On a dreary morning in April, 1893, John Marshall, a Portuguese immigrant and successful farmer on Sumas Prairie in British Columbia, was found lying sprawled across the veranda of his farmhouse, his body cold and lifeless. The farmer's face was a mess, his nose smashed in and cracked blood covering his forehead around a jagged black hole. The shocked and unfortunate neighbour who discovered the body rushed to Huntingdon railway station to summon the authorities. An autopsy, coroner's inquest and murder investigation followed. Only two days later, a local handyman named Albert Stroebel was arrested for Marshall's murder. Stroebel was an unlikely killer: short and physically disabled, locals considered him a harmless "boy" who seemed much younger than his 20 years. The young man the community knew was not capable of murder, and locals were shocked to imagine that Stroebel could have killed the man who had treated him like family.

But something had gone tragically wrong on the night Marshall died. Unravelling the mystery would take nine months and two lengthy trials that seized the attention of local communities on both sides of the Canadian-American border, splitting them into pro- and anti-Stroebel factions. Newspapers devoted page after page of coverage and throngs of spectators squeezed into the courtroom galleries. The first trial in New Westminster ended with the jury hopelessly deadlocked, the second in Victoria found him guilty and set an impending date for his execution. The heaviest hitters of BC's political and legal establishment took part including former and current premiers, an Attorney General, and a future Supreme Court justice.

When the second trial ended with a guilty verdict and death sentence many in the public howled in protest, convinced that a young man had been condemned to die for a crime he did not commit. And the dramatic events would not stop there. With the condemned man sitting on death row, the case would take more twists and turns that would lead Albert Stroebel to the shadow of the gallows.

Chad Reimer has previously published four books of BC history, including The Trials of Albert Stroebel: Love, Murder and Justice at the End of the Frontier, and Before We Lost the Lake: A Natural and Human History of Sumas Valley, which received an honourable mention in the BC Historical Federation’s Historical Writing Awards. He holds a BA in Honours History from the University of BC, along with an MA and PhD in History from York University. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and now lives in Williams Lake, BC.

Chad Reimer's profile page

“The surprising twists and turns in Stroebel’s case are superbly portrayed by Reimer […] impeccably researched and told in an electrifying, attention-grabbing way”

—BC BookWorld (Spring 2020)

“A thrilling read! Reimer has produced that rare offering in true crime, a definitive account that also grips and excites. The accused and sometime-protagonist of Albert Stroebel will capture your imagination.”

—Vanessa Brown, bookseller and author of The Forest City Killer: A Serial Murderer, a Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice

“Drawing on copious newspaper coverage of Stroebel’s two trials and many public documents, Reimer manages to make the many interwoven elements of the story into a coherent narrative, and maintains the reader’s tense uncertainty and excitement right up to the final pages.”

—The Vancouver Sun

“A compelling, thoroughly researched tale of love and death on the BC prairie. Reimer’s book is a gift to history nerds and true-crime lovers alike.”

—Jesse Donaldson, author of This Day In Vancouver and Land of Destiny

"Chad Reimer has written a riveting and impeccably researched account of a fascinating Canadian true crime story. The book is gripping from the first page."

--Josh Bloch, CBC journalist and host of Uncover: Escaping NXIVM