Husband of Harper Lee's lawyer killed in Montana plane crash

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Patrick Carter, 52, died after taking off from Missoula International Airport
Was a longtime pilot and married to Monroeville attorney Tonja Carter
She represented Lee on best-selling second novel 'Go Set a Watchman'
There were no other passengers on board the aircraft

Published: 12:51 EST, 15 October 2015 | Updated: 21:02 EST, 15 October 2015

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The husband of Alabama author Harper Lee's attorney has been killed in an airplane crash in Montana.

A Montana sheriff's spokeswoman says 52-year-old Patrick Carter of Monroeville, Alabama, died when a single-engine aircraft went down Wednesday while taking off from the Missoula International Airport in western Montana.

Carter was a longtime pilot and the husband of Monroeville attorney Tonja Carter, who has represented Lee as her second novel Go Set a Watchman became a best-seller this year.

Patrick Carter, the husband of Harper Lee's (pictured) lawyer Tonja Carter has died in a plane crash in Montana. A fireman stands beside the plane's wreckage

A friend of the Carters, Connie Baggett, calls Pat Carter a 'brilliant man' who will be deeply missed.

Pat Carter served on the board that oversees the old Monroe County courthouse, which served as a set model for the movie version of Lee's beloved novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'

Carter was piloting what witnesses described as a 1930's era plane when it crashed, according to NBC Montana.

Go Set a Watchman, Lee's second novel, created controversy worldwide by depicting Atticus Finch, the beloved lawyer who fought for a black man's innocence, as a racist.

Additionally, the new novel has been surrounded by questions over its provenance, whether its author wanted it published, and when it was actually discovered.

At the center of it is Tonja Carter, once a colleague of Harper Lee's lawyer sister Alice, and now the author's attorney.

Carter has given three different versions about how the missing Harper Lee novel Go Set a Watchman was discovered.

Tonja Carter (left) represented Lee as her second novel Go Set a Watchman became a best-seller this year

Emergency vehicles surround the crash site. The NTSB is now investigating what happened

A plume of smoke rises from where the plane hit the ground near Missoula International Airport

In July, following the release of the second novel, Daily Mail Online discovered another - entirely different version of events - claiming Carter was 'excited' about discovering the manuscript at a meeting in October 2011.

They were found in a safety deposit back along with a type writer and other belongings.

There was a suggestion that Pat would fly the contents to New York after the meeting so they could be safeguarded at Sothebys.