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by Robert Turek (Author)
He left home on the farm in Illinois, looking for adventure.
What he found would change the course of his short life.
In 1925, Ted Coggeshall was a young farmer from small-town Illinois - caring, hard-working, and restless. With the open road ahead, he set out to see the South, chasing sunshine and adventure. But what followed may have been one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice the nation has ever seen.
A local drifter with mob ties-Sam "Slim" Scarborough-cut a deal to save his own neck, accusing Ted and his friend of murdering a retired schoolmaster. Circumstantial evidence. Shaky motive. Just a story the State wanted to believe. Within months, Ted was convicted, sentenced, and facing Georgia's electric chair...the first white man executed in state history.
Hearing the news, his father stopped at nothing to prove his son's innocence. Thousands in Adams County signed petitions begging for mercy. The Governor never answered. Ted's final letter thanked his community and warned other young travelers to choose their company wisely.
Nearly a century later, questions still linger. Was Ted Coggeshall guilty...or was he silenced to protect someone else?
Murdered by the State of Georgia uncovers the shocking true story of a small-town boy caught in a web of lies, mob influence, and Southern justice gone wrong. It's a haunting reminder that sometimes, innocence isn't enough...and that history has a way of burying the truth right beside the body.
