive away, but everyone will hear about your life.”about 0:09:55
In October 1993 Timothy Barnett, known as Timmy, was a twenty-one-year-old farmer living on Wilkinstown Road off US-412 near Parsons, in Decatur County, Tennessee. They had married earlier in 1993 and had an eight-month-old daughter, Amelia Ann; Timmy also had two young sons from before the marriage.
Earlier Tim and Janice had confronted him near a small grocery store and asked him to make the cheques good; he said he would take care of them.
She hired a babysitter, Shelly, drove the back roads, stopped about two houses away and let him out in a ditch before returning to the apartment in Scott Hill. He was to telephone her when he was finished, but the Barnetts' telephone had been disconnected for unpaid bills. At about four in the morning he walked home, pale, sweaty, dirty and covered in grass.
On the road she raised the bad cheques, so he hit her with a gun, taped her hands and put her in the boot of her own Pontiac Grand Am. He went into the house, then returned to let her out, but she had kicked her way out of the boot and run to a neighbour's porch. The gun would not fire. He tackled her, took a brick from her and hit her head with it; hearing her neck pop, he thought she was dead. He then took a bush hook from a pig bucket, went into the bedroom and chopped Timmy, who was asleep, three times in the back of the head, stopping when the blood sprayed. Back outside, he lifted his sister's head and cut her throat from ear to ear to be sure. He burned wallets and clothes in a culvert, kept Tim's wallet, set the Grand Am alight and later burned it a second time with lighter fluid.
Beecham later threw them into the Forked Deer River near Jackson when she heard of the s' involvement. At about nine that morning Timmy's brother Ted let himself into the house, found Amelia crying in her crib and Timmy dead in the master bedroom, his head forced between the water bed and the frame, and called police.
Janice was still missing. Later that day a tip led officers to her body in tall grass and woods behind a neighbour's house. She had a deep cut on her left arm, a broken jaw and her throat cut from ear to ear. Her car was found burned in the Swallow Bluff area of south Decatur County, and the fire marshal found it had been burned twice. A search of the apartment on 20 October produced a two-shot Derringer that took the .22 cartridge found in the Barnetts' home, blood-stained sneakers, a pillowcase and a wash rag.
The defence blamed Michael Woody, who testified that he had nothing to do with the killings and had an alibi. Amelia was raised by Timmy's mother, Rita Barnett, who told the court that the child still called for her parents when she saw their photograph.
October 1993 / the Barnett home on Wilkinstown Road near Parsons, Tennessee
As told in the episode, on 4 September 2026.
Accused
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
about 0:14:14road
about 0:14:14body found
about 0:35:22church
about 0:07:59road
about 0:07:59home
about 0:25:34business
about 0:44:27business
about 0:50:28home
about 0:58:23landmark
about 0:41:24other
about 0:35:41hospital
about 0:18:23police
about 1:01:59