Black Clover: Murder in a Small Pennsylvania Town and a Family’s Fight for Justice

Carl Wade Ryder-brother, son, and all-around good person-was murdered on August 5, 2006.

Blood was found at his home in Franklin County, PA.

All evidence pointed to one suspect: Scott North, a former employee of Carl’s, a regular attendee of Franklin County courts, and the son of a Chambersburg, PA cop. After burglarizing a tavern, a judge granted him work release, and then another dismissed a recent gun charge. Days later, he ran from his unsupervised worksite and began a crime spree that may have ended with the murder of Carl Wade Ryder.

The evidence was all there, but the police ignored most of it.

With nowhere else to turn, the family scoured the byways and hillsides of Amberson, Path Valley, and other areas in adjoining counties in search of Carl’s body. And finally, they found him in Huntingdon County, PA, 27 minutes away from his home.

When his body was found, the police revisited the investigation-but only by expanding the murder case to Huntingdon County, despite the blood in Carl’s home. For a year and a half, the case was passed off between the counties. With no help from officials, how could the Ryder family bring their beloved son & brother justice?

Black Clover is the true story of the heart-wrenching small town murder of the author’s brother and the lengths at which the legal system can be manipulated, if the family doesn’t fight back.