Who killed New Jersey's Fudge King? That's the question writer Tom Donaghy grappled with for several years, detailing the twisty true-crime account in Atavist Magazine. As a kid visiting the Jersey Shore, Donaghy was a frequent visitor of the Copper Kettle, a fudge shop that wiped out all competitors. Founder Harry Anglemyer was a beloved figure in the community, and his business acumen and amazing confection sparked a small chain and great wealth. Anglemyer was also gay, and lived pretty openly despite discrimination and sodomy laws in the state. Trouble began when Anglemyer challenged the town's blue laws that strictly prohibited businesses from operating on Sundays (especially irksome to business owners in a tourist town).
Things began to heat up after a 1963 referendum supported by Anglemyer relaxed the blue laws. He was arrested for "carnal indecency" weeks after the vote, and over the next year was robbed and attacked. When the summer season ended in 1964, Anglemyer was found murdered outside a nightclub in his Lincoln Continental. Though there was a trial where one suspect was acquitted, the case remained cold for decades. Donaghy returned to the shore to interview locals, and was cautioned by one, "You sneeze in this town and everyone hears it." He soon gained the case files, and began digging more into the local politics, police force, club scene, and a cluster of scam artists targeting gay men. The tale is a tangled one, but the new suspect (who died in 2004) is the brother of the acquitted man. "It's a long shot, but maybe someday soon there will be a measure of justice for the Fudge King after all," writes Donaghy. Read the full story here. (Or check out other longforms.)
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