“We had to do it. We had a fight over a dog.”

That was the claim, as reported in the Prescott Weekly Journal-Miner, of one of two men hanged in Globe for a 1910 double murder. Today, filmmakers are bringing that slice of history to life in “The Dog Bite Murders,” partly shot in and around Globe’s historic downtown.

The victims, Fred Kibbe and Albert Hillpot, were gunned down on a hunting trip in 1910, at a place called Tuttle Station. Accused killers John Goodwin and William Stewart (quoted above), who were found with the victims’ possessions, went to the gallows in 1913 and 1914. The story goes that Hillpot was bitten by Stewart’s dog after stepping on its tail, then kicked it, leading to the murders. By other accounts, Stewart said that Goodwin planned to murder the men, and did.

Filming locations for “The Dog Bite Murders,” written and directed by Clint Clarkson and Gregory Shoemaker, include Globe, Rose Creek and McFarland State Historic Park in Florence, where the court cases – five in all, with the accused tried separately – were re-enacted. The filmmakers, actors and crew spent four days on courtroom scenes at McFarland Park, then came to Globe.

“There was a synergy,” said Molly Cornwell of Film Globe-Miami AZ. “The actors are amazing, and I’ve worked with the director on music videos. We feel all the pieces have fallen into place. We have actors coming from all around the state, including Tombstone re-enactors. We tried to cast locals in subsidiary roles, which is huge.”

Shoemaker, delving into this true story through the Arizona Memory Project, said he was impressed by the amount of available information. There was no lack of newspaper  accounts of the killings, and there were court transcripts that are being used in the film’s dialogue. Shoemaker was also impressed by how quickly “The Dog Bite Murders” went from a 15-minute treatment to a full-length, 90-minute movie, with investors. Another “really cool” aspect of filming, he said, was the lighting in the old courthouse in McFarland Park.

On Sunday the crew was at a historic Globe residence for a scene portraying doomed hunter Fred Kibbe and his wife, who testified in all five cases. “She’s part of the fabric of this film,” said Cornwell. More scenes will be shot at the historic Train Depot and the old jail.

For the real-life hangings of Goodwin and Stewart, a temporary gallows was built in Globe. This, it was eventually learned, stood between the courthouse and Woolworth’s store (now United Jewelry), where the elevator now stands. For the film, that gallows is being re-created by the Knotty Fox Workshop on Broad Street. The Gila County Historical Museum has contributed, working with the filmmakers to pin down the location of Tuttle Station, and a period car is being provided by business owners in Superior.

In an epilogue to the story, a third man named Curnow who was supposed to accompany Kibbe and Hillpot on the hunting trip kept the nooses that hanged Goodwin and Stewart in his home; they can now be seen, courtesy of Globe resident Bob Zache, at the old jail.