On a September evening in 2017, the quiet life of a well-known Summerville, Georgia, man came to a violent end. Edward Earl 'Eddie' Lanham, a 75-year-old white male, was found deceased in his Butler Dairy Road home on September 18th. A veteran of the United States Navy, Lanham was a familiar face in the community, co-owning the Hair Benders salon in nearby Rome and running a home-building company called Eddie and Company.
His wife, Susan Renee Lanham, made the call to 911 around 10 p.m., reporting that she had returned home to discover her husband's body. Initially, the scene was presented as a burglary gone tragically wrong.
Investigators with the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, however, soon began to question the initial narrative. Evidence at the home suggested the burglary scene had been staged. As they delved deeper, inconsistencies emerged in Susan Lanham's statements to authorities. The death, which was initially deemed suspicious, was officially ruled a homicide caused by fatal gunshot wounds that were not self-inflicted. Authorities assured the public that they believed Eddie Lanham was the intended target and that it was not a random act of violence.
The focus of the investigation turned toward Lanham's wife, Susan. Investigators uncovered that she was facing significant financial difficulties, including a debt of $100,000, pointing to a possible motive of 'plain and simple greed.' A crucial break in the case came when Susan's nephew, Zachary Hughes, cooperated with the police. He revealed that his aunt had solicited him to kill her husband, but he had not gone through with it. This information, coupled with other evidence, led to the arrest of Susan Renee Lanham in February 2018. She was charged with murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit murder, and criminal solicitation.
The legal proceedings against Susan Lanham faced delays, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the case finally went to trial in 2022, the Chattooga County jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the most serious charges, including murder, aggravated assault, and conspiracy. As a result, a mistrial was declared on those counts. However, the jury did find Susan Lanham guilty on two felony counts of making false statements to law enforcement during the investigation. For these convictions, a judge sentenced her to ten years in prison.
