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February 2005 is the 125th anniversary of the Donnelly mass murder. Night Justice is the first serious re-evaluation of this crime and features previously unpublished material. Late on the frigid night of February 4, 1880, five members of the Donnelly family were slaughtered in their homes near Lucan, a hamlet outside London, Ontario. The Toronto Globe called it "the blackest crime that ever disgraced and shocked the Dominion." The killers were a mob of neighbours, a vigilante society incited by the local parish priest to take matters into their own hands. Known as "night justice," this practice was all too common in small communities. In fact, the local police constable, Michael Carroll, was a leader of the vigilante murderers. A brutal history of clan violence formed the backdrop for the murders and cover-up. Even with a witness who testified in open court—an 11-year-old boy who hid beneath a bed during the slaughter—and other evidence pointing to the culprits, only one man—the police officer ever faced murder charges, and he was acquitted. Drawing on court transcripts, archival searches, material obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Peter Edwards tells a shocking tale with fresh revelations on the Donnelly family murder and trial.