NEW ALBANY — Murder, suicide and untimely deaths — some of the city’s most sinister acts have been unveiled by local author and historian Gregg Seidl in his latest book titled “Wicked New Albany.”

The book, which was released in October through The History Press, provides vivid descriptions of notable deaths dating back to New Albany’s first recorded murder in 1820.

Seidl felt his hometown of New Albany was a peaceful, quaint community without much of a dark side, but he conceded that was before he really started digging into its past.

Based on hours of research which included combing through century old newspaper clippings and interviewing retired police detectives, Seidl discovered gruesome acts of violence that had occurred throughout the city.

“There were several times in the writing of this where I just had to stop and completely walk away from it for a couple of months,” he said.

“Wicked New Albany” features three sections, the first of which describes notorious murders beginning with the homicide of Frederick Nolte.

Nolte owned a bakery at the corner of Pearl and Main Streets, and was murdered by a friend and drinking partner in 1820 who later claimed to have murdered several more people.

The killer, a Danish immigrant named John Dahmen, actually escaped the Floyd County Jail and escaped to Canada before being apprehended. As the story goes, after a long night of drinking, an urge came over Dahmen to kill his friend.

He hit him with a club, cut his throat and eventually sliced Nolte into four pieces which he stashed in a bed sheet and dropped into the Ohio River. The remains were later discovered by fishermen, and New Albany had its first official murder.

Dahmen was found guilty of the crime in 1821, and was hung close to where the PNC Bank parking lot off State Street is today.

Part two of the book focuses on the numerous New Albany residents who met their untimely demise underneath the wheels of a train. According to Seidl’s research, train accidents have killed “literally hundreds” of people in New Albany in the city’s near 200-year existence.

The third segment of “Wicked New Albany” concentrates on unusual and gory suicides that occurred in the city.

As with most stories in the book, the suicide section details some almost unbelievable methods of death that occurred in well-known New Albany buildings.

For example, the suicide of Enoch West, who allegedly cut his neck from ear to ear in the third-floor of the building that now houses Toast on Market.

Some present day landowners know of the atrocities that happened on their property, some are unaware, Seidl said. Thus he requests his readers respect the buildings, properties and descendants related to the deaths he discusses in “Wicked New Albany.”

The most recent murder he writes about was the homicide of Alicine Marshall, who was stabbed multiple times by her teenage son and his friend in her Beacon Drive home in 1973.

“I kind of tried to stay away from the murders since then where you may still have the family of the victims and the murderer here,” Seidl said.

But for readers who want to know more about New Albany’s dark side, Seidl has promised a volume two. In fact, he said he had to scale back the original “Wicked New Albany” because it was longer than what the publishing company typically prints.

“Actually, when I sent them the manuscript, the editor freaked out because it was 60,000 words,” Seidl said. “I have enough to do a volume two without doing further research.”

Seidl does more than just write about the city’s sinister history. Beginning again this spring, he will offer haunted tours in New Albany complete with ghastly tales that Seidl promises are sure to raise hairs on the backs of even the most courageous people’s necks.

The tours come in three different options — Dining with the Dead, Drinking with the Dead and Nefarious New Albany — and feature stops at some of the sites where the murders and suicides Seidl writes about in his book occurred.

Seidl cut his teeth as a Civil War historian, and “Wicked New Albany” is his second published book. His first book is titled “Images of America: New Albany,” and is a pictorial history of the city.

“Wicked New Albany” is available locally at Destinations Booksellers, located at 604 E. Spring St. It can also be purchased online through companies such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.