The Van Valkenburghs are dead

Last week we read a case about feuding neighbors whose issues began in 1946 and continued for more than 20 years. The litigation was over a small piece of land where one family the Lutzes - though it was not their land - had planted a garden and set up a small home for the Mr. Lutz's mentally handicapped brother. The other family - the Van Valkenburghs - later bought the land from the government, sort of as a "fuck you" to the Lutzes because Mr. Lutz had chased the Van Valkenburgh children out of his garden one day waving an iron pipe and screaming "I'll kill you!". Why any parents would get upset about this is beyond me. Why Lutz did not even show up to his criminal trial is also mysterious.

So the arguments go back and forth, they both fire their small town lawyers and hire wall street attorneys, one builds a big fence between their properties so the other cant walk across it, Mr.Lutz DIES but his wife keeps up with the lawsuits in his honor (presumably) AND ps, the book also makes important mention that the citizens of the town totally loved the Lutzes but didn't like those Van Valkenburghs. Cause that's going to matter a lot in court.

Anyway, my favorite part of this whole mess is the conclusion the book writes as a "here's what happened after the trials ended":

"Eugene Lutz and his wife [caretakers of mentally handicapped brother] continued to live in the Lutz house. The traveled way, bound by a tall chain link fence, and the house were guarded by two ferocious dogs, whose menacing barks warned strangers away. The Van Valkenburghs are dead. The triangular tract - the subject of this bitter dispute between neighbors - is now owned by a church."

Absolutely ridiculous.