In the summer of 1927, a federal agent's duty led him to the quiet town of Boonsboro, Maryland, where a clandestine operation would ultimately lead to his untimely death. Hunter Rizer Stotler, a Prohibition Agent, was working a case involving a large-scale steam boiler still reportedly operating in the vicinity. On July 26th, he and two other agents, C. C. Jack and P. W.
Parr, traveled to nearby Hagerstown to meet with a confidential informant who had information about the illegal distillery.
Following the meeting, the agents separated, with an agreement to reconvene the next day. However, Agent Stotler did not return. He had accompanied the informant from Hagerstown to Boonsboro, intending to interview another individual. It was during this excursion that the situation turned fatal. The informant, for reasons that would later be scrutinized in a court of law, turned on the federal agent and murdered him.
The following morning, the grim discovery of Agent Stotler's death was made, and an investigation was swiftly launched. The informant who had been with Stotler the previous night was identified as the perpetrator. This individual was subsequently arrested and brought to trial for the murder of the federal agent. The legal proceedings concluded with a conviction, and the suspect was sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Prohibition Agent Hunter Rizer Stotler.
