The names Peter, Barbara Ann and Gerald Egan were familiar to Watertown police before December 31, 1964. The police suspected the trio in a long string of burglaries, and they were under investigation by the FBI for grand theft auto. But on that New Year's night, the Egans were shot execution style at a rest stop off Interstate 81. The gruesome gangland-style killings puzzled local and state police. Theories ranged from a simple confrontation gone awry to a premeditated act of retribution by hardened criminals who feared the Egans would turn state's witness. With interviews from key witnesses, authors Dave Shampine and Daniel Boyer recount the grisly story of this New Year's Eve North Country nightmare, which is still shrouded in mystery today.
Dave Shampine is retired from a forty-two-year career with the Watertown Daily Times in Watertown, New York. During that time, he covered countless local events as well as wrote a history column. He is the author of "Remembering New York's North Country: Tales of Times Gone By" (2009); "Colorful Characters of Northern New York: Northern Lights" (2010); and "The North Country Murder of Irene Izak: Stained By Her Blood" (2010). Daniel Thomas Boyer is a Jefferson County native who grew up in Redwood, about thirty miles north of Watertown. He moved south with his parents following his graduation from Alexandria Central School in 1976, and eventually settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he continues to reside. He has spent years researching the Egan case, and also maintains a Facebook site entitled "Where in the Heck is Redwood New York." He is a contributor to the Redwood Historical Society.