Former publisher chronicles great-grandmother's brutal murder

For years, Gary Sosniecki had heard his family refer to the violent murder of his great-grandmother more than 100 years ago. Years later, as a journalist he was determined to learn the full story and it is now the topic of his new book, “The Potato Masher Murder: Death at the Hands of a Jealous Husband.” Sosniecki retired a few years ago after a 34-year career that included a stint, with wife Helen, as editor and publisher of the Lebanon Daily Record. It was in retirement that he finally found time to unearth the details behind a longtime family mystery. “My brother and I at Christmas and Thanksgiving would hear references to it, but we didn’t know very much about it,” he said. “I got curious as a journalist as to what the real story was.” Sosniecki first began looking into the case in 1996 when the Internet was gaining popularity and he was able to learn a little more. “I talked to my mom and she told me a little bit. She had the wrong year and the wrong town, it was close. She knew there was a fire involved and she knew children were playing outside. The children she thought were playing outside would be my grandpa and his sister,” Sosniecki said. For more. on this story see Saturday's LCR.