In what is undoubtedly the most bonkers true crime of 2024, The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga has landed on Netflix, and one moment in particular has chins wagging.
The new documentary series centers on a one-in-a-million scandal, involving Elvis impersonators, conspiracy theories, and a feud that escalated into an attempted assassination on then-President Barack Obama.
The Kings of Tupelo starts off with Paul Kevin Curtis, an Elvis-themed cleaner whose job in a major Mississippi hospital led him down a years-long rabbit hole. In 2013, he was arrested for sending letters laced with the lethal poison ricin to government officials, including Obama.
But it soon became clear he wasn’t the perpetrator; when he was interrogated about ricin, he replied, “I don’t even eat rice usually. I’m not even a rice lover.” All roads then led to James Everett Dutschke – a Tupelo taekwondo instructor who Kevin had been embroiled in a longtime feud with. But this isn’t even the half of it.
Kings of Tupelo is “Tiger King 2.0” as viewers question elephant shooting
It’s a documentary that really needs to be seen to be believed, with curveball after curveball thrown in this fever dream of a story. Among the many moments that have viewers talking is the drive-by shooting of… an elephant.
At this stage, Kevin had been driving his friends and family away with his obsessive conspiracy theories, and he’d had numerous run-ins with the law after harassing individuals in his quest for what he believed to be the truth.
As is revealed in Episode 2, in April 2013, shortly before the ricin letters were sent, an elephant for Ringling Brothers Circus was shot.
Tupelo police set up a tip line while revealing that the shooter had been driving the same car as Kevin’s, which raised suspicion with his now-ex-wife, Laura Curtis.
“My kids and I were freaked out,” she says. “Because Kevin had been acting crazy for a week.” Thankfully, the elephant made a full recovery, but the mystery of who pulled the trigger remains.
Ultimately, the case was overshadowed by the ricin letters, which were sent shortly after the shooting. Taking to Reddit, one viewer said, “Did they ever find out who shot the elephant???”
Another said, “I know they are going to talk about the elephant being shot at. I had moved here by then. I was like what the f**k? Living so close to Memphis I remember them saying it was a gang.”
A third added on X/Twitter, “The king of Tupelo was accused of shooting an elephant in a drive-by in, of all places, Mississippi. @netflix this has been a great year for you guys, keep it up.”
Other than this unexpected incident, viewers have been celebrating The Kings of Tupelo for the story at the center of it, with many comparing it to Tiger King.
“It’s like Tiger King 2.0,” wrote one, while another said, “This Kings of Tupelo on Netflix is the wildest documentary I’ve seen since Tiger King.”
A third commented, “Kings of Tupelo is absolutely the craziest thing I’ve ever watched on Netflix. It is way wackier than Tiger King and that is saying something.”
The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga is streaming on Netflix now. For more wild watches, check out our rundown of the most shocking Netflix documentaries, the creepiest YouTube mini-docs, and the best true crime of 2024.
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