Murder & Mayhem in Norton, Ohio

For such a small city, Norton’s past is rife with bloody deeds, tragic accidents and destructive disasters. This community on the edge of Akron had its share of train wrecks, plane crashes and devastating fires, but other events were decidedly more sinister in nature. In 1931, a young robber allowed his twelve-year-old brother to ride along on a bank heist–to little brother’s great delight. A labor dispute in 1950 resulted in two bombings of a local residence in a single year. In the 1970s and ‘80s, serial killers Robert Buell and Edward Wayne Edwards left their evil marks on the city. Digging through two centuries of news coverage, local author Lisa Merrick uncovers Norton’s most loathsome crimes and heartbreaking calamities.