fighting in Virginia, Anne – apparently despairing of ever seeing Tom again – met and married an older farmer, James Melton. In fact, she had married Melton in 1859, three years before Tom left for the war, though that may not have changed the nature of her relationship with Dula. A final tale is that Anne Melton confessed to the murder on her deathbed. She allegedly confessed to having killed Laura in a fit of jealousy and begged Tom to help her conceal the body. People in the area still say that, on her deathbed, Anne saw black cats on the walls and could hear and smell bacon frying. In popular culture Music Thomas Land is believed to have written a song about the tragedy titled "Tom Dooley" (which was how Dula's name was pronounced) shortly after Dula was hanged. This, combined with the widespread publicity the trial received, further cemented Dula's place in North Carolina legend. Stonewall Jackson's U.S. country music and Billboard hit song "Waterloo" (1959) makes reference to Tom Dooley in the final verse. The music project Windows to Sky featuring SJ Tucker released a version of "Tom Dooley" titled "Tom Dula: Madness Made Us Wild; a Play in Five Verses and a Hanging" (2012), which combines elements of several versions of the story and song, and adapts quotes from the original court transcripts as lyrics. They describe it as "our original reinvention of the 'Tom Dula' story for the Neil Young Americana Contest, June 2012". Other Michael Landon portrayed Dula in the movie The Legend of Tom Dooley (1959). References External links Tom Dooley – The Story Behind the Ballad by Karen Wheeling Reynolds Tom Dooley: a Wilkes County Legend, a Play Tom Dula's gravestone images North Carolina Historical Marker 1845 births 1868 deaths People from Wilkes County, North Carolina American people convicted of murder American people executed for murder 19th-century executions by the United States Confederate States Army soldiers People executed by North Carolina by hanging Executed people from North Carolina People convicted of murder by North Carolina 19th-century executions of American people 1866 murders in the United States