A Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton - Deb Miller Landau

Written by Deb Miller Landau
Read by Callie Beaulieu
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 56 Kbps

A riveting narrative that pieces together the life and murder of Black socialite Lita McClinton Sullivan—and the journey to bring her true killer to justice.

The murder of Lita McClinton Sullivan sent shockwaves through the affluent suburb of Buckhead, Georgia like few other crimes before it. The neighborhood, with its picturesque homes and top-tier schools, was simply not the kind of place where women were gunned down in cold blood and on their own doorstep. How many socialites had enemies so dangerous they would be murdered by a hitman pretending to deliver roses at 8:15 in the morning?

Lita was an intelligent, accomplished, and stunning Black woman from a respected Atlanta family, but her interracial marriage to soon-to-be-millionaire Jim Sullivan was still a newsworthy occurrence at the time in Macon, Georgia. There was trouble from the start. Jim’s charm couldn’t smooth over the blatant racism Lita experienced in Macon, and Jim’s behavior quickly became bizarre and controlling. At first, Jim just seemed oddly frugal, wearing his dead grandfather’s underwear and squireling away condiment packages. Then he isolated Lita from her friends and family, monitored every aspect of her life, and berated her for spending any money. He then sold his company for millions and bought a mansion in Palm Springs, Florida—without telling his wife.

It was the final straw for Lita. She filed for divorce, loaded up her belongings in a U-Haul, and did not look back. But as the legal battle over the divorce and their prenuptial agreement dragged on, the now reclusive millionaire had a chance encounter with Tony Harwood, an itinerant truck driver. As the two commiserated, Jim let slip his divorce woes. Harwood would later claim his response that he could “take care of Jim’s wife problem” for $25,000 was a joke. That was until a certified check for a $12,500 down payment appeared in his mailbox.

In A Devil Went Down to Georgia , Deb Miller Landau details the shocking events that followed; the shoddy police work the McClinton family logically still blames on racial bias; the manhunt for Jim spanning almost two decades and three countries after the DA allowed him to run; and Jim’s long-overdue conviction. The twists and turns of this trial seem never-ending, but Landau’s rigorous investigation is the first complete account of this tragic American crime and brings long-overdue recognition to Lita and her family’s fight for justice.