In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colorful weekly newspapers, <i>The Ford County Times</i>, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.<br><br>The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison. <br><br>But in Mississippi in 1970, &quot;life&quot; didn't necessarily mean &quot;life,&quot; and nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.