The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County: The 1850 Van Winkle Killings

More about the book

Up until January 9, 1850, Passaic County, New Jersey, had been spared the bloodshed that had stained so many other communities. It was on this winter's night when Judge John Van Winkle and his wife, Jane, were brutally stabbed in their home, which still stands today in the town of Hawthorne. Jane died from her wounds immediately, but her husband hung on long enough to identify John Jonston, their former employee, as their assailant. Jonston maintained his innocence through the county's first murder trial and until he was marched to the gallows. Local author Don Everett Smith Jr. uncovers the true story behind the Goffle Road murders and the unusual connections with United States Vice President Garrett Hobart.