Silas Carter Jayne (July 3, 1907 – July 13, 1987) was a Chicago-based stable owner, horse trainer, and horse trader who was heavily involved in criminal activity, including fraud, intimidation, arson, and murder. He covered up the infamous Peterson-Schuessler murders and hired the murder of his stepbrother. Life history and background Silas Jayne was born on July 3, 1907, in Cuba Township, in Lake County, Illinois. He was one of four boys and eight girls born to Arthur and Katherine Jayne. Silas had a half-brother, George William Jayne, born in 1923 to his mother and her employer, married attorney George William Spunner. When Silas was tried for rape at age 17, his stepfather, acting as his attorney, wrote to the judge saying that Silas was a wild young man who would not be hurt by a year in jail. Silas was convicted and served one year at Pontiac Correctional Center. Silas Jayne and his younger brothers, DeForest and Frank, and half-brother, George, were skilled horse trainers and riders, who owned and operated a number of stables in the Chicago area during the 1930s. In 1932, Silas opened the 'Idle Hour Stable' at Lincoln and Peterson avenues on Chicago's northwest side. About the same time, Silas and his brothers began operating the 'Elston Riding Academy' at 5663 Elston Avenue in Chicago. The academy hosted the 'Elston Saddle Club' which held an annual horse show and rodeo featuring the Jayne brothers and their students. In 1933, Frank Jayne began operating a livestock hauling and trading business in Woodstock, Illinois. The Jayne brothers shipped feral horses from the Western United States by railroad to Woodstock, where they were herded through the streets to Frank's corral south of the city. The best horses were trained and the rest were shipped to Rockford, Illinois to be slaughtered for dog food. In 1936, George Jayne began holding annual horse shows at his 'Sportsman's Riding Stables' in Morton Grove, Illinois The following year, the 'Elston Saddle Club' held a show in Woodstock and Frank Jayne purchased a farm west of Elgin, Illinois, which he called 'Our Day Farm'. DeForest Jayne earned many trophies for his horsemanship and was the instructor at the 'Elston Riding Academy'. On October 15, 1938, DeForest's fiancee, Mae Sweeny, committed suicide by swallowing arsenic. Five days later DeForest, dressed in his best Western attire, killed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun on Sweeny's grave.