An easy way to open a news article or clip about the developments in the OCCK case in the past few years has been some version of “after more than three decades, man never gives up on finding his son’s killer.” Like most easy leads, it is inaccurate or at best incomplete.
I bet my Dad has never given up over all these years, but I gave up a long time ago. And I’m not talking about actively giving up on law enforcement after the latest round of tips and the further exposure of the astonishing flaws in the investigation. I’m talking about never picking up the mantle of pursuing justice in this case. I was focused on putting one foot in front of the other, not on finding who murdered my brother; at some level I secretly hoped like hell the guy was never found. By the way, when I let myself think about the crime, I assumed it had to have been one man. How could more than one person know about these crimes and the information not bubble to the surface? If two people knew, more people knew. Who on earth could keep their mouth shut if they knew or suspected someone was involved in the abduction, torture, and murder of little kids? It turns out quite a few people could and did.
Anyway, it was just easier for this to be a faceless, nameless monster. We were so conditioned to support law enforcement that, while it was clear even to a 17-year-old that some huge investigative gap had occurred to allow a serial killer of children to keep picking off kids in the glorious suburbs of the Motor City, I believed police had done everything they could (and they probably did). Some crimes–many, it turns out–are never solved. Remember Tim and the good times. Don’t let this monster get another piece of you. As best you can, live your life to honor the memory of your brother. Don’t focus on the last week of his life.
I moved to Idaho right after law school in 1981 and felt like I had found home—the place I was supposed to be. I had a one-year contract but I signed up for the bar exam there that summer and 1 year turned into 23. This is no understatement: It saved my life. I loved it there and never did I think I would return to the Midwest. Like the easy lead I described above, it sounded good but it wasn’t the way it went. I’ve been over some of this stuff before, but let me fill in a few gaps.
We wound up back here in the summer of 2005. I didn’t know that four months earlier the Michigan State Police had publicly reactivated/rejuvenated/whatever-ed the OCCK investigation after the Livonia Police Department had developed a lead on an old pedophile—Ted Lamborgine. When public announcements were made in early 2006 about Lamborgine, my brother in the Detroit area was kind enough to give me a heads-up because there was a chance the media in the Chicago area would pick this up and he didn’t want me blindsided.
I read the news online. I searched the Internet and learned the OCCK crimes were the subject of a lot of Internet chatter. One woman had a site entirely devoted to the crimes. What I read opened a can of worms I sometimes wish I left on the shelf. Her story and that of quite a few of her readers who commented had one disturbing theme—they went to police with information and very clearly got blown off in a big way. This stuff is kind of crazy, so the people who come forward and are the slightest bit insistent, can easily be painted by police as crazy. I now know the feeling. But even if it was just one crazy person, a person can be “crazy” and still be right. If the police were urging people to come forward with information, why were they summarily dismissed and then hassled if they did not then back off?
Skipping many details here, in March 2006 I received a letter from a friend of my brother who lives in the Detroit area. I will try to get her permission to post the letter. She long ago married the brother of one of Tim’s best friends. What she told me about a tip her now deceased mother-in-law tried in vain to give to police the day after Tim was abducted hit me over the head. Of course police could do nothing now with the information she had provided, but how it was handled back then spoke volumes about why these crimes remain unsolved and continue to be the crimes that keep on giving, revictimizing families and the entire community at almost every turn. This woman continued to reach out to police over the decades, calling in each time there was an announcement of a “rejuvenation” of the MSP OCCK task force (sounds promising, right?!). It haunted her for the rest of her life.
You know that feeling when realization creeps over you and causes a physical reaction? The muscles in your face relax entirely for a minute, your shoulders drop and then a tingling sensation goes from your face to your stomach, followed by a big sigh then by shortness of breath? It was one of those. This whole thing was seriously fucked up and there was no going back.
What happens from March 2006 is where this part of the story starts for me. For a second time, life as I knew it was over. I was back in the Midwest and a part of me always was afraid of moving back here. No one could have predicted what would unfold over the next few years. Some days I still don’t believe it myself.
More later.
Thanks for explaining. It’s hard for us out here to understand why you would hope that this guy was never caught. To us that is the strangest possible statement.
It’s part of why family of murder victims feel isolated not supported. No one can imagine the feelings that follow in the wake of a murder. And I can’t explain it any better than that.
And, I long-assumed the guy had to have been dead since the crimes stopped. I consoled myself by saying “at least the killings stopped.”
This statement makes perfect sense to me. It is easier to “hate” a nameless, faceless monster than a real human being. Being a “victim” herself of this tragedy means that there has to be the equation to this horrible act, and it is hard to understand how any human being can fit the role of murdering these innocent children.
Cathy, I agree with your reasoning when you think that only one man could have done this. The same pattern of LE behavior emerged in the Chicago Lipstick, Black Dahlia, Zodiac and JonBenet Ramsey cases. For anyone that cares to carefully examine the Ramsey case;I point out that the behavior by some cops appears to have been downright criminal. I’m not trying to make anyone paranoid, nor am I trying to stir the pot. I think that for your own emotional well being you have to approach the study of these crimes in a clinical manner. I readily admit that my messages seem downright crazy, nevertheless I’m not a stupid person and I see what I see. These crimes do affect me emotionally because they certainly seem to have several layers of criminality to them and they were very dastardly . Another aspect of these crimes are the people that seem to be opposed to solving them and most of them act like they’re running a negative political campaign.
In the Ramsey case I have a short list of people that I think have been basically honest about that case and I have a very high regard for Judge Judith Carnes and the very comprehensive summary judgement she handed down in the Wolf vs Ramsey case. In retrospect; early on I should have read the deposition of former Detective Lynda Arndt, it would have set my thinking straight to begin my study at that point, it’s very very long but very informative. From there I respect the work of the late Detective Lou Smit. While I’m a fan of former FBI profiler John Douglas; I do have some minor disagreements with his reasoning but I generally respect his work. Eventually during the course of my study of the case I came to respect former Boulder DA Alex Hunter, not only because of his judicial restraint but mainly because he described the ransom letter as a “very fanciful document”, that description is a drastic understatement IMHO. I do credit Nanette Barto for her work on these cases, she’s taken a lot of flack for her heartfelt efforts.
You can bet that the cops shook all of the known and suspected pedophiles in the OCCK area, if they would have had any good evidence they would have pressed charges. No,…… the suspect I have in mine was very sophisticated in terms of the planning and execution of these horrible crimes, on the other hand; he certainly risked getting busted. The “Allen letter to Dr Danto” is the most prime piece of evidence, IMHO, it is from the killer. It’s unfortunate that the cops took the bait but they probably had no other choice but to follow through on it. It’s the mentality and the repeating patterns that causes me believe these crimes were all done by the same person.
I’ll post some of my compilation files on the Ramsey case, I hope they will be helpful.
This is a crude file that is a work in progress by me. The “pray if doesn’t snow’ think is very much so Zodiac Jack 101.
OCCK case cross-connected clues to Zodiac killer:
Letter to Dr Danto used the word slave twice
Letter to DR Danto used the word “code”
Letter to Dr Danto had missives such as any more, shouldn8t, swearto, didn8t, any more vs anymore
Danto thought victims body placed on Bruce Lane significant to his name, I add the Bruce/queer factor to the pub
letter was long winded
“pray it doesn’t snow” call
fake Hispanic accent and syntax used on both letter and call
suspect wanted to read his thing in paper , same as Zodiac killer
Stebbins of Ferndale body placed on Greenfield and Ten mile road Oak Park/Greendale in anthrax case? Rope marks on his wrists
Mark Stebbins 12, Sunday Feb 15 1976
Jill Robinson 12 , Oak Park, Dec 22 1976, found Dec 26th 1976, I75 near Big Beaver Road in Troy, near Troy police station, Big Beaver/beaver hairs on JBR?
Kristine Mihelich 10 of Berkley, last seen Sunday Jan 22 1977, 7 Eleven on Twelve Mile Road at Oakshire in Berkley, 12days later Franklin Village, Frank in Danto letter?
Timothy King 11, Birmingham, drug store on Maple Road, Wed March 16th 1977 8:30 PM, father Barry King, Gill road 300 feet from Eight Mile Road in Livonia
Cynthia Cadieux 16,Jan 15 1976 found Jan 16 Bloomfield Township, went missing from Roseville MI
McIntyre, Tommy (1988). Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Search for a Child Killer. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Barfknecht, Gary (1993). Unexplained Michigan Mysteries: Strange but True Tales from the Michigan Unknown. Davison: Friede
Other killings that occurred in the area at the same time have been tentatively linked to the series. Cynthia Cadieux, 16, was abducted and bludgeoned to death on January 15, 1976. Missing from Roseville she was discovered nude in Bloomfield Township the next day. Just five days after Cadieux’s disappearance Sheila Shrock was raped and shot dead at her home in Birmingham. Jane Allen, 13, was murdered by carbon monoxide poisoning after accepting a ride in Royal Oak and was found in Miamisburg, Ohio, on August 11, 1976. The 1972 slaying of teenager Donna Serra in Ray Township has also been mentioned as possibly being connected to the string of murders.
Donna Serra? Donna Lass in Sierra post card/Zodiac victim
The Robinson murder and the “pray it doesn’t snow” message from the killer remind me of the lyrics from the heavily played Simon and Garfunkel song “Mrs Robinson”
(The books are posted as a reminder to myself to read them even though they might be crap?)
I have looked into all of these murders, and the more that had looked into each one of them separately, then the more that I had realized that the “confirmed four victims” may not even be connected to each other. Then the “confirmed four victims” all came back to each other. They are intrinsically connected each other, even if it was unintentional by the different groupings of “suspects” who may have been affiliated together. I do believe that law enforcement does have the right number of victims in the OCCK murders. Is there a possibility that there are a bunch more victims of the OCCK? Of course there is (possibility)!!! Is it possible that the OCCK was responsible for the murders of the “eleven uncomfirmed victims” (Hobley, Spencer, Serra, Wilson, Cadieux, Srock, Allen, Butler, King, Larrow, & Brownlee)? Really not likely. These are all victims of various abductions/murders quite different from the “confirmed four” and very different of each other, and if this truly was your “Zodiac Jack” (OCCK) then you would know better than anyone that he would have taken credit for all of these murders (in a letter), even the few whose bodies have never been found. The Zodiac was a master at the “taunting” aspect, more so than of killing. He was bold enough to kill people at remote locations, but had never attempted to abduct anyone from downtown areas (like the OCCK), except a cab driver in his last murder (Stine).
This is also one of my many flies that are a work in progress.
INSIDE INFO the Killer needed to know
-the Ramsey’s didn’t use their alarm
-no dog in the house that night
-they used the spiral stairs
-JBR liked pineapple, planted evidence found, killer brought fresh pineapple to the scene
-knew the layout of the house
-there would be paper and marker for note ( actual marker used was an older ink than other marker found in house)
-that they would be gone to the Whites
-had to know of bonus pay
-knew John Ramsey’s name
-knew about Ramsey’s business
-knew “fat cat” phrase
-someone that the child met or knew told her to expect a secret visit by Santa
-killer/author was very familiar with several movie lines, Dirty Harry, Ruthless People, Speed, Ransom, old RKO serial movies diabolical mastermind themes; this is the (Zodiac) Speaking, you shall, I will, and hence(sic)
-how to expertly construct the so-called garrote, it was really a noose with “advanced or special knowledge” construction of the handle
-killer brought small cord and black duct tape to the scene
-killer was apparently familiar with the “threshold” effect of throttling the victim for a certain effect, or so it seems because of 2 strangulation events
One footnote: co-conspirators may have drugged Ramsey’s to be certain they wouldn’t wake up, the White residence would have been the place of opportunity. Why did Pricilla White specifically feed JonBenet and tell her mother that she fed her cracked crab, it could have been pineapple. The only way the pineapple evidence works is via that White residence, the Ramsey’s have no motive to lie with regard to this very obviously planted evidence. The Whites were the only friends that turned on the Ramsey’s.
Notice how this blog has nothing at all to do with the OCCK? It is a lecture on JonBenet Ramsey.
Points that clearly show that the JBR ransom letter is mainly bullshit.
– a three page long ransom letter is absurd “right off the bat”
-$118,000 is way too small and odd
-She is safe and unharmed…..another lie, proved at 1:00pm to be a lie, page two is laced with pure bullshit too
-all the detailed instructions about the money but not a double layer brown paper bag for all that money?
-“I will call you tomorrow” but killer leaves that ambigious? bullshit
-“if we monitor you getting the money early” the killer lets it out that the Ramsey’s have been monitored, “we might call you early”…bullshit unless monitoring equipment was still in place…not very likely, the killer and possible associates won’t be found near the scene unless in another nearby house, not likely either way, the discovery of her body demonstrates my point
-“We advice you to be rested” yeah…right….after your daughter is missing you’ll be able to rest?, more bullshit
-“and hence” get real !, “Speaking” who uses this verbiage?…the Zodiac killer, then the old RKO/Republic studio grade b movies
-“gentlemen watching over your daughter” gentlemen!, more melodramatic bullshit
-page two is laced with pure bullshit too
-“you will be scanned” by penny annie thieves that demand only $118,000 ?……. right, where would they get such equipment in order to detect for bugs? more bullshit
-“a 99% chance of killing your daughter”? this is proof that murder was the killers main goal
-follow our instruction….bullshit, he means my or his instructions, he’s trying too hard to convince us that he was part of a team
-“you and your family are under constant…etc”, more attempts to make us think there is a group of people involved, more bullshit, more proof he’s trying too hard to convince us of his size
-“don’t think that killing will be difficult” yeah, he’s had lot’s of prior experience, the sniveling little coward !
-“Don’t underestimate us” yet the “D” is funny shaped, deliberately so, shaped to resemble a clock, notice the felt tip pen halted at the “v” shaped bottom stroke, more funny bullshit, the clock is Zodiac Jack 101
In summary, the JonBenet Ramsey ransom note is pure hyperbole (bullshit) and designed to look like bullshit to anyone that can think and reason properly.
I am wincing as I read this. It really must be unnerving for any family member of a victim to be able to read any blogs about the OCCK. I am pretty sure that you are used to it by now, but the measure of strength a family member must have to be able to learn about “everything under the sun” in regards to who is responsible for the murders of Mark, Jill, Kristine, & Timothy is unmeasurable. In one aspect I think that the internet has to at least “compounded” the frustrations of being a family member of the OCCK. In another aspect I believe that it can also be tool for opening people’s eyes to the injustices of the investigation. It appears that a “spiritual battle” rages for truth to be told.
Sorry, I don’t mean to dominate your forum, it’s just that have lots of very sound reasons to believe these case are related and when I say “believe” i don’t mean to imply faith based but factually based on documentary evidence.
Oh, the Ramsey ransom letter was made long before the murder, Lou Smit made a case for that line of reasoning.
I’m currently reading a bio of Charles Lindbergh by A.Scott Berg. When it came to the kidnapping of his son, I learned and realized two things: 1) the kidnapper used or wrote a backwards turned letter “J” 2) a $118, 000 ransom demand in the denominations called for in the Ramsey ransom letter isn’t gonna fit in a brown paper bag or attache’ case.
These two items and several other things lead me to believe that the suspect was a student of the Lindbergh case as well as the Leopold and Leob case. One backwards stemmed letter “J” is found on the Ramsey ransom note, several are found in Zodiac killer documents, some of the sentence structure of the Ramsey ransom note was reminiscent of the Leopold and Leob ransom letter. Leopold and Leob were proven to have been trying to steer the thinking of LE and the victims families with the way they composed their ransom letter. BTW, the Lindbergh baby’s head was bashed in.
Also and BTW, I just noticed that the word “crazy” in the Allen letter to Dr Danto and “buurocrazy” (sic) in the 1968 Zodiac killer “Dear Draftboard” letter are each the 7th word in the first line of each document. Both documents are a sad joke and I think they are primarily designed to mislead. Notice also the “rich people in Birmingham” comment in the Allen letter, that demonstrates the authors awareness of the fact that this was an upscale neighborhood, this tends to point to money as a factor in these rotten crimes, not ransom money but in some other way such as extortion etc. Perhaps someone like Busch’s father or someone like him were the actual targets, perhaps there were several of them. Such tactics are not unheard of in corporate America.