Slide 1 of 10,

On Aug. 15, 1908, the coast of Little Neck Bay in Queens witnessed one of the most brazen murders in New York's history, one that would have unexpectedly broad implications. The shooting was set in motion when a letter was sent to Peter Hains Jr., an Army captain who was active on the New York social circuit and married to a debutante named Claudia Libbey. The letter, sent by the captain's brother, Thornton Jenkins Hains, a successful novelist of sea adventures, referred to "orgies" involving Peter's bride.