Dakota Spotlight was born when James Wolner was enjoying a beer in a dark bar in rural North Dakota. A local struck up a conversation and told James about the peculiar death of Victor Newberry, a Glen Ullin bartender who was found dead next to his running vehicle on a frigid morning in December 2014. Victor, well-known in the small town of Glen Ullin, had been working at the bar that night.
The story went that Victor had suddenly asked someone to watch the bar for him, saying he’d only be gone a few minutes. Oddly, he left behind his jacket and cell phone on that freezing night — and never came back. The next morning, Victor was found dead about a mile outside of town, lying near a gravel road with his car still running.
Authorities, including the medical examiner, ruled that no foul play was involved in Victor Newberry’s death. But locals told a very different story. Around town, people whispered that Victor had been murdered, and some even claimed everyone “knew” the Boston mafia was behind it.
At first, James dismissed these claims as absurd. Determined to uncover the truth and demonstrate how to separate fact from small-town chatter, he began investigating what really happened to Victor Newberry. But to his surprise, the deeper he dug, the stranger — and more compelling — the story became.
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