30: The Crystal Beach Killing - Madman with M.F. Gross

🕯️ 1949 – Crystal Beach, Florida. A peaceful town. A brutal crime. A story too shocking to be fiction.

This week on Dark Florida, I sit down with author M.F. Gross to dive deep into his new book Madman, a chilling true account of one of Florida’s most shocking and forgotten crimes.

At the center of this story is John Calvin “Rastus” Russell. A drifter with a troubled past, a string of arrests, and demons that followed him everywhere. When Russell brutally murdered Norman Y. Browne and viciously attacked his wife in their seaside home, the crime shattered the tranquility of Crystal Beach and left the community reeling. Fear turned neighbors into vigilantes, and what followed was nothing short of chaos: a frantic manhunt, shocking revelations about the victims and their hidden pasts, and a string of twists that could rival the darkest crime fiction.

But this case didn’t end with Russell’s arrest. Secrets emerged about the Browne's, entangling the story in layers of betrayal, scandal, and questions that lingered long after the crime scene was cleared. When Russell escaped custody, the entire state was on edge. With a hurricane bearing down and law enforcement in pursuit, the chase for a madman became one of the most dramatic manhunts in Florida history.

Together, M.F. Gross and I explore the crime, the trial, the escape, and the broader social forces at play in 1940s Florida. From organized crime to the inner workings of Chattahoochee State Hospital. This case, nearly lost to time, is a haunting reminder of how violence, secrecy, and desperation can change a community forever.

If you’re drawn to true crime that reads like a gothic thriller, this episode will transport you back to post-war Florida and into the shadows of a town forever marked by one man’s brutality.

🔗 Connect with M.F. Gross

M.F. Gross Website: https://mfgross.com/

October 17th @ 6:30pm at Crystal Beach Community Center M.F. Gross will be giving a presentation on his book Madman. You won't want to miss that!

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💌 Have a strange encounter or eerie story of your own? Reach out at darkfloridapodcast@gmail.com I’d love to hear it, and maybe even feature it on the show.