CAT SWAMP HIJACKING AND MURDER

Placed in 2009, this marker is located at milepost 100.2 Route 206 South in Byram Township near the site of the Cat Swamp Hijacking and Murder.

"In this area, on Cat Swamp Hill in Byram Township, at about 6:00 a.m. on June 14, 1921, the Sussex Print Silk truck was hijacked.  Albert Koster drove onto the scene on his motorcycle, was mistaken for a state trooper, and murdered.  The gang escaped with $11,000 of bolt silk.  Through the work of Franklin Police Chief Herbert C. Irons, the killers were eventually captured.  County Sheriff Linus Littell and Prosecutor Lewis Van Blarcon persevered through two years of trials to obtain convictions of the thieves, two of whom were executed for the murder.

Photo courtesy of Cheryl Thom