One of the most sensational and important crimes in the history of American labor was the brutal murder of Jock Yablonski, his wife, and his daughter in January 1970.
An official of the United Mine Workers Union for thirty-five years, Yablonski had broken with the corrupt leadership and was running for the union’s presidency against the famous Tony Boyle. His murder was an internal union affair. The killers were found, and the case seemed solved until an extraordinary man named Richard Aurel Sprague was named prosecutor.
Sprague was a master courtroom tactician and dramatist. He was convinced that the Yablonski murders came down a chain of command from the top of the union power structure. In a series of investigations and trials, betrayals and confessions, Sprague led the case to the doorstep of one of the most powerful men in American labor - Tony Boyle - and so brought about his downfall.
This account by Stuart Brown is an unstoppable narrative. It contains the suspense of the detective thriller, the courtroom drama of vintage Perry Mason, and the thrill that conies with an account, like that of Helter Skelter, of justice done where evil had persisted.