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=== A father murdered ===
=== A father murdered ===
When young Jeff Smith was about nine years old, his father was murdered. The circumstances, which Smith would not fully learn until he had long been an adult, were these: Joseph Paine had agreed to represent a miner who had a dispute of an unspecified nature with his employer, who in turn belonged to a powerful and corrupt mining syndicate. As Paine continued to press for pretrial discovery, Clayton Smith published story after story about the syndicate and its deplorable conduct in the case involving the miner. The syndicate tried every means within the law to stop the elder Smith from publishing. When this failed, they sent in an unknown assassin to kill the publisher as he sat at his desk.
When young Jeff Smith was about nine years old, his father was murdered. The circumstances, which Smith would not fully learn until he had long been an adult, were these: Joseph Paine had agreed to represent an independent miner who had a claim dispute with a powerful and corrupt mining syndicate. As Paine continued to press for pretrial discovery, Clayton Smith published story after story about the syndicate and its deplorable conduct in the case involving the miner. The syndicate tried every means within the law to stop the elder Smith from publishing. When this failed, they sent in an unknown assassin to kill the publisher as he sat at his desk. Jeff Smith's mother, sadly, was the one to discover the body.
How the miner's case was finally settled, adjudicated, or otherwise disposed of, the story never explains. Shortly after Clayton Smith's murder, Joseph Paine gave up his law practice, ran for the Senate, and won. The Smiths would not associate with Joseph Paine again until twenty years later.
How the miner's case was finally settled, adjudicated, or otherwise disposed of, the story never explains. Shortly after Clayton Smith's murder, Joseph Paine gave up his law practice, ran for the Senate, and won. The Smiths would not associate with Joseph Paine again until twenty years later.