I was consulting the Murder Accountability Project website to try to understand the wide angle view of unsolved child homicides in Southeastern Michigan during the 1970s and 1980s. I found a description of the bipartisan Homicide Victims’ Families Rights Act (H.R. 3359), which establishes a framework for immediate family members of a victim of murder under federal law to request a review of the victim’s case file if the murder was committed more than three years prior, all probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and no likely perpetrator has been identified. http://www.murderdata.org/2020/09/congress-considers-bipartisan-homicide.html
The bill was introduced in the House in early December 2021, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3359 (Congress.gov), and does not appear to have been derailed as of today. I set an alert on this legislation and really hope it passes. Although there are no representatives from Michigan who are co-sponsors, the OCCK case is a poster-child case establishing the need for such legislation.
The proposed legislation allows family members to request a fresh review by federal law enforcement personnel who were not involved in the original investigation. The bill directs federal law enforcement agencies “to review the case file” and to conduct “a full reinvestigation” if the review discovers “probative investigative leads.” This is the only way the Michigan State Police can be moved off the dime in this case. The governor’s office won’t touch this case, won’t approach the MSP, because “they have to work with them.” How convenient.
Federal law enforcement agencies should also be considering why “no likely perpetrator has been identified” in the OCCK case and consider the public corruption angle. I believe the Oakland County Prosecutor’s office of LB Patterson was the “head of the serpent” of corruption in this case. Apparently agencies in Michigan expect civilians to serve this up on a silver platter (“These cases are so hard to establish!). A road map of obvious inexplicable and indefensible actions in the OCCK case is insufficient to spur a true investigation. Apparently the motherlode is required and I don’t know how someone without police powers and faced with a battery of public officials and law enforcement sworn to secrecy they will take to the grave is supposed to pull that off.
The magnetization of the moral compass of Oakland County and the MSP was reversed in the OCCK case. There is enough on the record at this point to prompt a legitimate inquiry into public corruption here. At a minimum, if H.R. 3359 becomes law, a federal reinvestigation of the OCCK clusterf*ck might reveal some answers regarding the perpetrators. My guess is they would send every single piece of evidence to a private, third-party forensics lab for the most sophisticated DNA testing possible and consult with a genetic genealogist.
Hopefully for other families’ sake, this legislation will become law. In the egregious OCCK investigation, criminals posing as public officials drafted and then controlled the narrative of this dangerous and tragic time in Oakland County, and a public eager for this all to “go away” ate it up. After all, it wasn’t their kid who got kidnapped and murdered.
Cathy, this sounds very encouraging to me. My question at the moment, though, is what are the ‘federal law enforcement agencies’ that might be involved? If the FBI was complicit in any of the misdirections, obfuscations and bald-faced lies that kept the OCCK case from being solved back in the day, could they be trusted to be objective and transparent even now? We’ve seen too often that the protection of reputation seems to be the priority of almost every institution, whether in the justice system, the corporate world, or higher ed.
Great point, Mary and the FBI has gotten a few well-deserved black eyes of late in current cases. And in the OCCK case, it is obvious from the handling of information provided by witness Doug Wilson and decades later the attitude and actions of SA Callaghan that the FBI has a real problem in this case.
This is potentially huge, but Mary deYoung makes a very good point. A deep look by an agency completed unconnected to existing LE in the OCCK cases is needed, if that is even possible.
Bob Kenney
I might be mistaken, but as I recall wasn’t it the FBI that claimed that the Gerald Richard’s client list that was sent to them was “destroyed in a flood”?
Nothing on Busch or Shelden due to a catastrophic flood at one of their document retention facilities.
Moral Compass? I read nothing “moral” in all the doc-dump. In fact, the latest appears to be the opposite.
The “head of the serpent” is the prosecutors office swallowing its own tail it would seem. The dump demonstrates that moreso than the deficient investigation into Chris Busch.
Points of disinterest in solving the murder include:
A cult leader is identified and put under surveillance. He lived and worked in the area and matched the composite it is written. Even held meetings next door to the 666 Woodward address of the AMC dealership. He is a-sexual (isn’t a worm asexual?) Yet there are love letters in the military file of the mysterious man with the same name as a dead 11 year old in another state to his brother who has the same last name as his sister at birth. His sister and her neighbor are intensely investigated. Just when it seems to heat up, the prosecutors office sends in a “narc plant” to buy drugs from her son. I’m not an investigator, but what does that have to do with a murder investigation? Where is he now? No death certificate either?
The man was a right-hand addition to the Anthony LeVey Church of Satan in San Francisco and recorded the “Black Mass” which Col. Aquino wrote a “research” paper on. Part of the military psych unit designed to depress and humiliate people, especially children. Ted Gunderson speaks of the Colonel in much of his after retirement speeches during the Satanic Panic era which brought him fame and fortune; others were defamed and less fortunate.
During the investigation, they lost sight of him-a WANTED MURDERER-because they wanted to buy drugs in the same apt. from a kid per the prosecutor’s orders. He must have poofed himself through the walls and outside into a moving vehicle like any magick performing occultist would be expected to do.
They did gather a lot of connections via the phone calls made by his sister and her neighbor, though. Were they ever arrested for anything?
A book on the occult was found in the home of Jill Robinson; one of her books missing.
Her mother is a ‘dead ringer’ for a composite of a woman seen at a restaurant with yet another murder victim, art dealer McKinney.
And, a woman with the same name is on the employment roster of a bowling alley near where another child went missing and was murdered soon after.
Perhaps a ghostly apparition of splitting of spirits?
In addition, when Jill Robinson went missing and someone called in a tip about where she may have babysitted on a certain street, the police investigate a house with business offices in it; no child to baby sit is even mentioned. I’m getting the impression that working for a living is about as illegal as child murder in Oakland County. When you consider the first child-Stebbins-was dumped in a business district in plain sight.
They investigate contractors in construction fields mostly from the documents.
There is a street where the entire block seems shady: 2100 Maple to 2900 Maple.
The addresses of the prescriptions taken from the pharmacy where Tim King was last seen show three people from Adams St. who lived close together coming to that location that same day. A mysterious man drove down Adams after bumping into a woman buying hair dye earlier. One was seen matching the composite given by an eyewitness parked near the school prior, too. Two eye witnesses agree on the composite. The newspaper changes it.
There are also some that live on the same street as a woman murdered (who also worked on Woodward) that lived in the same complex as the cult leader and his sister who lived nearby that visited the pharmacy that day.. Nothing. Nada.
Of all the plate numbers and cars surveilled, I cannot recall what the lethal cult leader drove or if he even drove at all! You’d think that would be the main focus! There is mention of a brown van, a blue chevy, and another car at a temple. And, oh yeah a teacher of Hebrew that instructed the cult leader drove a blue Gremlin, too. Just wow! And a Wayne State instructor knew of the cult leader. How did he know and did he know more than what was in the papers? Isn’t that where Sheldon taught prior to starting his new “revelations” churches to help children into human trafficking rings for their own good?
Near Cass Corridor!
The prosecutors office demonstrated they weren’t interested in crimes against children as one tip shows a man got probation on rape charges as the prosecutor refused to prosecute. That seemed to be the sentiment with Chris Busch as well.
The cult leader managed a beauty academy for his sister. I wonder if they sold wigs which were popular then as he was reported to have worn one in one sighting by police. Didn’t Lamborgine wear wigs?
And, the big man in the blue Maverick seen putting a shot gun in the trunk and also picked up a hitchhiker who stated little girl was in the back seat. Those tires are interchangeable with the infamous Blue Gremlin. How convenient. A Maverick looks more like a Vega than a Gremlin does.
The Busch suicide scene doesn’t even seem odd after reading all that. In the beginning it did; now it just seems like a typical day in Oakland County back in the day.
Something just “poofed” itself out of common sense like magick in the investigation it seems.The Busch polygraph isn’t the only anomaly in this sad saga. It doesn’t appear they covered for Busch because of his rich father but more like they covered for everyone involved in the rape and endangerment of children-the head of the serpent that is.
Something that is omitted needs to be found.
Wonder what the young cult leaders press agent has to say about the ordeal?College student, 20ish in ’77.
Sorry for the delay in posting.