Layland, West Virginia

Episode 169 / 30 April 2020 / 146 min / full

A Brutal, Silly & Victimless Murder

"this is Laland, West Virginia. It's in southeastern West Virginia, kind of right in the middle of the pan there" about 0:05:56

The case: Murder of James Duncan (January 1983). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2020

Population

307

Median age

47

Median household income

$36,354

Median home value

$96,300

Two-bedroom rent

$670 a month

Cost of living

76

Religious

32.7%

Property crime

▼ about 20% low

Violent crime

▼ about 20% low

History, in brief

• Fayette County was one of the fifty counties Virginia lost when West Virginia was admitted to the Union in 1863 during the Civil War. about 0:07:33
• On 2 March 1915 coal dust ignited and Layland Mine No. 3 exploded, killing 112 people. about 0:07:56
• The explosion left dozens of men trapped underground for days. about 0:08:09
• After 96 hours five foreign mine workers came out and said forty two more living men were behind them. about 0:11:06
• Forty seven men in all were saved from the mine. about 0:12:32
• One woman was told her husband was dead and refused to plan a funeral; he crawled out of the mine a day later. about 0:13:35
• Several dead miners had more than a hundred dollars in gold hidden on them. about 0:14:33
• One miner known to carry $1,500 had nothing on him when searched, so the money was thought stolen from his corpse. about 0:15:03
• A woman recalled her mother hearing the blast and seeing caskets lined up at the foot of the mountain. about 0:15:48
• It was the largest mine disaster in Fayette County history. about 0:16:30
• A man who worked in the mines from 1948 to 1952 said it was not much safer then. about 0:16:51

Open the episode file