Join author & reporter Kelly Sullivan Pezza as she investigates and
recounts the murder of 5-year old Maggie Sheffield.
On a summer day in 1893, little Maggie Sheffield was murdered. Maggie's
own father did the unthinkable against a backdrop of laughter and barrel
organ music at Rocky Point Amusement Park. The tragedy aroused a strange
reaction from the peaceable community of Warwick, Rhode Island. Many
seemed to be more concerned for the murderer, Frank Sheffield, than for
his young victim. Frank was rumored to be insane or addicted to drugs,
and after a trial, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The
murder did not tarnish Rocky Point's reputation as a premier
destination, and the park operated until 1995. Investigating official
records and newspaper archives, author Kelly Sullivan Pezza uncovers the
facts and oddities behind a grim crime in Rhode Island's summer
paradise.