THE RECTORY MURDER

In New Brunswick's Hopewell Cape courthouse a sensational turn-of-the-century trial put young, handsome Tom Collins in the prisoner's dock. Collins was charged with the grisly murder of Mary Ann McAuley, housekeeper to the New Ireland parish priest. Newspaper reporters carefully chronicled every detail revealed in court of how the victim met her death.

Author Kenneth Saunders focuses on this story to present a vivid picture of rural society in the early 1900s. Looking at the events of the murder and the trial through the eyes of farmers, tradesmen, clergy, town officials, police and the notorious hangman Jon Radclive, Saunders makes their voices sound so real, so genuine that they seem to be with us still.

The rectory murder case was a real mystery, Some contemporary New Brunswickers were convinced that the accused was innocent. They believed in his innocence right up to the end, and Collins went to the gallows without confessing to his crime.