1753
Chartered in 1753 by Governor Benning Wentworth and named Fane after John Fane, the seventh Earl of Westmoreland.
about 0:03:51Spoilers are covered until your reading preferences load.
FILE 546 / 16 November 2024 / 71 MIN / express
This is Newfane, Vermont, in southern central Vermont, in the Windham County area; the murder happens in Williamsville, a smaller town inside Newfane. about 0:02:43
Chartered in 1753 by Governor Benning Wentworth and named Fane after John Fane, the seventh Earl of Westmoreland.
about 0:03:51The first town meeting was not held within the required five years, so the charter was deemed null and void and a new charter was issued in 1761 naming it Newfane.
about 0:04:25A village was built atop Newfane Hill, including the county buildings, but winter travel made the hill unusable, so the whole town was relocated to the flatlands in 1825.
about 0:04:45The site had been Fayetteville before it was taken over and renamed Newfane.
about 0:04:55Chartered in 1753 by Governor Benning Wentworth and named Fane after John Fane, the seventh Earl of Westmoreland.
about 0:03:51The first town meeting was not held within the required five years, so the charter was deemed null and void and a new charter was issued in 1761 naming it Newfane.
about 0:04:25A village was built atop Newfane Hill, including the county buildings, but winter travel made the hill unusable, so the whole town was relocated to the flatlands in 1825.
about 0:04:45The site had been Fayetteville before it was taken over and renamed Newfane.
about 0:04:55In 1859 its industries included leather, linseed oil, two flour mills, two lumber mills and a large carriage factory.
about 0:05:09"1,807"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:03:21
"$59,792"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:03:41
"$319,400"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:03:46
4.3 / 5 · average of 6
“Very small rural town with an old-timey feel, tight-knit neighbourhoods, very quiet, a nice place to retire, artsy and hip.”about 0:05:23
“You have to love the outdoors to live here, because there is nothing else going on.”about 0:05:50
“The community is great and people take care of each other.”about 0:05:56
“Moved ten years ago from the California Bay Area and never looked back; all four seasons are beautiful, especially spring and fall, and the people and water are the best part.”about 0:06:03
“An hour and fifteen minutes to the MGM casino in Springfield, Massachusetts, three hours to Boston and Burlington, five hours to Montreal.”about 0:06:29
“There aren't many opportunities here.”about 0:06:48
On 30 May 1992 Glenn Michaelson, a 34-year-old divorced father of two, hosted a Memorial Day party at the house he rented on Baker Brook Road in Williamsville, a village inside Newfane, Vermont. About thirty people came. Michaelson, recently laid off by Northeast Cooperatives, was known as a generous host and a guitarist who let roommates stay when they could not pay their share.
His only permitted absence was to work at CNS Wholesale Grocers, and he was living at the San and Snow Motel in West Chesterfield under the alias Sam Smith.
Michaelson talked him down each time and never threw him out.
Shortly after 11.30 pm, Michaelson's roommate Steven Zargo left with Christopher Lapin and William Dortin for Rick's Tavern, leaving Michaelson at home with Bart Stacy asleep upstairs. A neighbour watched the three men leave at 11.30, then heard loud, argumentative voices from the house and saw Michaelson's car speeding down the road. A second neighbour saw the same.
The car ended up in a ditch across the road from the Salzman farmhouse, about a mile away. Salzman refused to let him in. Kathleen called the police twice and then a neighbour with a gun.
At 12.45 am Zargo and his friends returned from the bar and found Michaelson in the hallway in a pool of blood, a ski pole impaled behind his left ear and other wounds all over him. He had been stripped of his shirt, his boots and a black onyx ring, and was wearing only his trousers. Knives were found in the kitchen sink, in a closet and stuck into a box against the wall.
Bail was refused: he had twenty dollars to his name and three social security numbers from his time in Florida.
The autopsy found twenty blows to the head, four stab wounds from the ski pole, two behind the left ear and two in the back, one of which penetrated two and a half inches into the brain, and a cut throat that killed him within minutes.
His supervisor testified that he had skipped tests and failed to record results, and the blood samples had been destroyed before the defence could examine them.
May 30, 1992 / his home on Baker Brook Road, Williamsville, Vermont
As told in the episode, on 16 November 2024.
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
about 0:20:58road
about 0:20:58home
about 0:30:50business
about 0:26:33police
about 0:30:56other
about 0:38:54other
about 0:49:29hospital
about 0:15:57business
about 0:12:24business
about 0:17:51landmark
about 1:00:07