Download Mystery on the Isle of Shoals: Closing the Case on the Smuttynose Ax Murders of 1873 AudioBook Free
For the very first time, the full history of a criminal offense that has haunted New Britain since 1873. The cold-blooded ax murder of two innocent Norwegian women at their island home off the shoreline of New Hampshire has gripped the region since 1873, beguiling travelers, inspiring artists, and fueling conspiracy theorists. The killer, a good looking Prussian fisherman down on his good luck, was quickly captured, convicted in a broadly publicized trial, and hanged within an remarkable gallows spectacle. But he never confessed and, while in jail, gained a circle of admirers whose blind beliefs in his innocence still casts a shadow of hesitation. A fictionalized best-selling book and a Hollywood film have further clouded the reality. Finally a definitive "whydunnit" bank account of the Smuttynose Island ax murders is here. Popular historian J. Dennis Robinson fleshes out the facts bordering this tragic robbery removed wrong in a captivating true criminal offense pause-register. Robinson delves into the backstory at the rocky Isles of Shoals as an isolated centuries-old fishing village was being destroyed by today's luxury hotel. He explores the neighboring island of Appledore where Victorian poet Celia Thaxter entertained the elite artists and freelance writers of Boston. It was Thaxter's powerful article about the murders in the Atlantic Monthly that stunned the American open public. Robinson should go beyond the headlines of the burgeoning yellow press to explore the deeper lessons about American criminal offense, justice, economics, and hero worship. Ten years prior to the Lizzie Borden ax murder trial and the fictional Sherlock Holmes, People in america attained a sociopath called Louis Wagner - and many came to love him.
