On a cold January morning in 1987, the murder of socialite Lita McClinton rocked Atlanta and made national and even worldwide headlines.
In broad daylight, a flower delivery man, with a gun in tow, rang the doorbell at her Buckhead townhome. When she opened the door, he shot her.
Immediately, her millionaire, soon-to-be ex-husband, James Sullivan, was considered the prime suspect in orchestrating the plot. The day Lita was shot was also the day a judge was about to settle the couple’s divorce case.
But some believe Sullivan’s power and privilege aided him in alluding arrest for nearly two decades.
The story intrigued author Deb Miller Landau for many reasons, who sat down with WABE’s “Morning Edition.” One in particular is explored in her new book: “A Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege and the Murder of Lita McClinton.”
