In 1880, there was a brutal murder in sunny paradise. This is the story of greed, violence, and a sensational trial that still captures the public's imagination even well after 100 years have passed. Archie Newton stepped off the river steamer in 1880 with a letter of introduction and a secret, the young man hoping for a new life on the Florida frontier. Samuel McMillan was a miserly Sanford bachelor who carried large sums of "greenbacks" and trusted no one. One would think that since the ambitious Newton had his eye on purchasing McMillan's profitable orange grove, he wouldn't be foolish enough to do something reckless, but on his way back from Newton's home one evening, McMillan disappeared, and he wasn't seen again until his headless, mutilated corpse was pulled from a nearby lake. Newton's trial was sensational and the evidence gruesome, and local legends grew of a headless ghost rising from the lake, but was the young man in the courtroom innocent or guilty? Author Andrew Fink chronicles the twists and turns of this shocking story.
Andrew Fink is a lawyer by day and writer by night. He mostly is able to balance his job as executive counsel at a Fortune 100 company with time to research and sometimes even solve historical mysteries. He’s always loved all things history, and much to the chagrin of those who are with him, he is that person who reads every sign, placard and historical marker in museums, parks, on buildings and at roadside stops. He’s from the Midwest but now lives in Florida, where the sun is brighter but the history a little harder to uncover.