CBN’s Don Smith Jr. Publishes “The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County”

Up until January 9, 1850, Passaic County, New Jersey, had been spared the bloodshed that had stained so many other communities. It was on this winter’s night when Judge John Van Winkle and his wife, Jane, were brutally stabbed in their home, which still stands today in the town of Hawthorne. Jane died from her wounds immediately, but her husband hung on long enough to identify John Jonston, their former employee, as their assailant. Jonston maintained his innocence through the county’s first murder trial and until he was marched to the gallows. Local author Don Everett Smith Jr. uncovers the true story behind the Goffle Road murders and the unusual connections with United States Vice President Garrett Hobart.

 

The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County is the second book for writer Don Everett Smith Jr. His first book, Images of America: Hawthorne (New Jersey), came out from Arcadia Publishing in 2006.

 

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in Bergenfield, New Jersey, Don lives in Passaic County, New Jersey, with his wife, Laura, and their three cats. Besides being an author, Don is also an accomplished comic book writer and journalist. His work has appeared in numerous publications, newspapers and magazines and on websites.

 

When not writing, Don pursues an interest in American history and a love of comic books and science fiction (particularly Doctor Who and Green Lantern), he also cohosts the show Write Stream for Parasol Communications on Blog Talk Radio.