Love, Land, and Lawyers

Love, Land, and Lawyers

True Crime Non-Fiction – self-published, 2023

AS TOLD TO RYAN UYTDEWILLIGEN

My family owned and operated a farm on the quiet Canadian prairies ever
since I could remember.
We had acres of grain and a few hundred head of cattle. And by the time I was a
full-time employee there in the mid-1970s, my father and older brother turned
the operation into a well-oiled machine. Some labelled us as old-fashioned
or just about as “country” as it gets. I saw us as hard-working, strong, and
dedicated. And we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
When my brother announced a sudden and unexpected marriage to a woman
we had not yet met, little did we know years of heartache and financial turmoil
were to follow. The aftermath of such a tragic event threatened to ruin all that
we had worked for.
My brother did not receive the care and treatment he deserved when it came to
his mental health struggles. I wish we knew then what we know now and could
change things by getting him the help he needed. But as I say in these pages,
what can’t be remedied must be endured.
This book is an attempt to understand what happened to my brother all those
years ago, move forward, and perhaps serve as a cautionary tale for others.
Love, Land, and Lawyers is a true story. My family’s story.
An unimaginable chapter in our lives that I won’t ever forget.
It is the story of kind neighbors and loving family. Of unimaginable cruelty,
lies, and selfishness. Of an unprecedented legal battle over our family farm
and our very livelihood.
—Rob Sheppard