role in the murder is still debated. After the murder he stopped at the home of his relative Thomas Dula, a site that became Dula Springs Hotel. He had fled the area before Laura's body was found, after locals accused him of murdering Laura. Calling himself Tom Hall, he worked for about a week for Colonel James Grayson, just across the state line in Trade, Tennessee. Grayson was later mentioned in the song about Dula, and from that came the myth that he had been Dula's rival for the love of Laura Foster, but Grayson actually had no prior connection to either Dula or Foster. Once Dula's identity was known, Grayson did help the Wilkes County posse bring him in, but that was his only part in the affair. Trial Following Dula's arrest, former North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance represented him pro bono, and to the end of his life maintained that Dula was innocent. He succeeded in having the trial moved from Wilkesboro to Statesville, since it was believed Dula could not receive a fair trial in Wilkes County. Nevertheless, Dula was convicted, and although he was given a new trial on appeal, he was convicted again. His supposed accomplice, Jack Keaton, was set free, and on Dula's word, Anne Melton was acquitted. As he stood on the gallows facing death, Dula reportedly said, "Gentlemen, I did not harm a single hair on that fair lady's head." He was executed on May 1, 1868, nearly two years after Laura Foster's murder. Dula's younger sister and her husband retrieved his body for burial. Petitions In 2001, the citizens of North Wilkesboro presented a petition to North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, asking that Tom Dula be posthumously pardoned. No action was taken. Tom Dula was "acquitted" of all charges after a petition was sent around Wilkes County and to the county seat. However, this action was unofficial and had no legal standing. Myths Much legend and folklore has grown around the tragedy and the life of Tom Dula. Not least of these is that Dula came through the war without a scratch, with Governor Vance making use of Dula's supposed talents with a banjo for his own entertainment. Both Dula's and Vance's accounts, as well as Dula's own military record, show this to be untrue. Nonetheless, the myth has persisted to the present day. Another myth holds that while Dula was