Westfalia: A breed of Volkswagen camper van prone to expensive repairs, yet beloved by those who own them and coveted by road-trip dreamers everywhere.

In September 1933, two men were murdered, 1,300 miles apart: Lawrence Shead, 35, a movie theatre manager, was found in his New Jersey apartment with his head beaten in by an electric iron; in New Orleans, days later, businessman Sheffield Clark, 67, was found in a hotel room, propped up in his underwear, beaten and strangled to death.