The Lonely Grave How a Homestead Murder in South Dakota Brought Closure 100 Years Later

A brutal murder. A community shocked. A suspect proclaiming his innocence. To the homesteaders in this untamed land of Dakota Territory, what affected one of them, affected all of them. And the motive shook them to their core.As the years slipped into decades and then into a new century, new questions arose, spurred by the unusual placement of a grave in a country cemetery. Who was this woman and why was she buried so far away from the others? So lonely. An investigation by the author opened the doors that led to answers to multiple questions that family members of the victim and the killer had been asking for years. The true story of an old murder that still makes people gasp and the continuing compassion of a community that never stopped caring. In addition to the riveting story of a homicide in the old West, the book includes courtroom drama from the trial in the early years of South Dakota’s pioneer days. The murder case is brought to life through actual trial testimony of people who lived with the horror of this true crime and the tactics of the lawyers who battled for justice on the American frontier. The book also explores the conditions and stresses that contributed to violence in the pioneer days.      Written by an award-winning reporter who covered numerous high profile criminal cases and trials, The Lonely Grave is a fast paced non-fiction book that reads like a thriller, bridging history and modernity to tell a compelling human story that is fascinating on many levels.