Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania rarely saw big-time crime, but that changed in December 1923. Just to the north of town, in the bleakness of a central Pennsylvania December, Harvey Willow was shot in the back of the head during a hunting trip in App’s Woods. His life, already rough by local standards, was brutally ended, launching an investigation that would draw the attention of the county, the state, and even the nation.
Local authorities quickly placed his wife, Annie, and their sixteen-year-old farm hand, Ralph Shadel, at the center of the mystery. The human drama, encompassing tales of abuse, jealousy, passion, and personal frailty, intrigued the nation.
The consequent trial was riddled with half-steps, reversals, and he-said-she-saids. It took over a year for the state to win a conviction against the pair. Annie and Ralph were sentenced to twenty years in state prison.
National buzz around small-town affair had Americans asking questions:
What were Annie’s and Ralph’s motives? Did Harvey have it coming? Did Annie take advantage of Ralph? What does a community owe the powerless?
The following pages will answer these questions, as we explore the Willow Murder.
