Even 75 years ago, Crystal Beach was much like it is today — a peaceful seaside community.

But on the morning of Aug. 7, 1949, that tranquility was shattered — sending shockwaves through a community that would find itself gripped by fear after the torture and murder of a local resident and near-fatal assault of his wife.

Nearly eight decades later, the story of the horrifying attack committed by John Calvin “Rastus” Russell still echoes across Pinellas County and West Central Florida. A Dunedin author has brought the chilling account of his spree of terror — and the lawmen and vigilantes who pursued justice — back to life in a new book called “Madman.”