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Murder at Mount Hermon: The Unsolved Killing of Headmaster Elliott Speer

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As a student at Northfield Mount Hermon in the early 1970s, little was said about the unsolved murder of former Headmaster Elliott Speer. I recall a rumor that the gun used in the killing was somewhere on the bottom of the school's Shadow Lake. Craig Walley's well-researched and -written book examines that rumor and many more in an absorbing murder mystery. Murder at Mount Hermon captures the school's history and religious roots, and how the forward-thinking Speer's efforts to break from the past and move the school and its students into a new era sealed his fate. While the murder remains unsolved, Walley's book comes closer than ever before to finding the "smoking gun."

A True Crime Mystery

MURDER AT MOUNT HERMON is a spellbinding true-life mystery of a sensational unsolved murder that occurred in 1934. Elliott Speer, the recently appointed headmaster of a well-known New England prep school, was shot dead through his study window by someone whose identity remains unknown. It was a little past eight on the evening of September 14, 1935 that a single blast of double-o buckshot from a 12-gauge shotgun tore through the screened window of Ford Cottage killing the thirty-six-year-old headmaster. The murder became one of the most sensational murder cases of the mid-thirties, receiving national news coverage.
Several elements assured that the murder of Elliott Speer would arouse national interest. Mount Hermon School for Boys was founded in 1881 by Dwight L. Moody, one of the best-known evangelist in American history. Elliott Speer was recruited to bring the school into the twentieth century. Many of the old guard at the school felt that Speer's progressive views were a rejection of the founder's vision and mission for the school. The man suspected at the time of being guilty of the crime was none other that Thomas Elder, dean of the school. Dean Elder was among those who felt the school's mission was endangered by Elliott Speer's progressive methods. Elder also felt that he, not Speer, should have been appointed headmaster in 1932.
The murder of Elliott Speer remains unsolved to this day, but Craig Walley, a Mount Hermon graduate and attorney, believes that his investigation of the crime comes as close as anyone ever will come to identifying the murderer. Adding to the mystery is the fact that Elliott Speer's two dogs did not bark during the night of the crime. One is reminded of Sherlock Holmes and the "Silver Blaze." Also, Elliott Speer was a fan of mystery novels, and among those in his personal library was a copy of The Public School Murder by R. C. Woodthorpe. This English crime novel published in 1932 was lent by Speer to Dean Elder when the latter was ill. The Public School Murder reads like a script for Speer's murder, right through to the fact that the crime was never solved. Was the Mount Hermon murder the perfect crime?
MURDER AT MOUNT HERMON is as well written as any fictional mystery novel, made all the more interesting by being a true mystery. Readers familiar with Josephine Tey's classic, The Daughter of Time (1952), will delight in this book. It is one of only a very few that this reviewer could not put down until finished.N

The 1934 murder of Mount Hermon School for Boys Headmaster Elliott Speer remains unsolved today, legally speaking. What youngster could resist such a mystery's allure? Not Craig Walley, a Mount Hermon student from 1957 through 1961. During the years afterward, throughout his career as an attorney, Walley thought about it often. In 2001 he decided to research the case and write this book.

MURDER AT MOUNT HERMON tells the story, provides its background, and analyzes the available evidence with an attorney's precision. I think it's safe to say that you'll come away from it certain you know the murderer's name and understand his motives. More case study than murder mystery, the book reaches for broader relevance - and for a connection to our 21st Century present - by speaking of another time when "Fundamentalism" and "Modernism" clashed. Did that clash at Northfield and Mount Hermon, sister schools founded by the great 19th Century evangelist D.L. Moody, lay the groundwork for Elliott Speer's murder? To answer this intriguing question for yourself, you'll have to read the book.

This is a fascinating true-life murder mystery -- both an engrossing story and a compelling solution to an unsolved murder that occurred 70 years ago. It's hard to believe that real people behaved this way, but that's part of what makes the book so entertaining - the author doesn't just recount the facts of the case but attempts, successfully, to bring the "characters" to life.

A very good true crime book!

Love this revisit to the unsolved murder case of Elliott Speer. The author's distinction voice and detailed descriptions truly bring the case and the characters alive.

Murder At Mount Hermon: The Unsolved Killing Of Headmaster Elliott Speer is a true crime story concerning the 1934 murder of a thirty-five-year old school administrator, whose efforts to bring progressive reform to the tradition-bound Christian prep school earned the good graces of many students and faculty. A shotgun blast through his study window killed him, and the murder was front-page news nationwide, yet no criminal was ever charged. Veteran attorney Craig Walley pieces together the clues of history and dares even to indicate the most likely killer. A fascinating, fact-filled study of murder and the shortcomings of a 1930's homicide investigation.

I was transfixed by this well-written account of a Mount Hermon legend. I attended the school in 1951-52 and remember it fondly. Reading about people and buildings and locations with which I am, even after all these years, familiar, the story was very real to me. I found the experience compelling and commend it to others.