Local history is presented at crime event | Derby News

On September 28, the museum will present a murder mystery entitled Blood in the River: A Murder Mystery in Derby. This mystery will stand out from the other murder mysteries produced each year in partnership with Derby Public Library because it is inspired by Derby's history.

Imagine Derby as a newly settled community where a dead child is suddenly found in the river. The citizens of Derby are even more alarmed when the situation is ruled a homicide. Without a local police department, the citizens of Derby would have to rely on outside resources to solve the disturbing crime.

At the time, the case was not brought to court. A trial ended without conviction, and questions about the child's final moments remained unanswered for years. In fact, the case was completely forgotten until Kristy Norman, a member of the museum's board of directors, discovered it while researching local doctors.

“I wanted to know where the doctors at that time came from and came across this case,” said Norman.

Thanks to their strong investigative skills and working directly with Alyssa LaRue, the library's youth and adult services coordinator, the pair were able to track down a single article from a nearby town. There was no newspaper in Derby at the time of the crime, making researching the case even more difficult. But their continued efforts rewarded the two historically minded investigators with the transcript of the court case, which provided crucial details to reconstruct the events of the case.

As with any historical research, there were gaps throughout the story. Given Norman and LaRue's knowledge of Derby's development and the timing of the crime, the two used historical license to fill in those gaps while maintaining the integrity of the era.

“We left it as it was and everything we added we designed to be appropriate to the time frame. This is Derby history and we wanted to preserve it as best as we could,” Norman said.

“Because we know a lot more about Derby's history than is documented, it's really important that we find and share things like this,” added Butch Ewing, president of the museum's board of directors. “Kristy and Alyssa have done a great job putting it together and we're excited to share it with our community, but we only have 60 spots.”

While solving what is likely Derby's first murder is now within reach, justice is long past its prime. This provides an opportunity to support the Museum in continuing to research and communicate Derby's history, one citizen at a time.

Tickets for the murder mystery event are $5 and can be purchased on the Derby Historical Museum's Facebook page or at derbykshistorymuseum.org. All proceeds from the event and donations will benefit the museum.