Staten Island saw its share of violence and murder as it transformed from a sleepy community to an urban outer borough. The 1920 discovery of a woman's body by two young boys walking their dog remains unsolved. An inmate at Sailors' Snug Harbor--a retirement home for seamen--shot a preacher in cold blood. Shocking and horrific stories of killers and their victims such as these plague Staten Island's otherwise pleasant past. From the handsome soldier convicted of his Russian wife's shooting in New Dorp Beach to the New Brighton guard beaten to death while protecting seized whiskey during Prohibition, local historian Patricia Salmon uncovers Staten Island's most chilling tales of infamous and long-forgotten acts of violence.
Patricia Salmon retired as curator of history for the Staten Island Museum in 2012. A Staten Island resident for almost fifty years, she was a naturalist/historian at Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve in that borough for eight years. Ms. Salmon has authored three books and is a board member of the Tottenville Historical Society. She is an adjunct professor at Wagner College in Staten Island and a guest contributor to the "Memories" column of the Staten Island Advance.