A true crime case history that takes the reader deep into what happened when a brother shot a brother in a small mid-western town in 1875. The Laughtons had moved from the timberlands of Maine to the Minnesota Territory in 1854. They cleared land, raised families, and helped establish a new community. Continued quarrels over the care of their aging parents led to Orin Laughton confronting Nathan Laughton in front of their parents. Nathan picked up a gun that discharged. Orin said "I am a dead man," and fell down in front of the parents. The jury had to wrestle with the question of whether the shooting was self-defense, accidental or intentional. Their verdict led to Nathan being sentenced to life in Stillwater State Prison. After several years of prison, Nathan started the process of seeking a pardon from the "sad place where he shed many sorrowful tears." The pardon never came. The story ends in 1894 when the Warden sent the remaining brother a telegram that simply read, "Brother Dead. Do you want his remains?"