Recently I had to spend some time looking through the many documents and emails I have collected in the past decade-plus, after this case was resurrected in response to information about Ted Lamborgine and Richard Lawson in 2005. Although at the time this stuff was all going down, I thought I would never forget dates and details, I needed to go back to establish some timeline information. Many might not realize that prior to this, none of us had reason to suspect anything about the way this investigation was conducted back in the day. We simply accepted that whoever tortured and killed Tim, Kris, Jill and Mark got away with it. The cops had done the best they could. Too bad, so sad.
I found so much that documents the journey since the case resurfaced in 2005 or so. I’m going to post a lot of it. Pay close attention to the dates on this stuff. Much of it goes back almost a decade. The attached is a document I prepared and sent to my family after reading When Evil Came to Good Hart: an up North Michigan cold case. Unfortunately, I did not date it, but I think it must have been in 2009 judging from the links I cite, and it was during the time my family was locked in a Freedom of Information Act case battle with the Michigan State Police and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.
The attached document mentions the name John Hastings. He was the subject of many online forums dating back over a decade. He was investigated by police sometime around 1992, and again some time after 2005. This man knew way, way too much about these crimes back in 1992, was the around the same age as Chris Busch and lived walking distance from Busch’s parents’ home in Bloomfield Village during the time of these murders. Police must have bought his excuse that he was just a serial murder aficionado, and his DNA must not have matched anything police had. Was he polygraphed and did he pass? I don’t know. His name has not come up in some years but I don’t buy his excuses. I think he has knowledge. We do know he bragged to a friend of his about these crimes, was overheard by a man who came forward many times and was always blown off, and did not have the balls to tell cops what he knew or suspected. He most likely denied knowing Busch or Greg Greene. He does not at all strike me as the kind of person who will come clean.
The more important part of the attached document is how the Michigan State Police treated the author of Good Hart, who was investigating and writing about a still-open murder investigation. I think you will find the contrast enlightening.
Before you read the attachment, consider this from an email I received at least five years ago:
For years, I wondered about this case. I remember how Adams School installed a bunch of cool new playground equipment, which, it was my understanding at the time, was put there in memory of Tim King; less than ten years later, the school was sold to Roeper, converted into a high School, and the playground equipment was removed. It was as though these crimes had never happened. It boggles my mind to think that it would be probably a couple of decades before I would finally get on the internet, idly wonder about these crimes, do a google search, and finally learn the name of a single suspect in the case–Ted Lamborgine, and also David Norberg. Suddenly these crimes once again began to resonate–not only was there evidence of a suspect or two, but there was also evidence that somebody was still trying to figure out what happened to these four children, evidence that somebody remembered them.
What I’m trying to say is that I was astounded to think of how much time had passed in my life between the dismantling of that playground equipment, and my first few weeks on the information superhighway about ten years ago. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you and your family.
All I can say is–please, please keep going. What these victims, and the conduct of those ostensibly investigating their murders, need more than anything else is the sort of national media attention that both already merit. In two other notorious crimes of the 1970’s–the D.B. Cooper skyjacking and the Zodiac murders–the relevant law enforcement agencies have publicly discussed essentially everything they possibly can under the notion that there is nothing left to lose at this point. This business of having to employ the FOIA act is obscene, but I’m glad your family is doing it.
So, take a look at how the MSP treated the author of Good Hart and ask yourself how long Oakland County, the MSP and others involved in investigating this case can justify not revealing everything–because there is in fact, nothing to lose. And how they can justify treating the open case of the Robison family murders one way, and the OCCK murders another? Scan 2018-7-14 07.01.18
I’m older than you are Cathy, and I was 17 when the Robison killings took place. They were mind blowers. Just a huge unknown, and they were from Lathrup Village, not some dump.
I was out of Detroit by the time Tim and the other three kids were killed. But thanks to MEDIA, I found out about them twenty years later. If not for some crime show I would NEVER have heard about it.
There are two mysteries here. First of course, is who did this to the kids. Second, what’s the deal with LE??? Seems like some kind of f..cked up political thing but what it is, I sure don’t know. WHAT COULD BE THE BIG DEAL AFTER ALL THIS TIME?It’s the second mystery and it isn’t any smaller than the first.
Kills me that Busch and Scolaro ended up at the same funeral home. Almost sounds like a dark comedy.
Is John Hastings the same “John” Helen Dagner refers to in her YouTube videos?
And to think my past pastor took and probably still does take money from Ted Lamborgine. It makes me sick still to this day.
Jessie
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John Hastings brother Tom, looked an awful lot like the sketches I and others did. Also the water tower death. Crazy, maybe they worked in tandem
Sent from my iPhone
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I left a message earlier but forgot to mention the Hastings thing. Isn’t a Hastings -someone Helen Dagner was sure was either the killer, or connected to the killings etc? Some pet person of hers. And I heard that this Hastings person you are mentioning moved down here to Atlanta. Now, there is a Hastings Nursery, plant nursery here. Several years ago one of the Hastings Nursery men committed a murder. Is any of this connected, relevant, part of an incomplete story?
Don’t know what happened. Just tried to leave a reply and poof. So isn’t a John Hastings somebody Helen Dagner used to talk about all the time? Here in Atlanta there is a Hastings Plant Nursery and one of the family members killed another member. The Hastings Dagner used to mention was supposed to have moved to Atlanta. Is all this connected somehow, part of a puzzle?
Nauseating to think that palms were likely greased, backsides were covered and God knows what else took place for the sake of protecting careers and reputations due to greed combined with bungling. I hope like hell that someday the truth will come to light. My best guess is Chris Busch is the culprit, but there is at least one other guy involved who hasn’t been prosecuted.
I woke up this morning thinking about this: the case, the facts, the actions of LE. I knew your brother had a long, long piece of paper that is a blow by blow description of every known activity regarding this but I’ve never seen it close up. So in my mind I started to organize, in a numbered manner, the facts we know. I became furious rather quickly because the list is so short. 1) the four kids were killed, 2) it was always winter, 3)Dr. Sillery (others?) autopsied them, … OK now I’m getting seriously close to the end of undeniable facts.
But here’s the kicker for me. I’ve worked in large group settings of LE. Not cops, something else. Now, you can keep half a dozen people quiet with 100 or 200 thou apiece, maybe. For a time. After that it gets wobbly real fast. There weren’t 20 members of LE working on this or knowledgeable about this. There were what, upwards of 100 who took part and who knew a lot of what was going on. The Buschs, wealthy perhaps, simply couldn’t have split up and forked over 2 million dollars to keep all LE quiet. That just doesn’t wash. And after 40 years, completely impossible.
So if there is corruption (there is!) how did it work? Why is it still working?
To be fair, BoM, The Serpico Case springs to mind. 40yrs of graft and Serpico was nearly killed for not playing. Sometimes, in some districts, being The Good Cop will cost you. Maybe your life.
Yes, getting routed out and threatened is par for the course. But check it out: We know about “Serpico” and the like because somebody talked. Somebody explained what happened. I want SOMEBODY to explain what happened in the OCCK case.
The article below explains (persuasively) why Emmet County Prosecutor Dick Noggle didn’t prosecute the case, even though everyone knew that Joseph Scolaro was guilty as hell.
Essentially, Noggle had neither the resources nor the expertise to try the murder case of “down -state” victims, and the Emmet County Board of Commissioners did not want the expense of the autopsies. Incredible, but true!
Simple as that.
Almost certainly Oakland County would have won a conviction in 1973 against Scolaro for conspiracy to commit murder, and that’s why Scolaro killed himself – he knew he had been caught.
These murders were awful, but this case was solved long ago – the guilty party was identified correctly almost immediately. Even Mardi Link now believes it likely that Scolaro was the one responsible.
Unlike the OCCK cases which remain “unsolved” because of something at the heart of these cases that law enforcement at multiple levels is still desperate to hide.
https://www.northernexpress.com/news/feature/case-closed/
Thanks for attaching that great article on the Good Hart murders. As I’ve mentioned before, they were stunning at the time and as you can see in the article, TONS of people have not forgotten at all. I believe it’s just the same for the OCCK.
What’s funny is how the remaining LE and writers don’t understand why it’s still called a mystery. Well, guess what, if you don’t have a CONVICTION the case isn’t SOLVED. If it’s not solved, it’s a MYSTERY. I think it’s too bad that the up northerners didn’t want to spend a few bucks to get this taken care of. They could have chosen the one victim whose bullets matched the firing range shells and just prosecuted on that, not on the whole family.
Patience The Lord has a plan
Patience? Easy for you to say.