Smuttynose Island Murders
  • Home
  • The Book
    • Mystery on the Isles of Shoals
    • Reviews
    • Media Coverage
    • The Author
    • Author Appearances
    • Smuttynose Archaeology & History
    • Book Club Questions
  • The Story
    • Background
    • Moonlight Murders
    • Capture
    • Wagner's Trial
    • On the Gallows
  • The People
    • The Victims
    • The Hontvets
    • The Killer
    • Celia Thaxter
    • Cops & Lawyers
    • Key witnesses
  • The Places
    • The Isles of Shoals
    • Smuttynose Island
    • The Hontvet House
    • The Oceanic Hotel
    • Appledore Hotel
    • Portsmouth, NH
    • Alfred, Maine
    • Thomaston Prison
  • Fact Vs Fiction
    • Weught of Water (Novel)
    • Weight of Water (Movie)
    • The Case Against Wagner
    • Conspiracy Theories
  • Blog
    • Why John Hontvet Had to Wait for the Bait
    • The Couch the Killer Did Not Sleep On
    • Smuttynose Murder House is No Longer Standing
    • I Rowed to the Isles of Shoals
    • The Karl Thaxter Theory is Hogwash

Alfred, Maine

Picture

A sleepy country village became the media spotlight in 1873

As the geographic center of the "shire" of York County, Maine, the rural town of Alfred became the setting for the infamous Wagner trial in the summer of 1873. Every available room was rented to reporters, witnesses, and spectators. OThers travelled by train and trolley daily. Wagner was housed in a brand new modern brick jail just a short walk from the courthouse. The old jail building (still standing today) came into the media spotlight when Wagner and two accomplices escaped the day following his guilty verdict. Wagner was able to pick the new high security lock with a wooden toothbrush and the three convicts climbed onto the roof and then lowered themselves into the empty warden's quarters, down the stairs, and out the back door. (Photographs (c) J. Dennis Robinson.)
Picture
Picture