13 thoughts on “McKinney Homicide (7 and 8 of 8/final)”
Cathy, This so cool you got this but there is so much to go thru. Some of us including myself gets overwhelmed quite easily. Since you’ve been thru this quite thoroughly, can I ask if there is anything on the ‘Mystery Woman’ that had a composite sketch done on her that was with McKinney at a restaurant the night before his murder? Was wondering if there is anymore in these docs than what was already known in the newspapers. Perhaps who they thought it might be? Helen had her own theory on who that might have been but she could never prove it although she tried contacting different people about it.
I, police spend much time investigating who this “mystery woman” was. People come forward with ideas of who the woman could be, based on the composite drawing that was publicized. Police seem to hunt down every lead on this drawing. The come up with nothing. The fact that this woman never came forward speaks pretty heavily to her involvement in reeling in McKinney. The contrary argument is that she was yet another mistress or someone who sold her services and would have every reason not to want to get involved.
I direct you to pages 294-99 of Portraits in the Snow. McKinney’s gallery was not open on Mondays, but the author of Portraits makes a pretty convincing case that McKinney certainly would have made time for dinner with a patron of a Cigler piece. Described in police reports as “two pieces of cloth” found in the middle of McKinney’s desk, they were batiks signed Cigler 77. The piece(s) had not been logged into McKinney’s project files, as was his practice. Although none of the “art people” police speak with recognize this artist, as the Portraits author describes, Cigler was a contemporary artist with an international reputation in the 1970s. P. 295. From the book: “Lilly thought it was a sure bet that a lovely lady bearing a batik with this artist’s name would have gotten McKinney’s attention and allowed for a private meeting to discuss its framing.” P. 297. After dinner and back at the gallery, it would have been easy enough for her to have her associate(s) join them at the gallery.
Page 299: “A small number of highly connected people with a hell of a lot to hide, silently using a number of people to cover their own backsides; was why so many bodies piled up, over so many years and so many people (without realizing it), looked the other way from all of the evidence staring them in their faces. . . . That was not to say that the current authorities hadn’t finally figured out what seemed so obvious and were covering the cover-ups.”
Dennis Cigler was a Wisconsin-born artist who had been living in Rome since about 1970. In the spring of 1977 he came to Detroit to successfully negotiate a contract with the Michigan Opera Theatre to provide batiks in its production of “The Pearl Fishers” which was scheduled for the following fall. In an interview with a Wisconsin newspaper, he stated that his batiks were selling for $400–for someone like McKinney, who seemed to be struggling with money and commissions, two batiks would certainly enhance his inventory. By the way, Cigler died last year after a very distinguished career–his batiks today are worth considerably more than $400!
In “portraits in the snow”, Lilly talks about an attractive couple that owned a gallery in Birmingham that were “special trade” for the sex workers in Cass Corridor. The wife like to be tied up and spanked, and the husband liked to be penetrated with a large purple dildo…. Maybe chapter 3. Any ideas on who this couple is? My mind goes to John McKinney and Linda Webster, Doug Webster and Linda Webster, but there were other galleries. Did Lilly ever elaborate on that detail?
After more reading, I’m beginning to think this could have been Everell E. Fisher Jr…. There’s lots of people who say that he and Chris B. met in the Cass Corridor. Did the children of the woman EE fisher was dating ever say anything about him? I think it was kosnik??
Yes. They said he was a pedophile. His beard of a wife told relatives he liked little boys and had a tiny, deformed penis as a result of a childhood case of polio. His attorney cousin represented him on charges in the western part of MI of fondling a kid. I’ve written about all of it. Fisher should have been looked at very carefully. He, like all of the child rapists in OC, got next to no scrutiny.
Hi Catherine. I imagine this is already on your radar, but thought it was a good time to mention that Everell Fisher Jr. was among those in the Birmingham artist community. Fisher Interiors was on Old Woodward around this same time. I don’t know the exact dates of Ev’s business but I think it’s very telling that his name is never mentioned in any of the FOIA documents.
Yes, yes, yes! I thought that while reading and did not circle back. And Fisher was credibly accused of “hanging out” with Chris Busch and was a pedophile. And Jack Faxon was an “art guy” who liked the B’ham scene, too. Yes, very telling that nobody mentions Everell Fisher, Jr. But other names I expected to see aren’t there, either. THANK YOU.
I never thought that the Busch’s would have enough clout to perpetrate a cover up of this size… but if you add in the fisher family then it all makes sense. They would have enough political and legal sway to pull strings to cover this type of thing up. The more I’ve been researching this case (3 years) the more I think that Busch and Fisher were connected, and that fisher had Busch killed for talking out of turn. I think there’s a strong chance too that John McKinney was laundering money for the child pornography ring. There is a lot of a speculation about how his finances improved so rapidly and people wondering how he could even stay afloat. His own accountant talks about a significant increase in funds that happened rapidly. Keep in mind that a lot of the nursing homes were mafia owned (Meyer Lansky) and who both worked for nursing homes…. Busch and McKinney (volunteer). Then we get to John McKinneys friend, John Blanchard of the elite Cranbrook Blanchards. It’s interesting to that they owned the Banner linen company in Detroit which was literally blocks away from Bob Moore’s house in the cass corridor where they made the films of children in the basement of his apartment building. It’s also curious that in the “Allen letter” they talk about hiding kids in laundry hampers…. It’s just too many coincidences with Blanchard and the linen company in cass corridor. Also, Blanchards name is consistently redacted throughout all the pages.
Those are all good points. Can you ever imagine law enforcement getting a DNA sample from someone in this freak’s family–and are there any siblings still alive?? I’ve seen his death certificate–I forget if he was cremated. I, too, think there was a link between Fisher and Busch. I should check the dates of the tips on Fisher again. I think they are after my brother was abducted. Keep in mind that Busch got some extra-special treatment in Flint in January 1977 before my brother and nothing in the Flint file on that arrest of Busch or Greene mentions Fisher or any other associates. Whatever happened in Flint, I don’t think he had been linked at all with Fisher at that point and somebody pulled some big strings for Busch then and in his four resulting CSC cases. That indicates clout of some kind to me. Clout and resulting stupidity on the part of the OCP. At some point later Busch clearly talks–I think at his private polygraph–and I believe this puts his death warrant on the docket. There is no way after Busch got the special treatment in Flint that anybody would look into a link between him and anyone. Not Fisher, not Hastings–nobody. They were making the Greene link evaporate–he was not even charged or called as a witness in the Oakland County CSC case and he was driving the car while Busch assaulted his young victim! No way after January 1977 the OCP could risk any close scrutiny of Busch or his sick pal Fisher. And let’s face it, Fisher was exactly the kind of sick fuck the task force was describing as a probable suspect. No way any CSC cases in OC could be scrutinized because they might take investigators too close to the flame. I think the tips about Fisher–which were very alarming–are not even noted as “high priority.” Was there ever a fucking “high priority” tip in this case?!
One other now pointless point. Fisher might well have had the motivation to have Busch murdered if Busch was talking about abducting and killing kids and they were coconspirators. But why leave a scene that screams “child killer”? If there had even been a 2-second investigation into Busch’s obvious murder (quickly ruled a suicide, which would not be investigated carefully), someone who was actually half-awake in law enforcement could have worked backward into the Fisher-Busch link. Who did Busch associate with? Nobody looked into any of this. He was linked with Greg Greene in Flint and victims Bowman and Gunnels. That’s it. I don’t see how anyone could read the Flint file/MSP file on Busch and conclude he was not prime suspect material in the OCCK case. And there aren’t any notes from the interview Richard Thompson and Gary Hawkins had with Busch on January 28, 1977. They knew better than to memorialize that shit. Was Busch the mastermind, a purveyor of victims for someone like Fisher, a body-dumper? After that “suicide” scene, why wouldn’t LE have looked into any of this?
There is no indication that the FBI was called to the Busch death scene. It was all Bloomfield Township PD, county workers (morgue), ambulance attendants and two task force members. Who called off this investigation, packaged it into a simple suicide, allowed this monster to get cremated at lightning speed after an obviously incomplete autopsy protocol? There is not a shred of evidence in the FOIA documents that Busch was ever looked at again as a dead suspect–you know, falling into one of law enforcement’s favorite categories for why they hadn’t solved the case–dead, incarcerated or in a nut house paid for by his wealthy family.
Busch was clearly involved; he was not just a rando pedophile set up to take the fall as the OCCK. The “set up” sent a message, but to whom? It makes more sense to me that Busch talked at his private polygraph, “somebody” dimed him and the suicide scene said one of two things: 1. I am the OCCK, or 2. We know you know he was involved, so fuck you. Any number of people could have wanted this monster dead. You have to ask who would have the interest in setting him up as the OCCK. A co-conspirator who could easily be busted if anyone had lifted a finger, would not risk having Busch named as the sole participant in my opinion.
A reader emailed me this excellent observation: “This dude opens yet another passageway into the abyss. Jesus, what were these fuckers up to?” And I would also ask, why was none of it unearthed and why, 45 years, multiple murders, and god knows how much money later, are police still able to say “um, not sure if any of these killings–any of them–are connected”?
Cathy, This so cool you got this but there is so much to go thru. Some of us including myself gets overwhelmed quite easily. Since you’ve been thru this quite thoroughly, can I ask if there is anything on the ‘Mystery Woman’ that had a composite sketch done on her that was with McKinney at a restaurant the night before his murder? Was wondering if there is anymore in these docs than what was already known in the newspapers. Perhaps who they thought it might be? Helen had her own theory on who that might have been but she could never prove it although she tried contacting different people about it.
I, police spend much time investigating who this “mystery woman” was. People come forward with ideas of who the woman could be, based on the composite drawing that was publicized. Police seem to hunt down every lead on this drawing. The come up with nothing. The fact that this woman never came forward speaks pretty heavily to her involvement in reeling in McKinney. The contrary argument is that she was yet another mistress or someone who sold her services and would have every reason not to want to get involved.
I direct you to pages 294-99 of Portraits in the Snow. McKinney’s gallery was not open on Mondays, but the author of Portraits makes a pretty convincing case that McKinney certainly would have made time for dinner with a patron of a Cigler piece. Described in police reports as “two pieces of cloth” found in the middle of McKinney’s desk, they were batiks signed Cigler 77. The piece(s) had not been logged into McKinney’s project files, as was his practice. Although none of the “art people” police speak with recognize this artist, as the Portraits author describes, Cigler was a contemporary artist with an international reputation in the 1970s. P. 295. From the book: “Lilly thought it was a sure bet that a lovely lady bearing a batik with this artist’s name would have gotten McKinney’s attention and allowed for a private meeting to discuss its framing.” P. 297. After dinner and back at the gallery, it would have been easy enough for her to have her associate(s) join them at the gallery.
Page 299: “A small number of highly connected people with a hell of a lot to hide, silently using a number of people to cover their own backsides; was why so many bodies piled up, over so many years and so many people (without realizing it), looked the other way from all of the evidence staring them in their faces. . . . That was not to say that the current authorities hadn’t finally figured out what seemed so obvious and were covering the cover-ups.”
Dennis Cigler was a Wisconsin-born artist who had been living in Rome since about 1970. In the spring of 1977 he came to Detroit to successfully negotiate a contract with the Michigan Opera Theatre to provide batiks in its production of “The Pearl Fishers” which was scheduled for the following fall. In an interview with a Wisconsin newspaper, he stated that his batiks were selling for $400–for someone like McKinney, who seemed to be struggling with money and commissions, two batiks would certainly enhance his inventory. By the way, Cigler died last year after a very distinguished career–his batiks today are worth considerably more than $400!
In “portraits in the snow”, Lilly talks about an attractive couple that owned a gallery in Birmingham that were “special trade” for the sex workers in Cass Corridor. The wife like to be tied up and spanked, and the husband liked to be penetrated with a large purple dildo…. Maybe chapter 3. Any ideas on who this couple is? My mind goes to John McKinney and Linda Webster, Doug Webster and Linda Webster, but there were other galleries. Did Lilly ever elaborate on that detail?
Not to me.
After more reading, I’m beginning to think this could have been Everell E. Fisher Jr…. There’s lots of people who say that he and Chris B. met in the Cass Corridor. Did the children of the woman EE fisher was dating ever say anything about him? I think it was kosnik??
Yes. They said he was a pedophile. His beard of a wife told relatives he liked little boys and had a tiny, deformed penis as a result of a childhood case of polio. His attorney cousin represented him on charges in the western part of MI of fondling a kid. I’ve written about all of it. Fisher should have been looked at very carefully. He, like all of the child rapists in OC, got next to no scrutiny.
Hi Catherine. I imagine this is already on your radar, but thought it was a good time to mention that Everell Fisher Jr. was among those in the Birmingham artist community. Fisher Interiors was on Old Woodward around this same time. I don’t know the exact dates of Ev’s business but I think it’s very telling that his name is never mentioned in any of the FOIA documents.
Yes, yes, yes! I thought that while reading and did not circle back. And Fisher was credibly accused of “hanging out” with Chris Busch and was a pedophile. And Jack Faxon was an “art guy” who liked the B’ham scene, too. Yes, very telling that nobody mentions Everell Fisher, Jr. But other names I expected to see aren’t there, either. THANK YOU.
I never thought that the Busch’s would have enough clout to perpetrate a cover up of this size… but if you add in the fisher family then it all makes sense. They would have enough political and legal sway to pull strings to cover this type of thing up. The more I’ve been researching this case (3 years) the more I think that Busch and Fisher were connected, and that fisher had Busch killed for talking out of turn. I think there’s a strong chance too that John McKinney was laundering money for the child pornography ring. There is a lot of a speculation about how his finances improved so rapidly and people wondering how he could even stay afloat. His own accountant talks about a significant increase in funds that happened rapidly. Keep in mind that a lot of the nursing homes were mafia owned (Meyer Lansky) and who both worked for nursing homes…. Busch and McKinney (volunteer). Then we get to John McKinneys friend, John Blanchard of the elite Cranbrook Blanchards. It’s interesting to that they owned the Banner linen company in Detroit which was literally blocks away from Bob Moore’s house in the cass corridor where they made the films of children in the basement of his apartment building. It’s also curious that in the “Allen letter” they talk about hiding kids in laundry hampers…. It’s just too many coincidences with Blanchard and the linen company in cass corridor. Also, Blanchards name is consistently redacted throughout all the pages.
Those are all good points. Can you ever imagine law enforcement getting a DNA sample from someone in this freak’s family–and are there any siblings still alive?? I’ve seen his death certificate–I forget if he was cremated. I, too, think there was a link between Fisher and Busch. I should check the dates of the tips on Fisher again. I think they are after my brother was abducted. Keep in mind that Busch got some extra-special treatment in Flint in January 1977 before my brother and nothing in the Flint file on that arrest of Busch or Greene mentions Fisher or any other associates. Whatever happened in Flint, I don’t think he had been linked at all with Fisher at that point and somebody pulled some big strings for Busch then and in his four resulting CSC cases. That indicates clout of some kind to me. Clout and resulting stupidity on the part of the OCP. At some point later Busch clearly talks–I think at his private polygraph–and I believe this puts his death warrant on the docket. There is no way after Busch got the special treatment in Flint that anybody would look into a link between him and anyone. Not Fisher, not Hastings–nobody. They were making the Greene link evaporate–he was not even charged or called as a witness in the Oakland County CSC case and he was driving the car while Busch assaulted his young victim! No way after January 1977 the OCP could risk any close scrutiny of Busch or his sick pal Fisher. And let’s face it, Fisher was exactly the kind of sick fuck the task force was describing as a probable suspect. No way any CSC cases in OC could be scrutinized because they might take investigators too close to the flame. I think the tips about Fisher–which were very alarming–are not even noted as “high priority.” Was there ever a fucking “high priority” tip in this case?!
One other now pointless point. Fisher might well have had the motivation to have Busch murdered if Busch was talking about abducting and killing kids and they were coconspirators. But why leave a scene that screams “child killer”? If there had even been a 2-second investigation into Busch’s obvious murder (quickly ruled a suicide, which would not be investigated carefully), someone who was actually half-awake in law enforcement could have worked backward into the Fisher-Busch link. Who did Busch associate with? Nobody looked into any of this. He was linked with Greg Greene in Flint and victims Bowman and Gunnels. That’s it. I don’t see how anyone could read the Flint file/MSP file on Busch and conclude he was not prime suspect material in the OCCK case. And there aren’t any notes from the interview Richard Thompson and Gary Hawkins had with Busch on January 28, 1977. They knew better than to memorialize that shit. Was Busch the mastermind, a purveyor of victims for someone like Fisher, a body-dumper? After that “suicide” scene, why wouldn’t LE have looked into any of this?
There is no indication that the FBI was called to the Busch death scene. It was all Bloomfield Township PD, county workers (morgue), ambulance attendants and two task force members. Who called off this investigation, packaged it into a simple suicide, allowed this monster to get cremated at lightning speed after an obviously incomplete autopsy protocol? There is not a shred of evidence in the FOIA documents that Busch was ever looked at again as a dead suspect–you know, falling into one of law enforcement’s favorite categories for why they hadn’t solved the case–dead, incarcerated or in a nut house paid for by his wealthy family.
Busch was clearly involved; he was not just a rando pedophile set up to take the fall as the OCCK. The “set up” sent a message, but to whom? It makes more sense to me that Busch talked at his private polygraph, “somebody” dimed him and the suicide scene said one of two things: 1. I am the OCCK, or 2. We know you know he was involved, so fuck you. Any number of people could have wanted this monster dead. You have to ask who would have the interest in setting him up as the OCCK. A co-conspirator who could easily be busted if anyone had lifted a finger, would not risk having Busch named as the sole participant in my opinion.
A reader emailed me this excellent observation: “This dude opens yet another passageway into the abyss. Jesus, what were these fuckers up to?” And I would also ask, why was none of it unearthed and why, 45 years, multiple murders, and god knows how much money later, are police still able to say “um, not sure if any of these killings–any of them–are connected”?