A few interesting search terms from today:
richard hojnacki suicide
Interesting search phrase. I mentioned r.h. early on and almost in passing. I haven’t even gotten to him and his death certificate/information. In the meantime, was Richard Hojnakci:
(a) living in his parents’ basement at 28110 Rollcrest, Farmington Hills, MI, and dealing drugs (see Oakland County Complaint No. 76-04-0697 FY)
(b) a name given as a possible suspect in the OCCK investigation and as possibly trafficking in kids for pedophiles/porn
(c) a questionable suicide victim who died on 3-7-77 (see certificate of death, Oakland County #146721), or
(d) all of the above.
richard hojnacki bloomfield hills mi
Same as above.
portraits in the snow occk
Brave piece of writing that mentions this p.o.s. person.
Visitors to the site today from:
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Really do not think that you should abandon WordPress. There is so much info that gets through & is educational.
I am a little confused concerning this post about Hojnacki. Are you looking for information about him or is the a-d posted what you know? I knew Richard and I am looking for information as well. FYI, I obtained the police report after I found out he had died by suicide. I don’t believe a word in the report.
The answer was obviously “d,” all of the above. I don’t believe a word in that report either, especially Hojnacki’s father’s explanation for why he did not call police for hours after he found his son. Records put his death variously in simply 3/1977, as well as March 3 and March 5, 1977. This was before my brother was abducted on March 16, 1977. So, assuming the death records were never altered, he was not involved in my brother’s murder. As described in Portraits in the Snow (2011), Hojnacki’s name was turned into the task force after my brother’s murder. Although one of the death records lists a different address, Hojnacki lived at, and was found dead in, his parent’s home. He may have had a girlfriend named Joanne. Here is a 30-year-old man living in his parents’ Farmington Hills home, in the large downstairs quarters. It was allegedly almost completely separate from the main part of the house, soundproofed, and filled with bizarre art. He allegedly had built a secret passage through a wall. He was a heroin user. (All from the book.) He was allegedly punished and molested for years and had molested a young girl (not reported to police).
Ironically, I remember that in his bedroom police found a book called “How not to Die Young,” by Dr. Joan Gomez. This was listed in the police report. It was a book about avoiding the obvious causes of early death–how to avoid heart disease and strokes, etc.
He sounds like he was an awful person. Why are you so interested in him?
Hi Cathy,
First, I would like to express my deep sorrow concerning the death of your brother and any and all children connected to this unsolved crime. From everything I am reading on your blog about this investigation, I too, would pursue any information remotely connected to your loved ones death. The information is as confusing as all the information surrounding Richards death as well. And I must say that I am stunned to find Hojnack’s name associated to your brothers death. I have been sick to my stomach since I found your blog.
I have been searching for information since 2003 when I found Hojnacki listed deceased on the Social Security website. I drove to Lansing to obtain the police report as I didn’t know where he had died. In bold bigger than life at the top of the report was handwritten, SUICIDE. In that moment I felt something was off and continued my search. Interestingly, the death benefit was paid to someone in East China, MI and I felt this was where his parents had moved after selling their Detroit home to Richard. He did not grow up in Farmington Hills.
I agree from just what I have read on your blog that he sounds like an awful person, but this is not what I knew of Rich. I meet Rich in 1968, shortly after he was discharged from the Army and a tour in Vietnam, through a friend. We began dating in an “on and off again” relationship until Fall of 1975 when we lost contact. We were both moving, I had no phone and at the time he was close to moving to the Farmington Hills home he and his father were busy building. I knew he and his father to have a close relationship. Together they painted and customized his 1963 Chevy from Aqua to Brown in the garage of their Detroit home. So when I read his fathers comments in the report I knew and still feel in my heart was fabricated. Like reported in your blog I felt it was a homicide made to look like a suicide; however, I attributed it to a possible drug deal gone wrong. I never suspected heroin (I have known others and known how to spot its use) associated with Rich and Rich NEVER tried to drug me. I did suspect cocaine use and dealings only because of a connection to someone else I knew was involved. I could come and go to his residence without warning, so I never felt anything was being hidden from me. I don’t believe he was an angel but I was in love with him. There was plenty of pain between us as he denied he fathered our child born in mid 69′ to my father. He wanted me to abort, I wouldn’t and gave the child up for adoption. This was the first off part of our relationship.
Richard was an artist but I never saw bizarre art in any of his homes. He was creative in home furnishings designed to be very cozy and comfortable. Besides his parents residence after returning from the war, he also lived in Palmer Park and a home at 12 mile and Northwestern Hwy which is now part of I96. Rich was a health nut, didn’t drink alcohol and to the best of my knowledge did not use, handle, carry or keep guns. I believe the police report says he pulled the trigger with his toes – what a crock of crap.
I had searched and searched for any information possible related to his death and used Google frequently but never came up with any hits until last night. Needless to say I didn’t sleep well as much of the information in your blog is not known to me nor was anything remotely of concern about this kind of thing. Do I feel he was being setup to take the fall, YES! I noticed a police report #76-04-0697FY that I don’t know about. I did find a different report #1976-029160FY in Oakland County that was for a small amount of marijuana. He did go to court on the charge shortly before his death (murder).
I ordered the book Portraits in the Snow to help make sense of this. Do you know this author? And I wonder how she knew Rich. I never knew him to hang around Cass Corridor and I am very interested in seeing a picture mentioned to be in the book to be of Hojnacki. I have pictures of Rich as an adolescent with his sister and two brothers and while he was in Vietnam.
BTW, my name is not Joanne.
seeker
Thanks, seeker. I’m sorry for your loss. Were people set up here? Yes, I believe so. Much of the information I shared is hearsay and I couched it such terms. I communicated with the author by email over the years and believe her to be truthful. Her book contains speculation, but she identifies it as such.
Cathy states: “He was allegedly punished and molested for years and had molested a young girl (not reported to police). ”
Do you mean Rich was molested and punished years? Not that I know of and for the molested young girl (not reported to police) I wonder if that could be me. I was young but not under age. I was a willing participant. He never abused me physically.
This was allegedly an underage girl, a daughter of a girlfriend. The hearsay about his own molestation and punishment is from the book.
I think a fair interpretation is that this man trafficked in drugs and children. Can I prove it? No. He probably was murdered and did not commit suicide. Can I prove it? No. There were a lot of men in and around Oakland County who were not what they initially appeared to be during the time of these child murders. Can I prove it? No. But common sense can’t be overridden by the fact that law enforcement could not or refused to close these cases.
Thank you for your responses. I am still having a hard time with this knowledge and like you once I start to investigate I don’t stop. Here is what I found tonight.
http://www.homefacts.com/offender-detail/FL58620160119/John-Hojnacki.html
This is Richards ten year younger brother. My wheels are turning and show no signs of slowing. John would have been almost 20 at the time of your brothers death.
After many hours of reading Portraits in the Snow and blogs I still needed time to digest everything, as well as scour my own memory and dig for all information concerning the Farmington Hills home and others. I did read an update from Lilly where she states she doesn’t remember visiting Richard at the house in Farmington Hills but that it was a house on Lahser in Bloomfield Hills.
While I do believe that Rich had some how may have had some kind of connection to information in this case, I do not believe he himself took any kind of part in trafficking children. Once I had learned of his death; records, reports and other information did not add up to 2 +2 being 4 and it still doesn’t. I didn’t believe then and I really do not believe now that Richard Hojnacki killed himself. Do I believe it was murder, YES! I did then and I do even more so now.
Rich’s interests were in cars, motorcycles and art. He rode with the motorcycle club the “Forbidden Wheels”. He was a member of the club when we first met. He did have a 914 Porsche but it was not blue, it was silver. Nothing about Lilly’s initial description of Richard Hojnacki fits the Richard Hojnacki that is the father of my child. Not descriptions and certainly not the pictures in the wanted poster. This is Richard Hojnacki: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=51057431
Lilly speaks of the house she visited being very large. The house on Rollcrest where the supposed suicide occurred in Farmington Hills was 1300 sq feet house with a basement. There is still some kind of disconnect with my knowledge of who lived where and who owned what. Rich’s parents are on the deed on Rollcrest but that would not unusual as Rich was self employed as an artist back in a time when it was difficult to secure financing. Also after Rich’s death his parents filed a quit claim deed.The death benefit was paid to someone in East China, MI. Rich was never married so I would assume that it was his parents. There was no Joann as Lilly claims.
I will say am haunted over McKinney and the story concerning him. Did Rich have dealings with McKinney? Did Rich know something? I don’t know but something bothers me about it. I worked in Birmingham from 1973 until January of 1977 when I moved to Florida. In the blogs I read about the restaurants McKinney frequented. I worked at Sly Fox. Many of would go out to eat after work at the places mentioned by the friend of McKinney’s.
There is one more path that I may have crossed with someone from this investigation. It is Lilly and her employment at Virgos on 8 Mile. I am certain we know many of the same people, including the owners Ron, Ron and Lilly.
I will continue to follow and share as I would love nothing more but for this case to be put to rest and give all the families peace and closure in their lives.
Seeker
A lot of very dirty dealings in Oakland County back in the day. Drugs, child porn, pedophelia on a pretty amazing scale. Not everyone I’ve written about is necessarily tied into the OCCK crimes, but when the MSP shut this thing down with no answers, to cover their asses, it leaves all kinds of questions open to this day. Evil compounded. During the small but relevant time period, most males in Oakland County died of “suicide.” But no one bothered to ask any questions. Sick place.
Catherine can you connect Lilly and myself?
Send me an email with your contact info and I will forward to my last known email for Lilly. My email is catherine.broad@yahoo.com