Life In the Carolinas host Carl White shares the story of Carolina legend Tom Dula (Dooley) who was reported to be, Laura Foster's lover and probable fiancé, who was convicted of her murder and hanged May 1, 1868. This story comes alive with the help of Karen Reynolds, Playwright and Author  and many others.  

Dula had a lover, prior to his leaving for the war, named Anne Melton. It was her comments that led to the discovery of Foster's body, but Melton was acquitted in a separate trial based on Dula's word. Dula's statement on the gallows that he had not harmed Foster but still deserved his punishment led to press speculation that Melton was the actual killer and that Dula simply covered for her.

Melton, who had once expressed jealousy of Dula's purported plans to marry Foster, died insane a few years after the homicide. Thanks to the efforts of newspapers such as The New York Times, and to the fact that former North Carolina governor Zebulon Vance represented Dula pro bono, Dula's murder trial and hanging were given widespread national publicity.