Orville's Revenge

In late December of 1957, dairy farmer Orville Gibson had a dispute with his hired hand, Eri Martin, because he had spilled some milk. After allegedly beating Martin because of the spill, Gibson receives a threatening telephone call a few days later warning him to not come into the village of Newbury, Vermont, due to the sympathy for Martin and against Gibson. On December 31, 1957, Gibson leaves his house for his barn chores and is not seen alive again. On March 26, 1958, Gibson's body is found in the Connecticut River near Bradford, Vermont. Robert O. Welch, a Newbury school janitor, and Frank W. Carpenter, a West Newbury dairy farmer, are arrested for murder. This book recounts the police investigation and trials connected to the Gibson death, which a defense lawyer claims was a suicide, even though Gibson's still-frozen body was found tied up with a rope when he was pulled from the river.