LEGAL COMMUNITY
SPOTLIGHT
LIVING HISTORY
23
a warrant issued against
one of his customers, the
customer got a tip-off before
the raid.
SOMETHING AMISS
Chillingworth sensed
something unsavory about
his young colleague. In those
days a municipal judge could
practice law on the side,
and in 1953 Chillingworth
formally reprimanded Peel
for representing both sides
in a divorce case. In 1955,
Peel was caught committing
malpractice again, and his case
was expected to come before
Chillingworth. Peel was convinced
that the result would
be the end of his legal career.
The judge planned on someday
being governor of Florida,
Journalist Jim Bishop, a columnist
for Hearst’s King Features Syndicate
covered the Joe Peel trial for the
New York Daily News and later
wrote the book, “The Murder Trial
of Judge Peel.”
and a by-the-book ruling from Chillingworth stood in his way.
“It would ruin my career and our business,” the young
judge told Holzapfel.
Treachery was unloosed. Chillingworth and his wife, Marjorie,
vanished after midnight on June 15, 1955. A massive
manhunt ensued, but except for drops of Marjorie’s blood on
the wooden steps outside the Chillingworths’ beach house
in Manalapan, and except for footprints in the sand, no trace
>>
FLORIDA PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION
Judge Chillingworth, center, and wife, Marjorie, on board the Skipper with
U.S. Sen. and former Florida Gov. Spessard Holland aboard, far right.
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