Appalachian History

Burkittsville, MD is usually noted either for its role in the 1862 Battle of South Mountain during the War Between the States, or for its proximity to the Appalachian Trail, which passes over the crest of that same mountain. However, fans of the popular horror film "The Blair Witch Project," a perennial Halloween favorite, have a very different view of the town.

The movie draws on various local myths and legends in addition to adding its own backstory of 'historical facts,' as it propels its three doomed protagonists into the dark woods to locate the trail of the witch. The film's writers developed a very believable character in hermit Rustin Parr.

Parr's saga runs as follows: In November 1940 Parr gruesomely murdered seven local children on the supposed instructions of the Blair Witch. He lured the kids into the woods with candy. Kyle Brody, an eighth child who survived, was forced to face the wall while Parr stabbed Emily Hollands multiple times in the cellar of his house.

One spring day in 1941, Parr came into town and declared that he was "finally finished." Police searched his house and found the bodies of the seven kids buried in the cellar’s dirt floor. The children had been disemboweled and strange markings had been carved into their flesh with knifes. The event tore the town apart.

On July 17, 1941, Parr was tried in court on seven counts of first-degree murder. "The small town of Burkittsville was pulled into the national spotlight," said Washington Press reporter Lawrence Haten, "as they held Parr's trial after refusing extradition." He confessed to all seven murders, not knowing the names of the children. Parr expressed his apologies to the parents of the deceased.

Kyle Brody testified that Parr was the one responsible for the killings, and the jury came back with a guilty verdict, resulting in an outbreak of applause in the courtroom. "At his sentencing, the ever quiet Parr reacted little to being sentenced to death," noted Haten. The townspeople burned Rustin Parr's house to the ground that night.

Rustin Parr was hanged November 22, 1941, the first Maryland prisoner to be executed by that method in eight years.

Kyle Brody never recovered from the two months trapped in Parr's house. He would live an institutionalized life until his death in 1971.


http://blairwitch.wikia.com/wiki/Rustin_Parr
http://www.blairwitch.com/parr6.html


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