Why is the Fleming-Neon, Kentucky area so murdery, by episodes?

Fleming-Neon sits in the south-east corner of Kentucky, in Letcher County, on the border with Virginia, and it exists because of coal. The Elkhorn Coal Corporation established it in 1913 to house miners at its first big mine, which took its name from the company's president. A nearby settlement called Chip folded into Fleming, which became the centre of the local coal towns, and coal was hauled out by train. In 2017 the population was 728.

The Fleming-Neon area runs out to Pound, seven miles away and just over the Virginia line, where dancing without a permit has been banned since 1981, and to Raccoon at the far edge. Three episodes hold seven murders between them, spread across the decades: 1971, 1981, two cases in 1985, then 1986. Episode 38 carries four of the seven in a single year; the others add one and then two. That is enough for first in Kentucky and fortieth overall.