16. Paul McLeod Found Dead at Graceland Too

Less than 36 hours after shooting a man he said was violently intruding into his home, Paul McLeod was found dead on the front porch of his home early this morning, his attorney Phillip Knecht confirmed. Knecht will issue a press release with more information later this morning.
Marshall County Coroner James Richard Anderson confirmed McLeod was found dead on the front porch of Graceland Too, his home, which also is a museum of Elvis artifacts. An autopsy to determine the cause of death is forthcoming, Anderson said.
As resident and proprietor of Graceland Too, Paul McLeod became an icon not just locally in Holly Springs and Mississippi but internationally to scores upon scores of visitors to his home, which doubled as a shrine to Elvis Presley. He even named his son, who as a young man helped run Graceland Too, Elvis Aaron Presley McLeod.
Tuesday night, 28-year-old Dwight Taylor, Jr., was found dead from a gunshot wound on Gholson Avenue, lying in the front room of Graceland Too. Wednesday, Phillip Knecht, attorney for McLeod, issued a statement on McLeod’s behalf, stating that McLeod heard loud banging at his front door, opened the door, and an adult male broke the glass of McLeod’s front door, forced his way through the door and demanded money from McLeod. Knecht stated further that the man refused to leave the home, and an altercation occurred inside the home, “resulting in the perpetrator’s death.”
Holly Springs resident Wallace Lester knew Taylor, and says he often went door to door looking for odd jobs. Oxonians may know Lester as the drummer in wife Shannon McNally’s band. The couple lives a few blocks away from Gholson and interacted with Taylor a number of times—including the night of his death.
“He’d just left our place, but Shannon was busy and told [Taylor] she’d help him out today,” Lester said. “The guy was kind of homeless and did work for us, and we tried to help him out a lot. He was a great guitar player. He was trying to get his GED. He had nowhere to go, so he’d come to us for food or clothes. He needed meds. He was troubled, but a good guy. We tried to help out as much as we could, but he needed more than we could give. It’s sad. I saw him every day. He was funny and pretty smart.”
HottyToddy.com will publish updates as information comes available.
— Tad Wilkes, tad.wilkes@hottytoddy.com