On the evening of March 22, 1975, John W. Harden, a 32-year-old air-conditioning repairman, met a violent end in front of his own home in Clermont, Florida. Harden had parked his company truck behind the two-story Dutch Colonial–style residence—painted a soft cream with dark green shutters—at the corner of Fifth and Osceola Streets. Moments after extinguishing a small fire in the truck’s engine compartment, Harden walked back toward the driveway when a single blast from a .20-gauge shotgun echoed through the still spring air. He staggered, collapsed onto the concrete drive, and died within minutes. Neighbors reported seeing a dark sedan peel away from the scene into the night, and a single spent shell casing lay beside his motionless body. That brutal act would mark the beginning of a haunting legend that persists almost fifty years later.
A Tragic Beginning: The Murder on Osceola Avenue
Harden’s death was officially ruled a murder—an execution carried out…..