Bad Moon Rising. Джонатан Мэйберри

Guthrie, leaving him to die in the rainstorm that assaulted the town that night.

      “It’s a great tragedy,” said Mayor Terry Wolfe, a close family friend. “Henry Guthrie was the finest man I’ve ever known.”

      Ruger got to the farmhouse first and after savagely beating Mark Guthrie, he attempted to sexually assault Connie. Val was able to interrupt the attack and draw Ruger outside, but was unable to elude the killer, who caught her in the yard and attempted to strangle her.

      Luckily for her and the others in the town, Val Guthrie’s fiancé, Malcolm Crow, owner of a local craft shop and a former Pine Deep police officer, arrived in the very nick of time. Crow and Ruger fought in the rain and though details of the encounter are sketchy, it seems clear that Crow was able to overcome the killer. Police arrived shortly thereafter and in the confusion Ruger managed to pull a gun. During a brief gun battle Office Rhoda Thomas was shot twice in the chest and shoulder and is listed in stable condition. Crow was grazed by two bullets and was hospitalized from wounds received in the fight. Val, Mark, and Connie Guthrie were also admitted for treatment.

      Though Crow and officer Jerry Head, a Philadelphia officer in Pine Deep to participate in the manhunt, both claim to have shot Karl Ruger, the killer escaped.

      “We’ll get him,” insists Pine Deep Sheriff Gus Bernhardt. “We have Detectives Frank Ferro and Vince LaMastra from Philadelphia working with us and we’ve put together a big task force to hunt these men down.”

      From The Black Marsh Sentinel, October 1

      SHOOTOUT AT PINELANDS HOSPITAL

      By Willard Fowler Newton

      Late last night Karl Ruger, the gunman sought by police for several murders including those of Philadelphia police officer Michael Johnston and beloved local farmer Henry Guthrie, made a second attempt on the lives of Val Guthrie and Malcolm Crow. According to a statement by Sheriff Gus Bernhardt, “Karl Ruger broke into Pinelands Hospital late last night. He attacked the maintenance supervisor and disabled the hospital’s main and emergency generators. While the lights were out he proceeded to the hospital room of Malcolm Crow and assaulted him and his fiancée, Valerie Guthrie. Ruger also seriously injured Norris Shanks, a Pine Deep volunteer police officer. During the struggle Crow and Ms. Guthrie managed to secure Officer Shanks’ standard sidearm and backup pistol, with which they fatally wounded Ruger.”

      Sheriff declined to provide further comments but promised a more detailed formal statement after Crow and Guthrie were treated for wounds received in the fight and were able to give complete depositions.

      From The Black Marsh Sentinel, October 1

      CAPE MAY KILLER IN PINE DEEP!

      By Willard Fowler Newton

      The Karl Ruger murder case took a far more bizarre and chilling turn when this reporter discovered that the man responsible for the murder of Henry Guthrie has been positively identified as the mass murderer known widely as the Cape May Killer.

      The Cape May Killer has been wanted by police and the FBI for the murders of eighteen senior citizens who were visiting the Cape May Lighthouse last year. Two of the victims, Maria and Vincent Menditto, were the grandparents of Philadelphia mob boss Little Nicky Menditto. FBI sources have speculated that the murders had been part of the turf war that rocked Philadelphia for three years following the death of the former don. One unnamed source in Philadelphia’s Major Crimes Unit speculate that the murders were an attempt to discourage Little Nicky from pursuing his goal of running the crime families of Philly, but that the extreme nature of the murders had an opposite effect, making Little Nicky more determined and causing the other crime lords to step up in support of him, as a way of turning the focus of blame away from themselves. Until now no suspect had ever been named.

      This reporter has heard from a number of reliable sources within the investigation, however, that Karl Ruger was the leading—if not indeed the only—suspect in the case and that a warrant for his arrest was being sought when Ruger got wind of the suspicion and fled, more from the wrath of Little Nicky than from the police. It is now believed that Ruger orchestrated the drug buy between his crew and the Jamaican posses, then deliberately provoked a gun battle so that he could get away with both the drugs and the money.

      Considering the extreme danger this madman posed to the citizens of Pine Deep, Black Marsh, and Crestville, it seems odd and perhaps criminal that the mayor and police chose not to inform the public. The Black Marsh Sentinel is calling for an immediate investigation into the mishandling of this case.

      From The Black Marsh Sentinel, October 1

      TWO OFFICERS SLAIN AT GUTHRIE FARM

      By Willard Fowler Newton

      Early this morning two police officers were brutally murdered at the Guthrie Farm, the scene of another murder just days ago. The officers have been identified as James Castle of Crestville Police Department—on loan to Pine Deep during the Karl Ruger manhunt—and Nelson Cowan of Pine Deep. The degree of savagery inflicted upon the officers was described by one witness as “beyond brutal.”

      Sources close to the investigation indicate that Kenneth Boyd, a confederate of Karl Ruger, is being sought as the lead suspect in the murders, though this degree of brutality does not seem to fit the picture of Boyd given to the press during earlier statements by Detective Sergeant Frank Ferro of Philadelphia PD, who described him as “a relatively minor figure” in the Menditto crime family who was probably accompanying Ruger under duress. According to Ferro’s partner, Detective Vince LaMastra, “Boyd’s what we call a ‘travel agent.’ He arranges to get other criminals out of the country. He’s a small fish. It’s Ruger we really want.”

      Now, with Ruger dead, that assessment seems strangely premature.

      In a statement to the press, Mayor Terry Wolfe said, “Kenneth Boyd is now being sought as the primary suspect in the murders of Officers Cowan and Castle. Police departments in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York are working together to spread a net so finely meshed that I can guarantee you Boyd will not slip through.”

      From The Black Marsh Sentinel, October 14

      MORE TRAGEDY AT GUTHRIE FARM

      By Willard Fowler Newton

      Once more death and horror struck Pine Deep, and once more blood was spilled on the Guthrie Farm. Two weeks ago Henry Guthrie, 65, the patriarch of the Guthrie clan and the owner of the region’s largest corn farm, was brutally murdered by Karl Ruger, who was later revealed to be the infamous Cape May Killer. Two days later two police officers, James Castle of Crestville Police Department and Nelson Cowan of Pine Deep, were killed and mutilated by Kenneth Boyd, a known compatriot of Ruger. But last evening Boyd returned to Pine Deep and once more attacked the Guthrie family.

      Boyd murdered Mark Guthrie, 38 and attempted to murder his sister, Val, 41, and Mark’s wife, Connie, 37. During the ensuing struggle three farm employees, José Ramos, 25, Tyrone Gibbs, 23, and Diego Santiago, 52, rushed in to try and overcome Boyd. However things went badly wrong. Boyd killed Gibbs and critically wounded Ramos and Connie Guthrie. Santiago received a head wound and is listed in stable condition. Hospital sources indicate that Ramos received severe spinal trauma and is feared to be paralyzed. Connie Guthrie received extensive throat wounds and is on life support.

      In an ironic twist of events, Val Guthrie, who was also injured during the attack, was able to bring down the killer using the handgun once owned by her father.

      From The Black Marsh Sentinel, October 14

      PINE DEEP MAYOR IN CRITICAL CONDITION FOLLOWING SUICIDE ATTEMPT

      By Willard Fowler Newton

      Pine Deep, Pennsylvania, does not seem to be able to get a breather from the ongoing violence that has rocked the town since the end of September. In the latest chapter of this ongoing tragedy the town’s beloved and respected mayor, Terry Wolfe, attempted to take his own life last night by throwing himself out his second-floor window onto concrete flagstones.

      Sources say that Wolfe has been under tremendous pressure since