ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A new four-part podcast series revisits the little-known 1927 death of Mary Cooper, a wealthy widow whose suspicious death rocked Asheville’s Montford neighborhood — then quietly faded from memory.
Mystery on Montford Avenue is a special presentation from Shannon Ballard, creator and host of Southern Mysteries, a biweekly podcast that has explored overlooked Southern history and true crime stories since 2017. With the tagline, “Sometimes the mystery is: why haven’t you heard the story?” Ballard focuses on telling stories that deserve to be remembered.
A resident of the Asheville area, Ballard says this story hit close to home.
“Montford holds a special place in my heart,” she shared. “It’s one of Asheville’s most beautiful and intriguing neighborhoods. But as I dug into this case, I realized how much of Mary Cooper’s story remained untold. There were too many twists and unanswered questions to cover in just one episode. That’s when I knew it had to be something more.”
Mary Cooper’s sudden death became one of the most sensational criminal cases in Asheville at the time. What began as a quiet tragedy spiraled into headlines, accusations and a courtroom spectacle that divided the city. A suspect was arrested and put on trial — but questions remain about what really happened on Montford Avenue.
The case lingered in the city’s collective memory for years. In 1936, during the investigation of another high-profile Asheville case — the murder of Helen Clevenger — newspaper editorials referenced the Cooper mystery as a cautionary example of justice delayed.
“Mary Cooper’s story was never fully resolved,” Ballard said. “The fact that it still haunts Montford nearly a century later says a lot about the power of memory — and mystery — in a place like Asheville.”
Mystery on Montford Avenue draws from historic newspaper reports, court documents and archival research to carefully reconstruct a story that once gripped the city. Ballard’s deeply researched narration brings to light the people at the center of the case and the neighborhood that couldn’t let it go.
All four episodes of Southern Mysteries Serial: Mystery on Montford Avenue are available now at southernmysteries.com and on all major podcast platforms.