The Legend of Nance Dude

What would possess a grandmother to murder her two-year-old granddaughter? The Legend of Nance Dude presents all the known facts surrounding Roberta Putnam's grizzly murder and the arrest, trial, and subsequent conviction of her grandmother Nancy Ann Kerley, also known as Nance Dude.

Maurice Stanley learned the story of Nance Dude from his grandmother, who saw Nance and Roberta Putnam out walking not long before Roberta's death. Stanley has woven a speculative tale, drawing on both historical fact and oral tradition, of Nance Dude's metamorphosis from happy, loving child to convicted murderess.