Ashe might seem like a sleepy, rural county on the west end of the state, but back in the early 80’s there was some big city style intrigue going on there. It’s a tale of dirty cops, drug running, motorcycle gangs, and mafia style hits that culminated in a flashy stuntman from Nashville being lowered into the old Ore Knob copper mine to retrieve a couple frozen bodies.
The whole story is so convoluted it’s too much to tell in a blog post, but author Rose M Haynes succinctly lays out the details in her book The Ore Knob Mine Murders: The Crimes, the Investigation and the Trials. It’s very methodically researched and written and takes a couple pages to get into, but it’s the only complete account of the story. For someone interested in local history, it’s definitely a must read.
The Ore Knob Mine Murders of Ashe County
The mine is about a mile over the mountain from our house. Gloria and I are both going to read the book.