City Confidential: Scottsboro - Foul Play in the Bible Belt on AllMovie

Though banned in many states, the practice of snake handling has a long and fascinating history in the Appalachian territories. Punctuated by bitten preachers and a fondness for swallowing strychnine, the religion is headed by the Church of Jesus with Signs Following. City Confidential: Scottsboro -- Foul Play in the Bible Belt details the literal trials of one leader accused of using serpents to kill his wife. Glen Summerford not once but twice held a gun to his spouse's head forcing her to stick her hands into a vat of live snakes. Both times she was bitten and lived. Mrs. Summerford was spared a torturous death by poison but her husband was brought up on charges of attempted murder. Despite his preacher status, the trial revealed Glen's all too human flaws, including jealousy and drunkenness. In this one-hour presentation, A&E remembers the Alabama snakebite felt round the South.