Nicholas Pistor's Blog
February 17, 2014
The Ax Murders of Saxtown featured on KMOV-TV St. Louis
The Ax Murders of Saxtown was featured on KMOV-TV (St. Louis, CBS).
It features pictures of the present-day farm where the five-person Stelzriede family was murdered in 1874. The 140th anniversary of the massacre is next month.
The author discusses the German heritage and the times the people lived.
You can watch it here
It features pictures of the present-day farm where the five-person Stelzriede family was murdered in 1874. The 140th anniversary of the massacre is next month.
The author discusses the German heritage and the times the people lived.
You can watch it here
January 13, 2014
SAXTOWN EXCERPT IN SUNDAY'S ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
An excerpt from The Ax Murders of Saxtown appeared in Sunday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
You can read it here.
You can read it here.
December 28, 2013
THE AX MURDERS OF SAXTOWN NOW AVAILABLE IN KINDLE STORE
I know. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a book about an ax murder.
But, after ten years of research and writing, my book on the Stelzriede family murders of 1874 is ready for public consumption. Amazon is making The Ax Murders of Saxtown available for early download (December 23) through its Kindle store and app.
The book traces the Germananic roots of Southern Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri. It shows how the frenzy around the crime and the lust for reward money among private detectives (during a brutal economic depression) enabled the five-person killing to go unsolved.
The killings turned an entire farming community against itself. Neighbors accused each other of committing the crime. Some battled each other in court through defamation lawsuits.
One persistent sleuth, years after the crime, was said to have hid underneath the crawlspace of a dying suspect's bedroom—hoping to overhear a deathbed confession. But that is just only part of the legends and lore of the Saxtown case, a crime that was hurled onto the front pages of newspapers across the nation, but then quickly forgotten.
I'll be writing more about the project (and some other things) in this space.
If you are interested in buying the book, I'd prefer for everyone to wait for the full release, which includes the hardcover product, on January 14. But if you can't wait...you can buy it here. (If you've already pre-ordered the print version from Amazon, you can get the Kindle version for just $2.99.)
But, after ten years of research and writing, my book on the Stelzriede family murders of 1874 is ready for public consumption. Amazon is making The Ax Murders of Saxtown available for early download (December 23) through its Kindle store and app.
The book traces the Germananic roots of Southern Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri. It shows how the frenzy around the crime and the lust for reward money among private detectives (during a brutal economic depression) enabled the five-person killing to go unsolved.
The killings turned an entire farming community against itself. Neighbors accused each other of committing the crime. Some battled each other in court through defamation lawsuits.
One persistent sleuth, years after the crime, was said to have hid underneath the crawlspace of a dying suspect's bedroom—hoping to overhear a deathbed confession. But that is just only part of the legends and lore of the Saxtown case, a crime that was hurled onto the front pages of newspapers across the nation, but then quickly forgotten.
I'll be writing more about the project (and some other things) in this space.
If you are interested in buying the book, I'd prefer for everyone to wait for the full release, which includes the hardcover product, on January 14. But if you can't wait...you can buy it here. (If you've already pre-ordered the print version from Amazon, you can get the Kindle version for just $2.99.)
