A Stolen Life. A Secret Exhumed.
In the shadows of Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains, attorney Martin Dillon went hunting with his best friend—and never came home. The official story seemed straightforward: a tragic accident during an afternoon of trap shooting. But when the only witness was Dr. Stephen Scher, the man having an affair with Dillon’s wife, the victim’s family refused to believe it.
Then Scher did the unthinkable: he married Dillon’s widow and raised her children as his own, living a stolen life for twenty years—until Martin’s body was exhumed. Some secrets never stay buried.
The Jacklighter follows a decades-long quest for justice that tore apart a small town and a prominent family. From the suspicious “accident” in 1976 to the explosive murder trial twenty years later, to the killer’s release from prison, award-winning author Carla Conti uncovers the dark secrets hidden beneath Montrose, Pennsylvania’s Victorian charm—secrets involving betrayal, forbidden love, and a killing method as cowardly as it was calculated.
With unique access to the hometown victims and key witnesses, Conti reveals how one shotgun blast shattered multiple lives and tested whether justice can survive when everyone in town thinks they know the truth.
“He killed him, didn’t he? Steve killed him.”
These were the first words spoken by the doctor’s wife upon hearing that Marty Dillon died in a hunting accident. She had just awoken in the ICU after a suicide attempt—years before the body was ever exhumed.
Read the First Two Chapters Free on Substack
Coming Soon to Kickstarter 📣
I am currently preparing a Kickstarter campaign to fund and launch The Jacklighter. This is an exclusive opportunity to secure limited-edition copies and special “Crimemoir” bundles that won’t be available anywhere else.
I’ll update this page with the Kickstarter page link as soon as it goes live! Stay tuned 👀
Carla Conti is a journalist and the award-winning author of Chained Birds: A Crimemoir. Her next true crime book, The Jacklighter, is set for release in 2026. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, who supports her true crime habit.