Filmakers set out to solve 124-year-old murder mystery

Filmmakers set out to solve 124-year-old murder mystery
Pair hopes to learn who killed Samuel Johnson
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Christopher Rott and Steve Steinhauser were just biding time in a bookstore when they came upon a passage that may lead to solving one of Monmouth County’s oldest murder mysteries.

Percy Munoz (l-r), Steve Steinhauser and psychic Jane Doherty discuss the legend that a ghost haunts Wampum Park in Eatontown. Filmmaker Chris Rott (second from right) plays an audio clip for Nicole Twomey. PHOTOS BY LAUREN CASSELBERRY Percy Munoz (l-r), Steve Steinhauser and psychic Jane Doherty discuss the legend that a ghost haunts Wampum Park in Eatontown. Filmmaker Chris Rott (second from right) plays an audio clip for Nicole Twomey. PHOTOS BY LAUREN CASSELBERRY While perusing a copy of “Images of America: Eatontown and Fort Monmouth” by Helen Pike, Rott and Steinhauser read about Samuel “Mingo Jack” Johnson, a former Eatontown resident, who was killed by a mob in 1886. They knew they had to learn more.

After researching the incident on the Internet and talking to local historians, the duo decided Johnson’s story would be the subject of their first documentary for their new film company, Go Home Films.

“[The book] didn’t go too much into it,” said Steinhauser, “so we decided to research it ourselves. It turned out that it was a pretty big deal in the town.

Doherty explains her reaction to the purported paranormal activity in Wampum Park, while Munoz (center) and Steinhauser record her insights on March 5. Doherty explains her reaction to the purported paranormal activity in Wampum Park, while Munoz (center) and Steinhauser record her insights on March 5. “As we were reading, we felt that we needed to get the story out there because it really is messed up,” he added. “It was almost like an obligation.”

Rott, of Eatontown, studied film production at Brookdale Community College and Jersey City University.

Steinhauser, of Tinton Falls, who has studied photography and graphic design at Brookdale, said that since November 2008, the two have had casual talks about starting a film company, but about eight months ago they became more serious about it.

According to the book, Johnson, an African American, was accused of attacking and raping a neighbor on March 5, 1886. He was locked up at the Eatontown jail and shortly before midnight was beaten and killed by a mob.

Rott said that the documentary will explore the racial tensions at the time the film is set, the post- Civil War 1880s.

“I think one of the major things is we want to depict what it was like being African American in 1886,” he said. “There was a trial that was a farce.

“I think people still can identify with it. It was a hate crime, and it is just unacceptable for that to have happened, especially in our hometown. I wouldn’t say we are on a crusade, but it is almost like a mission to tell this guy’s story.”

Rott and Steinhauser began filming the documentary last Friday, the anniversary of the event, at Wampum Park, the former site of the Eatontown jail.

The filmmakers appeared recently in front of the Borough Council to ask for permission to film at the park after dark. They also will be filming at the Eatontown Historical Museum and are hoping to film at Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport.

During the coming months they plan to talk to local historians, including the Eatontown author whose book inspired their project.

“We actually contacted Helen Pike, and she is going to appear in this project,” Rott said. “She is going to provide us with a little more insight into the story.”

The film will tell Johnson’s story, explaining the landscape of Eatontown, then and now, and the legend that Johnson’s ghost still haunts the site.

“We definitely want to get the entire story out and explain every possible angle,” Steinhauser said. “There is not much information out there, and we want to uncover things that maybe aren’t published.”

Steinhauser said the last sentence of Pike’s piece on Johnson really intrigued him.

“Mingo Jack’s ghost is said to have haunted the Eatontown jail while it remained on West Street,” Pike writes in the book.

Steinhauser explained his infatuation with the ghost story.

“Not only is this a terrible story, the ghost part is interesting as well and definitely capturedmy interest,” he said. “A portion of the documentary is the paranormal, the ghost hunting part of it.”

“We want to know if there is any truth to the ghost story,” Rott added.

Steinhauser said that the paranormal aspect of the documentary might be the wild card in the whole project because the filmmakers don’t know how much information they are going to come up with.

He explained that the duo purchased $500 worth of ghost-hunting equipment, including Electro Magnetic Field detectors, thermometers, infrared extenders for cameras to view different spectrums of light, audio recorders, electronic voice phenomenon detectors.

Rott is hoping not only to present the story, but also to possibly solve the mystery of who killed Johnson.

“One of the goals is to find out who committed the crime against Samuel Johnson,” he said. “Everyone was so quick to be the judge, jury and executioner. If there is a way to find out who committed the crime against him, that would be the ultimate outcome.”

Steinhauser said that if the answer isn’t found, they can still tell Johnson’s story.

Rott said the documentary, which does not yet have a title, is expected to be completed by summer.

“The town actually offered to show the movie when it’s done,” Rott said.

The filmmakers are funding the project out of pocket.

“We are not expecting any financial gain to come out of this,” Rott said.

“We are not doing it for money,” Steinhauser added. “We are doing it for fun and the experience.

Rott said the documentary will be submitted to local film festivals in Red Bank and Jersey City, and will be made available at local libraries and at Brookdale.

Steinhauser expects to use the Internet and YouTube to promote the documentary.

“The Internet is the biggest and cheapest form of advertising,” he said. “Promoting these days is very easy.”

Steinhauser and Rott, who have been friends since high school, explained that this is their first project, but others may follow.

“We will look into local hauntings; that is what we want to focus on,” Steinhauser said. “Any projects we work on will be historical as well as paranormal.

“There are names flying around in our heads about a bunch of different projects that have historical value,” he added. “We want to start in our hometown and branch off.

“We want to do more history, but the haunted history,” he said. “Anything that has to do with ghosts I’m all about.”

Rott said their film company is in its infancy and the filmmakers expect to create a website in the coming months.

Along with the film company, the duo has started a group called the Paranormal Rangers to research paranormal activity.

Steinhauser explained that a fun part of the documentary is that the filmmakers have no idea how the film is going to end.

“You never know what is going to happen once you start filming,” he said.

Rott agreed. “I think it is going to be a film that unfolds as we go along,” he said. “It is not going to be something where we know the ending, which is different from anything I’ve done in the past.”


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