Time of Death

Dec. 24, 1963, 8:45 a.m. Stanley Forte pulled up in front of friend Frank Rinaldi's house and honked the car horn. Frank came out and got in. "Together again, baby," Frank said and they set off, driving the twelve miles or so from Chapel Hill to Durham, North Carolina, to go Christmas shopping.They bought gifts for their wives, toys for Stan's two sons and Frank bought a teddy bear for the baby his wife, Lucille, was carrying.When they returned to Frank's duplex apartment, 105 North Street, Chapel Hill, at about 1:30 p.m., they found that Lucille had been struck on the head, gagged, strangled and suffocated. She and her baby were both dead.By 6 p.m., Frank was in jail, charged with murder. The author became fascinated by this crime and its aftermath when she was a young teenager. Her father was a friend and support of Frank Rinaldi and for the 2 years it took for Frank to receive justice, the Gaskins' family life centered around his trials, Decades later, the questions that the case raised about justice and the justice system are still current and perhaps more important than ever. Nora Gaskin tells a compelling true story.