Jonathan Brothers was a retired insurance company executive whose defining characteristic as a public person was his note-taking on steno pads at political meetings and the town zoning board of appeals hearings, of which he would become the presiding member. Nathaniel Simpson, one of the county's leading lawyers, was Jonathan's attorney, as well as general counsel for a major bank. A steno pad of Jonathan's that dealt with zoning board hearings, which came to the attention of Nathaniel and the bank for which he was general counsel following Jonathan's passing, contained notations that could be viewed as evidence of Jonathan's having taken bribes in zoning board matters, which encompassed the various zoning issues that arose following World War II.