The Shocking Slaying on Sugar Creek Lane

In 1931, Reba Maddux was sent to a sanitarium for a contagious disease. She was later found dead under suspicious circumstances, rumored to be suicide. The live-in nanny — who was having an affair with her husband — was present at the scene.

Sketches depicting Reba Maddux, Walter Maddux, and Clara Fish; a murderous love triangle. Created and edited for this article.

The Worst Halloween Surprise

What appears to be Kirkwood, MIssouri in the 1930’s (source).

On October 30th, 1931, the day before Halloween, Joe Shupert set out from his home on West Jefferson Avenue to gather dry wood for his stove. His walk took him through a sparsely populated, wooded area along a dirt road then known as Sugar Creek Lane, what now is a path cutting through a Kirkwood, Missouri playground.

Sugar Creek Lane, as it appeared in in 1931.

At that time, the area Joe Shupert lived was considered the outskirts of Kirkwood, often referred to as a “lonely woods” as it was sparsely populated and rarely frequented; except known by teenagers who came there for privacy with…