One of the most notorious crimes in North Dakota history has reverberated through several generations of Larry Lee Kruckenberg's family. The brutal murder of 16-year- old Alma Luise Kruckenberg at the hands of her minister on August 16, 1938, was shocking enough. The subsequent confession, trial, and sentencing of her murderer took place with astonishing speed, leaving Alma's family and friends barely time to process the horrifying event. Lurid details of the crime have been passed down from one generation to the next, becoming distorted with every telling. In a meticulously researched retelling, the nephew Alma never knew provides a painstaking account of murder and motive, uncovering some secrets along the way. More than 80 years after the crime, the author sheds new light on what transpired, finally laying to rest a tragedy that has haunted his family for decades. Through official court transcripts, archived newspaper articles, writings from the murderer, conversations with elders who still remember, and traces of Alma's diary that have been lost to time, Larry Kruckenberg tells the complete story of a crime that once captivated attention around the world, finally giving voice to the victim.