To Hell I Must Go: The True Story of Michigan's Lizzie Borden

by Rod Sadler

An elderly woman.
An insane daughter-in-law.
A grisly murder.
A true story.

Alfred Haney had suspected there was something peculiar about his young wife for a very long time. The conversations she had with no one in particular had become more and more frequent. On a cool spring morning in 1897, he left his Williamston, Michigan home to earn his day's wage. When he returned, he discovered a macabre murder so bizarre that it shook an entire community to its core.

TO HELL I MUST GO is the true story of a deranged woman who some might refer to as Michigan's own Lizzie Borden.

Rod Sadler is a 30-year police veteran who spent over ten years researching a gruesome 1897 murder that occurred in the small town where he spent his childhood. Using original court documents, handwritten eyewitness statements, and newspaper accounts, he has crafted an intriguing detailed time-line of the murder and the five days that followed.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Horror, Crime

176 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2015

About the author

Rod Sadler worked as a police officer in mid-Michigan for thirty years before retiring in 2012. He began researching his first book after discovering the story of a brutal 1897 murder in Williamston, Michigan, the town where he had spent his childhood. His great grandfather served as the sheriff at the time of the murder and was an integral part of the investigation.

After returning to college late in his law enforcement career, he discovered his love for writing, and he decided to write about what he knows best...true crime.

In Rod's books, you'll find an enormous amount of research and details that, often times, were never released to the public. His attention to detail allows him to craft intriguing accounts of Michigan murders.

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Hell I Must Go: The True Story of Michigan’s Lizzie Borden by Rod Sadler

I found this to be a really fascinating, small-town, true crime story from back in 1897 in Williamston, Michigan, a township or village not much different than the one I grew up in, just in a different county in Michigan. I found the writing to be quite adequate and the story more than terrifying. The author, a retired police officer himself, has a personal tie to the town and the story, as his great-grandfather, J.J. Rehle was the sheriff of Ingham County back the time of this murder. While he was doing research for the book, his father arranged for the cousin who has the badge, gun and other artifacts of the old sheriff to be brought over so they could be enjoyed and photographed, etc. That added to the story, I felt.

The murder revolves around two women living in the same house, Martha Haney, Mariah Haney, her mother-in-law. The third person is Martha’s husband, Mariah’s son Alfy Haney. Martha has a long history of mental problems that Alfy wasn’t really aware of before he married her. This leads to a lot of strife between the women when Alfy’s mom Mariah moves in with the couple. Before long the women hate each other and Alfy is caught in the middle of it every day. The strain also adds to the deterioration of Martha’s mental state. When the murder happens, Alfy is away working, and it’s more explosive and gruesome then anyone can imagine. It shocks the entire town and becomes a part of Michigan’s history...

Also on my BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic and well researched read. For a full review, please see my blog at www.coffeeandtrainspotting.wordpress.com.

[Velvet Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book. I got this book originally because it was a story of Michigan history. I learned things about my hone state that I wasn't even aware of. The story is about a murder that occurs in a small village in Michigan in 1897. Instead of a dry rehashing of the facts of the case, the author brought this story to life with his narrative of the event. The characters came to life in the story and I thourghly enjoyed the story. I highly recommend this book.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of a murder in a mid-Michigan town at the turn of the 19th century. While the murder is horrific, the book is more interesting for its look at small town life and the growth of the Lansing, Michigan, area when the state was young.

[Sarah Alawami · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very good read. A very good historical view on what the law was like in 1897.

[Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rod Sadler admits to being a novice as an author and this book kind of backs that up. Only a quarter to a third has to do with the murder and the trial, while the rest is back story on the town, judge, lawyers, sheriff and anything else to fill pages. I don't fault him though because I assume it would be hard to fill a book when the woman who decapitated her mother in law with an axe admits it immediately and has a history of mental illness. Pretty cut and dry case. I do enjoy random facts like why the Capitol moved from Detroit to Lansing or the dude that invented Corn Flakes supported a bill to sterilize the mentally ill. Also, always enjoy true crime from Michigan.

[Tina Blanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it

[Cynthia ChadekWalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting true crime novel, with a glimpse into law and mental illness in the 1800's.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for the history of Lansing/Mason/Williamston at the time.

[Brittany Haeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very graphic.. I read a lot of true crime and this stands out as one that was hard to stomach

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting read.

[Kylea Lawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great true crime novel! Will definitely be reading more of his work

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard about this infamous murder (serving the mother-in-law’s head on a platter!) and I was curious to learn more. This book provides a fascinating look at this dark incident in local history. The author does a great job of setting the scene, with well-researched peeks into what businesses were around, transportation, the food people ate… His writing may have took a few liberties here and there by describing the actions and scenes like a detective novel, but that’s okay because that made this more fun to read. I noticed a few typos here and there (in “vain” not “vein,” for instance) but otherwise solid writing and researching from someone likely with a day job.

This murder shocked the little town of Williamston back then and it’s still shocking today in such a charming place. Perhaps Martha Hanley’s sentence to an insane asylum feels anticlimactic to some, or perhaps people want more sense out of this senseless crime. I don’t read “true crime” often so for me, the insanity and simplicity of it made it easier to read about such an awful crime… plus that it happened over 100 years ago.

[. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short little book, but it's an interesting read about a very gruesome crime that happened in 19th century Michigan. I suppose the title is a bit of a misnomer, but that's okay.

[Betsie Bush · Rating 2 out of 5]

2018 Reading Challenge - True Crime