"Also
in Pale Fire, the intended victim was not John Shade but Judge
Goldsworth," as Jansy noted. There has been much discussion about
real and fictional sources for Lolita. But what about Pale Fire?
Obviously the bullet hitting the unintended target has echoes in VN's
own biography. But was there perhaps some actual case in the US of a
vengeance-seeking criminal shooting, or trying to shoot, a judge?
Jay Livingston