The Detterick farm

The Detterick farm, located in the southern part of the state near Tefton, was a modest but prosperous cotton farm during the Depression. Klaus Detterick owned it, and by the standards of the 1930s he was considered well-to-do because he paid his store bill in cash at the end of most months and could meet the bank president's eyes on the street. The farmhouse was clean and commodious, and in addition to cotton, the Dettericks kept chickens and a few cows. Klaus and his wife Marjorie had three children: Howard, about twelve, and the twin girls, Cora and Kathe.

The Abduction

On a warm June night, the girls asked for and were given permission to sleep on the screen-enclosed side porch that ran the length of the house. Their mother kissed them goodnight just shy of nine o'clock, the last time she saw them alive. The family dog, Bowser, a big half-breed collie, did not bark that night; he was later found dead, his neck broken, with a scrap of cooked link sausage beside him. The theory was that the abductor charmed the dog with treats and then snapped its neck. Klaus Detterick discovered the abduction at first light when he went to do the milking; the screen door had been yanked off its upper hinge, and there were spatters of blood on the porch and steps.

The Search and Discovery

Klaus and his son Howie tracked the abductor through the north pasture, following a beaten track and finding shreds of the girls' clothing. They were joined by a posse led by Deputy Rob McGee, with Bobo Marchant's dogs. The trail led to the Trapingus River, where they found a wide trampled patch of grass, heavily bloodied, and the rest of Cora's nightgown. The dogs then led them downstream, where they found John Coffey sitting on the riverbank, holding the bodies of the naked girls in his arms and wailing. Coffey was arrested and later convicted, but the evidence suggests the real killer was William Wharton, who had worked at the Detterick farm painting the barn three weeks before the murders, using the alias "Will Bonney."

Narrative Significance

The Detterick farm serves as the origin point of the central crime that drives the plot of The Green Mile. It is the place where innocence is shattered, and its pastoral, Depression-era prosperity contrasts starkly with the violence that occurs there. The farm's details—the side porch, the doghouse, the barn—become key pieces of evidence in a case that ultimately condemns an innocent man. The farm also represents the world outside the prison, a world of ordinary life and family that John Coffey, through his healing powers, briefly touches but can never truly enter.