Olivia Nelson Browning

On a quiet Tuesday afternoon in rural Mississippi, a hunter stumbled upon a discovery so grisly it shook the small communities of Tallahatchie County to their core. In a remote field known as Snow Break, nestled between the towns of Webb and Glendora, the charred remains of a young woman were found burning on November 21, 1990.

The body--believed to be that of a white woman in her early thirties--was discovered just after 5 p.m. by Alvin Winters, a local hunter and resident of Webb. He had been tracking deer on farmland owned by Ralph Hand, Jr., a well-known agricultural businessman and president of the influential Delta Council. The smoldering body was found on the 3,000 acre cotton and soybean farm owned and operated by the Hand family.

Winters, visibly shaken, went back to his vehicle. He wasted no time driving straight to the Sumner jail to report what he had found. The body was initially transported to Charleston, and then to the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Jackson for forensic examination. Unofficial reports suggested the woman had been shot at least once before being set on fire.

The community buzzed with speculation as word spread that the body might be Olivia Browning, Ralph Hand III's ex-wife. Although no formal identification had been made, law enforcement sources admitted they were urgently attempting to locate Olivia, but were unsuccessful. Her parents could not locate her either.

Olivia Nelson Browning

While on his way to Sumner to interview Anderson and Martin, Deputy Gipson received a call via radio that Hand was getting gas at a Webb convenience store. Tallahatchie Sheriff Deputy Henry Gipson went to the service station and passed Hand pulling out of the parking lot. He turned around and followed Hand to a farm shop on the Hand farm property. The deputy approached Hand and told him that he needed to go to the Sumner jail for questioning about the body found on the land earlier. Gipson noticed that Hand was shaking while he was talking to him and noted that he had what appeared to be blood on his pants. He inquired about the blood and Hand sped away in his vehicle. Hand would lead law enforcement officers on a 15 mile chase through Tallahatchie and Leflore counties in excess of 80 miles per hour. Hand eventually crashed his Datsun 280X into a ditch and was apprehended at about 7 p.m. that evening just north of Sunnyside on U.S. Highway 49 East. Hand was taken to the Sumner jail for reckless driving and speeding. He was also charged with capital murder of the still unidentified woman whose body was found burning in his field earlier that day. Hand had to use a walker to ambulate and when the chase ended, blood stains were also noted on his walker.

Hand had been paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in New Orleans while in college. He was able to get around using a walker and depending a lot on upper body strength to get around. By many accounts, he was still able to work and live a relatively normal life despite his paralysis and injuries.

Two farm hands who worked for the Hands, Grover Anderson and Sweeny Martin, were interviewed. They told investigators that while working the fields they had seen Hand in the area where the body would later be discovered by Mr. Winters. The men said that Hand was driving a Ford Ranger pickup and had gotten it stuck in the mud. They used the combine tractor they were using for soybeans at the time to help pull Hand's truck from the mud. The men said that was the only vehicle they had seen anywhere near the area all day.

Ralph Hand III

Tallahatchie County Coroner, Larry Tucker, examined the body at the scene. He said the body was burned beyond recognition, but was a white woman with brownish-blonde hair. She appeared to be between 25 to 35 years of age, was 5 foot to 5 foot 2 inches, and weighed between 100 and 120 pounds.

Tucker said the victim had been shot in her left eye, next to the bridge of her nose, with a .22 caliber weapon. He also stated that two to three of her ribs were broken on her left side, though he was unsure if they were broken before her death or if they were cracked due to the heat from the fire. An accelerant, thought to be diesel, had been used to burn the body. Bits of blue jeans and tennis shoes clung to the still burning body. There was no identification or jewelry found on her.

On Wednesday, the day after the still unidentified body was located, Hand's home was searched. Investigators found two .22 caliber rifles. One was found in the kitchen and one in a closet. Investigators also found a .38 caliber pistol in the home. There was blood in the carport close to the kitchen door, around the door frame, and on the kitchen floor. It did appear that someone had attempted to clean up the blood, unsuccessfully.

After days of being unable to contact Olivia Browning, her family was notified that the body found burning in the field was positively identified as Olivia Browning. A positive identification was made through fingerprints.

A bond hearing was held on December 20, 1989, for capital murder. Testimony from Deputy Gipson and Deputy Doyle Morrow were heard. They expressed that they initially wanted to talk to Hand because the farm hands said that the only person they knew to be in the area was Hand because his truck had gotten stuck in the mud. Plaster casts made of the tire prints in the field were positively matched to the tires on the truck belonging to Hand. They also told the court that the projectile found in the skull of Olivia Browning matched the .22 caliber rifle found in the kitchen of Hand's home during the search. Browning's jewelry, which was missing from her body, was found in Hand's possession after the chase. That jewelry included a pair of earrings and a gold Gucci watch. This was considered robbery which constituted the capital murder charge against Hand.

Deputy Morrow also stated that when he went to the Hand's home to stand watch to make sure that nobody entered before a search warrant was signed, he noted Olivia Browning's Honda sedan parked at the house.

Another Tallahatchie Deputy, Mike Rogers, testified that when Hand was handcuffed after the chase, he pleaded for his death. He told the officers to kill him and said "Women will make you do funny things...like the one I had."

Due to all of this evidence, Judge George Carlson, Jr. denied bail for Ralph Hand III. Olivia's mother, Mrs. Jimmie Browning, could be heard sobbing when the judge ruled to deny bail. Then came a sigh of relief. She dropped her head to the shoulder of her husband, Nelson Browning. Hand's family watched quietly from the gallery.

Browning and Hand were married in 1984. They had divorced in 1986. Recently, Olivia Browning had moved back in with Hand. Her belongings still packed in boxes in his living room at the time of her death. The two had been sneaking around; however, witnesses had seen the two riding together early in the day on the day her body was found.

Following the bail hearing, there would be a split in the views of onlookers of the case. Half would be sympathetic towards the victim. Others would attempt to smear her name and use her name in stories involving drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity. They would also call her "poor white trash" as compared to the wealthy Hand family. A disgusting endeavor to put the odds in the favor of the guilty party.

A motion filed by Hand's defense attorney, William Willard of Clarksdale, was denied by the Supreme Court on January 31, 1990. He attested that there should be a review by the high court for the judge's refusal to release Hand from jail pending his trial.

On March 6, 1990, Hand plead not guilty in Tallahatchie County Circuit Court to capital murder charges for the slaying of his ex-wife, Olivia Browning. The trial date was set for Monday, August 20, 1990. However several appeals and roadblocks would arise before Hand would ever see its day in court. Judge George Carlson, Jr.'s decision to bar media from the courtroom was appealed by the Clarion-Ledger, which postponed the court date.

In late November 1990, the Mississippi Supreme Court would order that hearings be opened to the media in the Hand murder case. That same month, Olivia Browning's family filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against Ralph Hand III.

After all appeals had been exhausted by Hand and his attorneys, a court date was set for January 13, 1992. But, in October 1991, Hand was hospitalized due to an infected and compacted wisdom tooth. His face began to swell and his airway was constricted due to infection and inflammation. He then experienced complications due to oral surgery. Hand would stay in the University of Mississippi Medical Center receiving care for many months. Judge Carlson would again postpone the trial due to Hand's inability to participate in the trial after multiple consultations with Hand's physicians. Hand was on a trach at the time he would have had to stand trial in January 1992.

On January 31, 1992, Ralph Hand III would plead guilty to manslaughter. He also plead guilty to aggravated assault on a police officer. He was given 32 years in prison and would be eligible for parole in 1997. Olivia Browning's family was also awarded an undisclosed amount of money in a civil suit they brought against Hand for the wrongful death suit.

On January 11, 2000, after his third parole hearing, Ralph Hand III would walk out of prison a free man. He only served a third of his 32 year sentence. He would only serve one decade in prison for shooting and burning the body of his former bride.