Esther: Her Murder Haunts a Small Town in Oklahoma

In 1986, Esther Steele, a 73-year-old resident of Granite, Okla., was raped and murdered in her bed. The case was not difficult to solve as members of the State Bureau of Investigation fixed on two ne'er-do-wells, each of whom still claim that the other had entered the victim's home alone and killed her. Bugs Adams pleaded guilty and testified against Wayne Sadler; both were sentenced to life. While Sanders's ( Hamlet Warning ) primary focus is on the slaying, he also shows how the murder opened a Pandora's box of revelations about drug trafficking in Granite and led to the appointment of Charles Jones as police chief; he was determined to enforce every law. He did not last long but helped dispel residents' illusions that Granite was an idyllic village. (July)