This book is inspired by true events.
Is there a killer in all of us? That's what 23 year old Italian farmhand
Edward Donato discovered when pushed to the brink of insanity
over his lot in life and an infatuation with18 year old Blanche Morner.
On a dark December afternoon in the small town of Defreestville, NY,
Blanche Morner was brutally raped and murdered. One by one,
Donato would go on to murder the remaining family members with a
hatchet and bury them beneath the cow barn of their 90 acre dairy farm.
The bodies would be discovered two days later by surviving family
member Jesse Morner. A nationwide manhunt ensued resulting in
more than a half dozen arrests. None proving to be the killer.
The only clue to the crime, an eerie riddle like note that read:
"Italian meat and American made sausage imported from Rome Italy"
5,000 members of the community would attend the Morner funeral.
While trying to solve the crime, the eulogy -
"Be ready for sudden
death, set thy house in order, for you do not know when he comes"
would enlighten Jesse and the Sheriff of Rensselaer County, NY
as to the fragility of human existence. They would ultimately
discover a new meaning to their own lives.
Donato's rampage remains the worst crime in Rensselaer County, NY's
history. Photos of the atrocity are stored in the Library of Congress and
the farmhouse still stands at 13 Morner Road in Defreestville, NY.
It is said to be haunted to this day.