Just a heads up: There are a lot more pictures of smiling people involved in this story than one would expect. We don't know what in the mid-century-modern-Don-Draper-mommy's little helper-no-wire-hangers nonsense was happening in this section of post-WWII Atlanta, but all jokes aside, we're glad our girl made it out alive.
For many World War II veterans, coming back home was quite an adjustment. Partners, parents, siblings, and friends had to continue on without them during the war, and the situations they came back to often looked a bit different than the ones they had left. Such was the case for William Lee Gantt, Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia.
Just before being drafted, Bill had married Janie Venable, a 16-year-old blonde-haired girl who didn't come from much. She and her widowed mother, a seamstress, were lodgers in a Capitol View neighborhood home.
Bill and Janie had only been together for a short time before Bill enlisted in the Navy in March of 1943 and went off to fight. At the time of his departure, Janie was three months pregnant.
When Bill Gantt, III was born in September of 1943, Janie had a VMail picture taken to send to Bill, Jr. so that he might see his son.
Bill's wife was now a working woman, employed as a secretary near their home, and the couple had a toddler to provide for. Bill, Jr. struggled to find work. Bill, III, sadly, was also unemployed.
It's hard to tell exactly what went wrong between Janie and Bill, but go wrong it did. They became estranged soon after Bill's return, in July of 1946.
When couples separate, you hope they can each utilize the break to take care of themselves and examine their relationship with one another. And perhaps Bill did spend some time in July working on himself. Maybe he deleted Facebook, found a therapist who really matched his vibe, started hitting the gym... We can't know for sure, but regardless, it wasn't enough. Come August, he received divorce papers from Janie, and he did not take it well.
By which we mean, the day he was served, Bill followed Janie as she was walking back to work from her lunch break, pulled a knife on her, forced her into his car, drove her out to a remote location behind a city park where he had dug a grave-sized hole, and then forced her to get in it.
Bill gave Janie the classic "I'm-gonna-kill-you-and-leave-you-in-this-grave" speech that all men, at some point, give their wives. Mrs. Gantt later alleged that Mr. Gantt assured her she would be dead within a matter of weeks, but that she could have her choice of being stabbed or shot. And isn't that all any of us want? Choices?
In the meantime, he invited Janie to think about all the bugs and snakes that would soon accompany her in the hole, knowing that she was exceptionally afraid of both. He added, for good measure, the classic "If I can't have you, no one can." Except for the bugs and snakes.
Bill considered tying her up inside the grave, but she was already in there, and so then he would have to get in there, and there was a lot of, like, dirt, or whatever, and yesterday was leg day, and getting back out seemed super hard. It was just a whole thing. (Hole thing.) Janie ultimately convinced him that restraints were not necessary, to which, we suppose, he said, "OK, cool, cool."
Bill assured her he would come and visit her every evening, but during the day she was on her own. Figure it out, Janie.
Good news is, Janie did figure it out. She complained to Bill that she was hungry, despite the fact she'd just finished her lunch break, and he wasn't going to let his wife/future murder victim starve, right? What was he, a monster?
We imagine Bill said something along the lines of, "Darling, how rude of me. I shall return, posthaste, avec provisions," bowed like a waiter, donning an imaginary arm towel, and off he went.
Janie waited a few moments, probably rolling her eyes and counting backwards from five, and then used the shovel Bill had left in the hole to climb out. Because he left the shovel. Inside the grave. Propping it against the wall at an angle, she walked along the narrow handle and climbed her way out.
Janie, dirty and disheveled, fled the scene and was soon picked up by a passing motorist, who, luckily, did not want to kill her, but who was willing to escort her to the police station. Proving just how seriously they take attempted murder, the court placed Bill Gantt, Jr. under a $1,000 peace bond, meaning he had to hand over a grand and promise that he would—pinky swear—totally not try to murder his wife again for a period of time or else... and apparently the "else" being that he would lose said money. Borderline draconian, right?
Bill Gantt clarified to the court that the entire matter was just a bit of "family trouble," and nothing to worry their pretty little heads about. He probably offered the judge a cigar and chatted him up about baseball.
When their divorce trial began, Bill refuted Janie's story, claiming she willingly followed him through dense brush to an isolated area by a freshly dug, human-sized pit. She loved visiting remote areas with potential graves. IT WAS HER FAVORITE.
Despite the peace bond (are you guys also super surprised that didn't work??), Bill continued harassing Janie, calling for her repeatedly at her mother's house and her place of work. Janie had to seek protection from her employer to get to and from work safely.
It's assumed Bill didn't serve any time for ATTEMPTED MURDER because there's no record of a criminal trial nor a conviction, and a few years later Bill was back in the Navy, serving during the Korean War.
We're guessing the court asked Janie something along the likes of: "So... do you want to, like, file a criminal complaint, or whatever?" And Janie, fearing for her safety and that of her small child and mother, declined to do so.
Janie eventually remarried, and to a man whom we assume did not try to hold her in a grave to await her murder.
To her we say—in the words of fellow Atlantan André 3000: "Spaceships don't come equipped with rearview mirrors." Janie, we hope you were able to fly on to better things and never look back.
Sources
"Grave for Wife Was Camp Site, Gantt Kin Says," The Atlanta Journal [Atlanta, Georgia], 8 Aug 1946, p. 19.
"She Wouldn't Be Buried," The Vincennes Sun-Commercial [Vincennes, Indiana], 8 Aug 1946, p. 1.
"What's the Big Idea?" The Atlanta Constitution [Atlanta, Georgia], 17 Nov 1943, p. 7.
"Wife Charges Mate She Sued for Divorce Pushed Her in Grave," Daily News [New York, New York], 1 Sep 1946, p. 5.
"Wife in Grave Seeks Divorce," Ledger-Enquirer [Columbus, Georgia], 9 Aug 1946, p. 7.
"Woman Claims Husband Tried to Bury Her," The Macon Telegraph [Macon, Georgia], 8 Aug 1943, p. 12.
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