Like most investigators, Auburn Police Department detective Tom Burger is quite a curious man.

The 59-year-old Auburn native, who first joined the force as a patrolman in 1969, has grown up with a near-insatiable interest in events around Cayuga County. In addition to his expected curiosity about why people commit crimes, Burger is a self-described history buff, and has long been fascinated with tales about violent offenses committed in the area.

It's no surprise, then, that when fellow officer Sgt. Joseph DiVietro published a book several months ago about the history of APD, Burger thought he would follow suit.

“Joe had already put out the Arcadia (Publishing) book with the police photos, so we wanted to do something different,” Burger said.The end result of Burger's curiosity is “Auburn Murder Stories,” a collection of short tales about murders in and around the city from 1846-1969, which he co-wrote with DiVietro.

With DiVietro's help, Burger researched and wrote stories about 24 slayings, and the pair published the book last month.

“Like most towns, Auburn's had its share of violent crimes, so we thought it would be good to have some kind of record of them,” Burger said.

The collection begins with a description of the 1846 slaying of the Van Nest family, a grisly mass murder committed by local transient William Freeman.

“We decided to start with that one, because it's such an interesting case,” Burger said. “This guy Freeman killed five people, and it's actually the first time the insanity defense was ever used at trial, by anybody.”

Burger and DiVietro spent hundreds of hours researching the cases, poring through court documents, examining crime scene photos and talking to people in the community.

“We were given permission to go through all the old case files in the (police department) attic, so we spent a lot of time up there,” he explained.

The officers also made extensive use of a Web site called fultonhistory.com, which contains an enormous database of area newspaper records that date back more than 100 years.

Along the way, Burger said, the men hit snags during their research, which often happens when collecting information about the past.

“There was one story we found that I would have loved to have written about, but we couldn't finish it because we just couldn't find the ending,” he said with a laugh.

The tales that are included in the book, though, are immensely entertaining.

Stories range from the 1883 slaying of Paulina Froitzheim, who was slaughtered with a hatchet, to the tale of Joseph DeJoy, who was shot outside his Division Street home in 1916.

Also included in the book is the story of police officer Larry Mentillo, who according to Burger, is the only APD officer known to be shot in the line of duty.

Mentillo survived the 1954 shooting and returned to the force two years later.

“Though the (Mentillo) story isn't actually a murder, I don't think many people know about an (APD) officer being shot, so we decided we'd include that one, too,” he said.

Probably Burger's favorite story concerns the 1961 murder of Dr. Richard Harter, a veterinarian who was killed by his business partner, Dr. Harry Burghardt, apparently because of financial issues.

“That one was always interesting, because at the time, I was old enough to read about it myself,” he said. “Plus, it happened on South Street, right near where I lived, and I'd gone to school with one of (Harter's) daughters, so there were some personal connections there.”

“Auburn Murder Stories” is currently on sale at various area locations.

If you read

What: “Auburn Murder Stories”

Who: Detective R. Thomas Burger and

Sgt. Joseph E. DiVietro

Cost: $19.95

Available: At the Auburn Memorial Hospital gift shop, Willard Chapel, Cayuga Museum and Cervo's News