Click on any of the titles in the option box below to view the photo:

Photos contributed by Britt Todd.

The ruins of Corpsewood Manor, also known as Devil Worshiper's Mountain, are located on Taylor Ridge in the Southern Appalachian Mountains in Chattooga County, Georgia. It is about five miles east of Trion, Georgia.

Corpsewood Manor was burnt down after the grisly murders of Doctor Charles Scudder and his housekeeper/friend/lover, Joseph Odom, which took place in December 1982. Before the murders, Corpsewood Manor was Scudder's dream home, located on forty quiet acres in the mountains. Charles Scudder and Joseph Odom lived at the mansion with their two English Mastiffs (one was named Beelzebub!) for six years prior to their murders. Scudder was a pharmacology professor at Loyola University in Chicago prior to moving to Georgia. He moved to Corpsewood Manor to get away from city life. There was no electricity or running water at the house. They used kerosene lamps and generators, and had a pump to get water. Scudder and Odom raised much of their own food; they bought their other necessities with the $200/month interest from his savings account.

Scudder and Odom lived a simple life, and they were extremely nice, polite, friendly people. They appeared to be very "normal". However, both were into some wild things - Satanism, drugs, and homosexual pornography. The house was decorated with human skulls and various satanic artworks, and they had a three-floor chicken house behind the house that not only contained chickens, but also a pornographic library and "pleasure chamber".

The brutal murders of these two men took place on December 12, 1982. Kenneth Avery Brock, who knew the couple from hunting on their land (he also had sexual relations with Scudder on seven or eight occasions), met up with Tony West with the intention of robbing Scudder and Odom. Before driving to the mansion, Brock and West picked up Joey Wells, who was Tony West's cousin, and his girlfriend, Teresa Hudgins. Wells and Hudgins didn't know of the plans to rob Scudder. When the four arrived at Corpsewood Manor, Scudder and Odom welcomed them. Scudder took West, Brock, Wells, and Hudgins to the third floor of the Chickenhouse to do drugs. Odom stayed behind to clean up the dishes from dinner. After doing some drugs, Brock and West bound and gagged Scudder. They demanded money from him, but Scudder told them he didn't have any. Brock then left the chickenhouse, went inside the manor and shot Odom and the dogs with a rifle he brought with him. He then went back for Scudder, and marched him into the manor. Needless to say, Scudder was very distraught to see his friend/lover dead in the kitchen. West and Brock kept demanding money from him, and when Scudder didn't give them any West shot him six times. Scudder's last words were "I asked for this."

Raymond Williams, a friend of Scudder and Odom, discovered the murders on December 16, 1982. Eventually Brock and West were caught by gathered evidence and Teresa Hudgins's testimony.

After the murders, many people visited Corpsewood Manor. Several of these people took belongings from the house as souvenirs, but most of the people got rid of the items due to terrible luck befalling them. The manor soon got a reputation for being haunted - which is easy to understand with the murders and satanic items. Today people who visit the manor claim to hear Charles Scudder's gold harp strumming through the woods around the ruins. Others hear loud gunshots and breaking glass, while some hear Beelzebub barking.

I received an e-mail from Marlene in December 2005 with some additional information:

I am originally from Summerville, Georgia and remember the Corpsewood murders. One thing that people need to ralize is that this part of Georgia is infested with Bible beating hypocrits. I think that these people were probably just pagans or Wiccan; from what I was told, they were very quiet people and never caused any trouble. Just because they had a different religion they were labeled as devil worshipers - how ignorant. I have talked with people who met them, for instance one couple broke down on that mountain and Odum gave them assistance. I heard they were really nice. From what I understand, the killings were drug related, and the killers also wanted to rob them. I know one of the killers' sister, and she says that he was raised in a God fearing home - go figure. How come the headlines didn't read "Christians slay couple?" That town is so closed-minded and backwards, not to mention crooked. The doctor and his companion were probably two of the best people in that damn town, they should have moved somewhere else.

Where do you want to go? Select your destination: