The true-crime story of one man's life after his faked death, by the New York Times, bestselling author, of Murder in the Family.
1982: Oregon businessman, Phil Champagne, age 52, dies in a tragic boating accident off Lopez Island off the coast of Washington state. He is survived by one ex-wife, four adult children, an octogenarian mother, and two despondent brothers. Phil didn't know he was dead, until he read it in the paper. All things considered, he took it rather well. So did Phil's brother, Mitch, the beneficiary of a 1.5-million dollar policy on Phil's life.
1992. Washington restauranteur Harold Stegeman, famous for his thick, juicy steaks, is, arrested by the Secret Service for printing counterfeit United States currency in an Idaho shed. In addition to the bogus bills, Stegeman also has a fraudulently obtained passport, a fabricated Cayman Island driver's license, and Phil Champagne's fingerprints.
