I apologize for the quality of the images of Mr. Gordon’s column. I am not near a scanner and have delayed this post long enough.

A reader, who has actually helped me out a lot over the years, asked about this column and has tried, without success, to access a copy of the show Lou Gordon refers to–apparently airing that night, Sunday, March 27, 1977, where he interviews Dr. Tanay. Does anyone have an idea of how to get access to this archived show?

A couple of of interesting points–many actually. But for starters:

1. Dr. Tanay felt it was the work of a single person.

2. Experts were convinced the assailant “is a homosexual, probably not capable of performing a sexual act himself.”

3. Dr. Tanay warned that the profile picture published in the papers should not be taken too literally.

4. He further opined that the murderer is sadistic and enjoyed torturing the families by keeping the children.

5. He explained that this killer was probably some powerless person who enjoyed the tremendous sense of power over the terrorized communities.

6. Dr. Tanay wisely observed that the phenomena of this type of killer had not been studied “and present attitudes prevailing in our society prevents us from studying them.” As an aside, as late as 2006 a MSP detective working this case clearly did not understand the vast difference between homosexuality and pedophelia.

Lou Gordon’s heartfelt column was very prescient. “Time heals and people are inclined to forget.” Nevertheless, he ended with “Let no one forget these murders!”

Just ponder for a minute over how many must have done just that for this case to swim in case file obscurity for so many decades.

We would love to be able to view Lou’s show from that evening, or hear comments from anyone who remembered watching on March 27, 1977.

The Investigation Discovery documentary about the Oakland County Child Murders Children of the Snow, which first aired in February this year on the ID channel, will air on Hulu beginning October 1.  This will be a way to reach a larger audience perhaps.  We all know all it takes is one person to come forward and tell the truth for a case to be blown wide open.

Thank you to a reader who pointed me to yet another podcast about the OCCK case.  This one is quite good.  Check out the two-part series on Crime Junkies, https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/conspiracy-north-fox-island-the-oakland-county-child-killer-part-1/ and https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/conspiracy-north-fox-island-the-oakland-county-child-killer-part-2/.  The other excellent podcast on this case is the long form podcast Don’t Talk to Strangers, by Nina Innsted. https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/dont-talk-to-strangers-nina-innsted-MFEovfjK9Q7/  I’ve mentioned Nina’s podcast numerous times.

Both of these podcasts stand in stark contrast to the recitation of Wikipedia “facts” and the “if you wanted the fucking facts, go somewhere else” approach of some other crime podcasts dealing with this case.  Bigger picture, which really helps.  Say what you want about Fox Island and any intersection with the OCCK, it is fairly obvious that the approach to Fox Island allowed many criminals to go free and to continue to victimize children and at a minimum affected how the OCCK case was investigated.  Police, prosecutors and judges in Michigan preferred the head-in-the-sand approach and giving rich people a Get Out of Jail Free card.  Children were simply collateral damage, even if they ended up in the morgue.  Oops.  Should have taken some of those other complaints seriously and moved on them more quickly and publicly I guess.  I will give them this; their approach gave them almost 35 years of cover.  And they still might win in the end.

As I listened to Crime Junkies today I was again struck again by the perverseness of the failures of the legal system when it came to Frank Shelden and his cronies and to Chris Busch and his family.  Relatives of these men who benefitted by way of inheritance from these monsters should be making charitable donations to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the name of all Michigan children living and dead.  Or maybe in the names of the honest cops who got fucked over by the old guard of the MSP and Brooks Patterson and Dick Thompson (who thought they knew better than everyone how to make this all go away).  Not guilt by association mind you, but Karma seems especially important here if you ask me.

People still express interest in the DVDs prepared by my Dad called Decades of Deceit.  Dissemination has always been cumbersome and my attempts to deal with that have not worked out very well.  I will point out that the DVDs are now five years old, for what that’s worth.  We need to get them up on Youtube.  I am still trying to get many of the FOIA documents accessible online as well.  Wish me luck.  As is the case with shit that is painful, everyone moves at their own pace.  My suggestions can’t really be turned into demands given the circumstances.

 

South Korean police announced today that authorities have identified a suspect wanted in nine murders that took place between 1986 and 1991.  The suspect is a 56-year-old man who is serving a life sentence for the 1994 rape and murder of his sister-in-law.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/south-korea-serial-killer-30-years

Police said technological improvement of DNA analysis enabled authorities to extract DNA samples from evidence that was not previously possible.

Seoul’s senior police officer said:

I express my deep condolences to the victims and their families, as well as the Korean public, for not having been able to solve this case for a long time.  We will do our best to discover the truth with a sense of historical responsibility.

Yesterday, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced that a suspected serial killer was charged in the murders of four women since 2018.  It is believed the four women were sex workers.  Worthy said they are investigating two other murders believed to be committed by the same man.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/19/us/detroit-serial-killer-charges/index.html

We worked tirelessly to make sure we can bring [the women] some modicum of justice, of respect and dignity, no matter what they were engaged in before, during and after they were reported missing.

[To the families and friends of the women, Worthy said:]

We truly care about the person that you loved and the person that you lost.

In the days after Tim’s body was found, I remember reading news articles stating that “privately,” some in law enforcement were relieved Tim had been dumped in Wayne County because that meant Wayne County Medical Examiner Werner Spitz would be conducting the autopsy instead of Oakland County Medical Examiner Robert J. Sillery.  I remember thinking, wow, that is a real stretch for a silver lining here.  It would be decades before I would understand the true level of Sillery’s incompetence.

And it would be decades before I comprehended how “lucky” we were that Tim was dumped in Wayne County.  Kym Worthy is to Jessica Cooper as Werner Spitz was to Robert Sillery.