The Madness of John Terrell: Revenge and Insanity on Trial in the Heartland

Join us for a special evening with author Stephen Terrell to learn about the story behind his true crime book The Madness of John Terrell: Revenge and Insanity on Trial in the Heartland. A book signing will follow the presentation. The author will have books available for purchase: Madness of John Terrell ($24.95), Last Train to Stratton ($14), The First Rule ($12), and Stars Fall ($12). Cash, credit card, Apple Pay accepted. This program is free and open to the public, no purchase required to attend.

Description: In early 1900s Indiana, John Terrell was the wealthiest man in Wells County, thanks to oil discovered on his farm. But when his youngest daughter, Lucy, became pregnant and was forced into marriage with the abusive Melvin Wolfe, Terrell’s life and fortune began to unravel in a tumultuous spiral of murder, a dramatic trial, and madness.

On a summer Sunday afternoon in 1903, Terrell ambushed Wolfe along a roadside. He then followed the wounded man to a doctor’s office, broke into the operating room, placed a shotgun to Wolfe’s head, and pulled the trigger. The next day, the murder made headlines in hundreds of newspapers across the country, including the front page of The New York Times.

But the murder was only the beginning. Over the next decade, the case divided a community and drew in five judges, two Indiana governors, a prominent priest, and the Indiana Supreme Court.

Presenter: Stephen Terrell is a retired Indianapolis lawyer and Muncie native who now lives and writes in his hometown. A graduate of Muncie Central and Ball State University, he is the author of The Madness of John Terrell: Revenge and Insanity on Trial in the Heartland (Kent State University Press, 2024), as well as three novels, including two legal thrillers and Last Train to Stratton, an excerpt of which will appear in the 2025 edition of So It Goes, the Kurt Vonnegut Library’s literary journal.

Stephen’s short stories appear regularly in Speed City Sisters in Crime anthologies. His work has earned honors including a place on the Best Mystery Stories of the Year Honor Roll, the Manny Award for short fiction, and induction into the Indiana State Bar’s General Practice Hall of Fame. He also writes the column On Second Thought for the ABA’s Experience Magazine.