The mystery of Lita McClinton: Inside the heinous true story of socialite who was GUNNED DOWN on her doorstep on the same day she was divorcing her philandering millionaire husband - sparking 11-YEAR hunt for her killer

The death of a stunning American socialite who was brutally murdered on the day her divorce was due to be settled rocked the community - but it would years before her killer would be identified.

Lita McClinton, 35, was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Atlanta, Georgia, after receiving a delivery of a dozen long-stemmed pink roses at her doorstep in January 1978.

It would later transpire that she was killed by hitman Phillip Anthony Harwood who was hired for a $25,000 fee.

The mastermind behind the sordid scheme would later prove to be Lita's millionaire husband James Vincent Sullivan - and his motivations were shocking.

Now, a new true crime book is now set to lift the lid on the most sordid aspects of the case, bringing Lita's brutal death back into the public eye, 45 years after she was murdered. 

Lita McClinton, 35, was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Atlanta, Georgia, after receiving a delivery of a dozen long-stemmed pink roses at her doorstep in January 1978

The mastermind behind the sordid scheme would later prove to be Lita's millionaire husband James Vincent Sullivan - and his motivations were shocking

Journalist and author Deb Miller Landau will examine every aspect of the case in her debut book, A Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton, in which she explores the bitter decline of the socialite's marriage - and her husband's shock decision to take her life. 

Lita was the daughter of Georgia state representative JoAnn McClinton and former US Department of Transportation official Emory McClinton.

She was brought up in the upper-class echelons of African-American society which meant a stream of gala events and exclusive clubs.

The former debutante was just 22 years old when she first met James, who was 10 years her senior, at an upscale boutique in Atlanta in 1976. 

Her mother, Jo Ann, previously told an episode of Power, Privilege & Justice: 'She thought Jim was a very charming, very thoughtful, very affable person.'

James, originally from Boston, had made his fortune from inheriting a liquor distribution company from his uncle which he then sold.

But he struggled with his new millionaire lifestyle. 

It was Lita who was able to completely transform Jim's appearance - restyling his hair, overhauling his wardrobe and ditching his glasses in favor of contact lenses.

The pair enjoyed a year-long courtship before tying the knot in a small ceremony in 1976 in what would be the start of a 10-year marriage.

It was Lita who was able to completely transform Jim's appearance - restyling his hair, overhauling his wardrobe and ditching his glasses in favor of contact lenses

It would later transpire that she was killed by hitman Phillip Anthony Harwood (pictured in court with the box of flowers) who was hired for a $25,000 fee 

In 1982, James had fallen in love with Palm Beach, Florida, and began shopping for homes before purchasing a sprawling 17,000-square-foot $4 million mansion just a few blocks from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago.

It became a symbol of James' nouveau riche aspirations and he thought it would help cement him within the social circles he had longed to be in - but it did not.

According to attorney David Boone, who spoke on the aforementioned documentary, he said: 'Jim finds out that being a white man, married to a black woman did not work for the Palm Beach social scene.'

And he soon began blaming Lita for all his problems and decided she was the reason that he was not being accepted.

It did not take long for James to start driving a wedge between him and his wife as he tried to edge her out of his life - with affairs and increasingly cruelty.

'He'd grown into a terrifying bully, and she could hardly remember those early days when he, a handsome white man a decade older than her, had shown up with his quirky Boston accent and swept her off her feet,' author Deb revealed in a piece for Newsweek.  

Lita eventually packed up her bags and moved back to Atlanta as she decided she was finally ready to be rid of him.

'At the time, her family had hoped the flame would burn out; Lita's parents knew what their daughter would be up against as the black half of an interracial couple in the South,' Deb shared. 

'Not to mention, they never liked Jim... he was brash and obnoxious, disrespectful of Southern norms.'

In 1985, she settled into a $400,000 townhouse and filed for divorce in which she demanded half of the estate including the Palm Beach mansion.

But things took a tragic turn on January 16, 1987.

Lita's parents (pictured) were unrelenting in their attempts to seek justice for their eldest daughter with questions that went unanswered for 11 years

A court hearing had been scheduled for 2pm that day during which a judge was set to rule over whether the former couple's prenuptial agreement was binding.

However, at 8am that day, the doorbell rang to entice Lita to the front entrance.

She approached the door wrapped in her pink silk housecoat and opened it to see a 'delivery man.'

Tragically, just seconds after greeting the six-foot stranger, he shoved a box of roses that he had been holding into her arms and pushed her into the foyer.

He pulled a gun from his coat pocket and fired twice - with one of the bullets proving to be fatal for Lita - before the perpetrator slipped away.

Lita's husband was immediately put under the spotlight, but he maintained that he had a solid alibi in Florida for the time of her murder. 

Disappointingly for her family, the case went cold for more than a decade. 

Lita's parents were unrelenting in their attempts to seek justice for their eldest daughter with questions that went unanswered for 11 years.

During that time, a 1992 federal indictment against James was thrown out for lack of evidence and a 1994 civil judgment for wrongful death was initially overturned on appeal - though it was ultimately reinstated. 

It was not until 1998 that investigators landed a big break in the case.

A woman came forward claiming to be the girlfriend of truck driver Phillip Anthony Harwood, who had previously moved furniture for James.

She reported being with Harwood when the scorned husband had handed over a cash bundle of $25,000.

It quickly became apparent that James had ordered Lita's murder in a bid to protect his finances and property assets amid the divorce.

Harwood was arrested in 1998 and pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2003.

Meanwhile, an arrest warrant was also issued for James, but he fled the country. He was not taken into custody until 2002 after being arrested in Thailand.

Harwood initially agreed to testify at James' murder trial but, on the stand, claimed he was innocent - as James' defense argued the case had been built on 'circumstantial evidence.'

Nonetheless, jurors disagreed and convicted James of murder - along with a series of other charges - in March 2006. The decision was upheld by the state's supreme court in 2008.

He was sentenced to life without parole.

Harwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison before being released in March 2018.