A reader found the following Report to the Legislature on “parolable lifers” in the Michigan prison system. See page 28, top of page.

https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/corrections/assets/Folder22/Sec_615_v620527.pdf?rev=698e462173144bb08532da306145c6b9

The reader also points out that his MDOC entry does not list any supervision requirements. I guess people are on their own to see if they are living in the same hood as a registered sex offender, same as always. Harmless old man, right?

One thing I forgot to write about concerning the December 1992 article mentioning a possible link between Kaplan’s CSC cases and the OCCK murders. That was in 1992. In 1978 there is not one word uttered in public about the “suicide” of Chris Busch and the diorama of evidence surrounding his dead body that screamed “I am the child killer.” Whether he was or why someone might try to pin these crimes on him was never investigated.

We all know a man like H. Lee Busch could pick up the phone and call Bloomfield Township PD and Prosecutor L. Brooks Patterson and keep this quiet. Maybe Motown VP John Kaplan (also an Oakland County resident) didn’t have the requisite pull to keep this speculation about a link to the OCCK case out of the press in his son’s case.

I don’t know if police ever ran Howard Kaplan’s name and photo by the parents of Mark, Jill, Kristine and Tim. He was 21 at the time of the murders. Did they have any connection to this guy? Did he look familiar?

I do know nobody ran the name Chris Busch or his photo by any of the families. Even after finding that freaky scene in his bedroom alongside his rotting corpse. It was a lot more than police uniforms that could be worn to trick kids. People who attended the Busch death scene were instructed to say nothing, “to be cool,” and that was that. Very uncool. And when his name resurfaced decades later, police did not ask the public to come forward with any information about Chris Busch. “Open investigation–can’t talk.” But why wouldn’t they ask for the public’s help once he was back on the killer roster?

He should have died in prison for the crimes we know he did commit. But instead he cruised around Michigan and on his final night, got wasted on vodka and tucked into bed for his last rights-between-the-eyes.

I’m taking 24 hours off from the ever-corrupt Michigan shit and all things related to sit back and respond to the the wonderful birthday texts I got today. Grateful for family and friends who are so decent, kind and amazing.

Who else wants at least one day at the wheel of the Karma Bus?

Wow. Here’s one for you and I thank a reader with a careful eye for catching this and sending it to me.

Howard Kaplan was arrested in December 1992 for many counts of criminal sexual conduct with 8-year-old children (one boy and two girls), including CSC1. Kaplan was 36 at the time and is the adopted son of former Motown VP John Kaplan. He was convicted and sentenced to 22 life terms in prison for his crimes but MDOC records show a discharge date of January 28, 2025, with the reason: Offender Discharge. Death would be a reason for discharge, but an AI search explains that “there is no information available in the search results that states he died in custody on that date.” 

https://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=143064

So why the discharge and why no records of his death if that is the reason for the discharge?

When Kaplan was arrested, he was looked at as a possible suspect in the OCCK case.  He would have been 21 in 1977.  He was considered a suspect because police found clothing resembling police uniforms in his home.  He did not work in security or in law enforcement.

A December 4, 1992 article from the Royal Oak Tribune explained some of the reasons Kaplan was considered a suspect:

“One Police Officer noted Thursday that whoever killed the four youngsters in 1976-77 may have worn a police officer’s uniform to lure the two boys and two girls in his car.”

“Some investigators – such as the late Donald Geary, police chief of Ferndale- had contended that certain evidence indicated the child killer had lived in Oak Park.”

The Michigan Court of Appeals denied his appeal in an unpublished decision in May 1997. I wonder who his attorney was.

Click to access 19970530_C172567(0083)_172567AM.OPN.PDF

A few additional observations:

1. As you can see from the number of cases I have posted over the years about defendants over 70 who have been busted for CSC with minors, these guys never age out. Elderly status means nothing here if this guy is on the streets.
2. Twenty-two life sentences–how, other than death, can the guy be out of the system in 2025? How many life sentences do you need to keep a child rapist in prison?
3. Compare to this guy who got 1,800 years for killing a sexual predator.
   https://www.change.org/p/a-hero-sentenced-to-prison-for-killing-a-child-molester?source_location=topics_page.
4. What the literal fuck?

**UPDATE: The man appears to have a current address in West Bloomfield, about 8 miles due west of Morningview Terrace off of Maple Road, which may be his late parents’ home. 

And it also appears that he has been fighting for freedom on his own since his last denial.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docketfiles/14-5799.htm

Perhaps it is some sympathetic medical release.  However the State of Michigan has the papers buried.  

Thanks again to this reader for the above information.