Michigan Murders

by Edward Keyes

Vintage Paperback

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, History, Audiobook, Mystery, Historical

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish this though I read most of it.

Honestly? I didn't like this all that much. I have read lots of True crime and wanted to know more about this but I really had a tough time with it and eventually DNFED it.

Why?

A few reasons. First off, this book is LONG. Very long. Longer than most True crime I've read. And it is very wordy. It isn't that it is poorly written but it just goes on and on....

Most of the book is about finding the suspect. But it is also about how miserable the police are with each new false lead they get. I found that aspect so repetitive. I guess it is good that the book goes into such finite detail but the way it was structured wasn't for me.

I really did not feel the characterizations were that deep. I did not find anything unique in the story telling and reading pages and pages about false leads and misinformation grated on me.

I must echo another reviewer..I too was offended by the physical descriptions of the victims and who was or was not pretty. I thought I might be the only one who felt like that but see I am not. That is good.

At the end of the day, not a bad book, just not the book for me. Glad this evil "person" was caught and was and is in prison. But the book did nothing for me.

[Diane in Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about several vicious murders that took place in Ypsilanti, Michigan USA, in the 1960s. These murders were commonly called The Co-ed Murders, 'cause all the girls were university students. The author used pseudonyms for the killer, and the murdered girls, which I didn't really care for, but it was before the internet, and he was sincerely trying to shield the families. Of course, this was also before DNA, and all the newer whiz-bang forensic tools that we have now.

They were horrific crimes ... violent and sexually deviant. So sad. My heart goes out to the families. I have a daughter ... alive, and well ... which I am thankful for every day.

Here are the real names, for your reference.
John Norman Collins - killer
Alice Kalom
Dawn Basom
Jane Mixer
Joan Schell
Karen Beineman
Maralynn Skelton
Mary Fleszar
Roxie Phillips

3 Stars = I'm glad I read it.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possible Triggers: Graphic Real-Life Murders & Investigation
The Ann Arbor - Ypsilanti area of Southeastern Michigan was in turmoil over a series of unbelievable murders in 1960. Most of the coed victims were from Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti) and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). The seven victims, ranged in age from thirteen to twenty-three. All were abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered by a killer who used the same m.o., but different. though similar dump sites. The killer's primary "hunting ground" was Michigan's Washtenaw County, although one of his victims was murdered in California. Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti is about an hour and half from where I live now...but at the time of the murders we lived in Florida, but my husband's sister lived in Jackson, Michigan...about an hour closer to Ann Arbor. The murders were almost all the news the TV stations in the entire state carried for weeks. Through no fault of their own, the police were ill prepared to work this case as the term "serial killer" didn't have the same weight of meaning in the 1960's as it does today. Also, in the early 1960's DNA profiling didn't exist, plus the detectives had no real -life conception of what they were dealing with, except that they were looking for a dangerous and "sick" individual. The teams grew to include six separate police agencies that were working the murders, but they didn't begin to coordinate their efforts or to see a pattern to the killings until after the discovery of the third victim. The killer, John Norman Collins was a student at Eastern Michigan University where, according to the author, he met many of his victims. This book takes us into the lives of his victims and also into their horrible deaths. The police, most especially Washtenaw County Sheriff Harvey do not always come out looking efficient and well-coordinated, although he was dealing with something he had no previous working knowledge of. The author is fair, and the reader is left to make their own judgement. We go through the trial and the sentencing of the killer. This killer is 78 years old today...still alive and... incarcerated in the Marquette Branch Prison in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, while his victims have rested in their graves for more than half a century.

[Me · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first read this book in 1983 and at the time thought it was great. However, after doing a little bit of research (not hard to do when you attend EMU as they have archives dating back to the first murder), I learned that Keyes omitted important details, and was a bit too respectful to the victims at times. What do I mean by that? Well, there were important details surrounding the individual cases which would make them more likely to accept a ride from a stranger, etc. In one case, the family lied about how the girl disappeared because they wanted to protect her brother (who was not involved in her disappearance but had committed a petty crime). A more factual covering of this case is written by Earl James and is titled "Catching Serial Killers". He worked on this case and wrote a textbook for police based on his findings. The reason Keyes did not use the actual names is that much of his information came from John's aunt and uncle who were understandably shaken by the events and wanted to go on raising their sons, and living a respectable, quiet life after the trial. As it was, the Michigan State Police transferred the uncle to a different post in a different town within a month of the nephew's arrest. They never returned to the house where he murdered the last victim. It sat empty for years before some couple from out of state bought it for a song. In the latest edition of this book, there is an update on one of the victims and the subsequent arrest of Gary Leiterman based on DNA evidence. That is also very interesting and amazing.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Late in the 1960's Michigan saw a spate of extremely violent murders targeting young women. Each of the victims was sexually assaulted and murdered in a horrific and confronting manner which is hard to read let alone comprehend.

Local law enforcement struggled to link the murders; miss-stepping and a lack of early collaboration hindered the search for the killer. As the bodies piled up so did public ridicule. The author clearly articulates the frustration at not being able to obtain a clean cut conviction. It's a ride for the reader that's not easy to digest.

80% of this book is utterly engaging; reading more like graphic crime fiction than true crime. Such is the grisly manner of the murders, the reality doesn't set it until the long and somewhat drab trial proceedings; unfortunately this part did take something away from what is a well written book.

Each chapter gives ample time to the procedural aspects of the investigation as well as ensuring the victims' untimely murder is depicted in sufficient detail; a well rounded and written account is achieved.

My rating: 4/5 stars, if you're into true crime, I recommend checking this one out.

This review first appeared on my blog:
http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this book last night and because the book did not have any photo's I decided to look it up on The Internet. That is when I discovered Edward Keyes had not used the real names. Not of the killer and not of the victims. Do not know what the reason for this was.

Spoiler and photos Coming up!




The killer's real name is: John Norman Collins and if you google this you will find pictures and even videos.





(Photo 2 taken from fornology.blogspot.com)

He was a very handsome young guy but a crazy one. I wondered why I'd never heard of this serial killer but then I discovered they only nailed him to one murder so that is the reason why. He was just as brutal as Bundy. Those poor girls suffered. What i missed in the book was more knowledge of what happened. Did he hurt them when they were already dead or before. Hope the first. He is still telling everyone he is innocent (of course) and still in jail. Very interesting story but I would love to have a confession of course. Glad he was caught. The book was very well written.

here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G779Uw...

Updated on May 09 2016 to add 2 photo's

[Katherine Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the word gets bandied around far too freely, this does actually deserved to be called a classic.

About the abominable John Norman Collins, this book, first published in 1976, is a painstaking examination of the eight murders he was then believed to have committed. One of them--Jane Louise Mixer--has been linked on DNA evidence to a different killer, Gary Earl Leiterman (and Keyes notes that her murder differed in several ways from the others in the series).

Keyes is a good-to-excellent writer, clear-eyed and sympathetic to cops and witnesses (especially Collins' state trooper uncle, who discovered the crucial evidence against Collins, whom he loved and trusted) and lawyers. It's hard to even be compassionate towards Collins, who was busy committing a string of burglaries just for the thrill of it at the same time he was brutally raping, torturing, and murdering seven young women (that we know about)--six in Michigan and one in California--and who has, in prison, been consistently involved in drug dealing. But Keyes doesn't demonize him; he points out the strange contradictions in Collins' character: polite, gentle, deeply affectionate with family members he loved, great with children--and savagely misogynistic at certain triggers (aside from the expected promiscuity, Collins also lost his shit over pierced ears and menstruation), plus showing a sociopath's disdain for the social contract and other people's needs.

Keyes chose to give pseudonyms to both murderer and victims, which is a decision I'm ambivalent about. It's ceased to be a convention in most true crime, and while it protects the privacy of the families--and privacy they certainly deserve--it also means that our collective memory gets distorted and blurred. If we remember the pseudonyms of the murdered girls, we don't remember their real names, and that seems to me to erase them--which is exactly what Collins was trying to do.

So, a quick key, real name on the left, Keyes' pseudonym on the right:

John Norman Collins <==> James Nolan Armstrong
Mary Terese Fleszar <==> Marilyn Pindar
Joan Elspeth Schell <==> Jill Hersch
Jane Louise Mixer (the ringer) <==> Jeanne Holder
Maralynn Skelton <==> Mary Grace Clemson
Dawn Louise Basom <==> Dale Harum
Alice Elizabeth Kalom <==> Audrey Sakol
Karen Sue Beineman <==> Carol Ann Gebhardt
Roxie Ann Phillips <==> Ginger Lee Neary

Well worth seeking out.

[berthamason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the account of a series of murders that took place in Michigan in the late 60's. All the seven victims were female students viciously tortured and mutilated prior to their deaths. The killer, John Norman Collins, was a handsome young man with a promising future and sadistic tendencies. I found The Michigan Muders a real pager turner; it is well written and researched. However, some claim that Edward Keyes has omitted some details regarding the investigation; since I don't have enough knowledge of the case, I can't really say that I was bothered by this. I would probably have given this book five stars if the author had analysed the killer's motives more thoroughly. It still is a very good crime book and I'd recommend it to other true-crime buffs like myself.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

While well-written, I was at first taken aback by how outdated some of the word choices in this audiobook were--for example, appraisals of the attractiveness of the young victims and discussion of the Sixties counterculture that seemed straight out of the infamous "groovy" police convention scene in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Then I realized that the text is actually far older than the audiobook--it was originally written in the 1970s.

This is a good overview of the case shortly after it happened, but no new developments are included after the development of DNA technology, which of course has the potential to tie up some loose ends.

[Pae⸆⸉ (Jax’s wife version&#x1f48d;&#x1f48d;) · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s so fucking awful what happened to these women and my rating has nothing to do with that.

The author often referred to the victims in odd ways. For example, he would say things like “the victim had a nice body” “she was nice enough to look at” just like ehhhhh

[Valerie Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a little too long on the details (hair analysis!) and I was offended by the description of the victims' physical appearance.

[Paula DeBoard]

"True crime at its terrifying best"? Count me in.

The audio narrator is good, too.

***

I deliberately stopped myself from researching (erm... Googling) anything about this case until I finished the book, and so I was surprised to learn that the author had changed the names of all the victims and even the name of the killer (really John Norman Collins), and I'm not sure how I feel about any of that.

But I can say that I was completely gripped by about the first 75% of the book, while the killings were happening and the police efforts narrowed into a manhunt. It's somewhat less fascinating to hear the discussion of the forensic analysis of hair and other fibers, particularly for someone raised on CSI and well-versed in modern forensics. (Although--really, I guess it did make me wonder how crimes were ever solved with any degree of certainty prior to DNA testing, etc.)

Anyone have more recommendations in the genre of true crime? I'm all ears.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a college student in Detroit in the late 60s when John Norman Collins committed several gruesome murders of college co-ends in the Ann Arbor area near Detroit. He was found guilty in 1970 and is still incarcerated in prison in Michigan. I remember very well that the female college were very careful and very scared during the time period that he was killing women. When I saw this book was available, I decided to read it again to remember that era. (Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.). It was interesting to read how the police solved the murders in the day before DNA evidence and to be reminded of life in the 60s.

[Gregory Fournier · Rating 5 out of 5]

The murderer lived a block up the street from me when I went to college. This account of the Co-ed Murders, as they were called, reanimates every gruesome and sorted detail from that disturbing era of 1967-1969. Told in a fast moving, true crime fashion, the late Edward Keyes has written one of the most intense and intimate portrayals of a psychopath, venting his misguided hostility on defenseless, young women.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Michigan Murders captured national attention in the late 1960s......seven young women,mostly students at Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan were murdered in particularly horrific crimes, violent and sexually deviant but in the 21st century this killing spree has largely been forgotten in the wake of the Green River Killer, Ted Bundy, and BTK. The author, using fictitious names for the victims and the killer, examines each murder and illustrates the sudden realization by the Michigan authorities that they are dealing with a serial killer. This was before DNA and other forensic advancements, and the police had their work cut out for them since there were very few clues of any kind. The author does a good job of filling in all the blanks........a readable book for a wintry night.

[Stewart Sternberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book, but even though it won an Edgar, I have issues with its account of The Michigan Co-Ed Killer. I believe what the editor needed to do here was step in and cut some of the more tedious details that did little to inform the reader.

[SuperWendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A serviceable true crime book originally published in 1976, and honestly that's what made it memorable. For one thing the author changes the names of the victims and the murderer which is positively quaint in today's world where podcasters and arm chair investigators are rooting around in victim's (and their family's) business. Of course there was also no Internet in 1976, which would have made the job of amateurs a little harder but not impossible for the determined.

The methodical first half of this is where the meat and the potatoes were for me, the messy crime scenes and how flummoxed the police were. Of course today they'd be crawling all over those scenes snapping up DNA evidence and maybe have CCTV cameras and Ring doorbell footage at their disposal, but in the late 1960s, in that area of Michigan where stuff like this didn't happen, I thought the author did a good job of conveying tension and the difficulties of the investigation.

Naturally once they zero in on a potential suspect the cops seem bound and determined to fumble it on the 20 yard line and my eyes glazed over a bit during the recounting of the trial (as I'm sure the eyes of the jurors probably did....). I found this interesting but not always riveting.

[Maddy Eichenberg]

dnf’d this like a quarter of the way through. I usually like true crime, but I could not get over how grossed out I was by the way the author talked about women. There’s no reason to describe how pretty or “cute” a murder victim is, and I definitely don’t want any sexualisation of teenage girls.

[Melissa Kwiatkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book until they captured the murderer and talked about hair follicle science for evidence for two whole chapters. But prior to that I was very entertained and disgusted by the perpetrator. They did a great job describing the crime scenes (EW) and painting the picture overall. Interesting that is happened relatively locally and I never knew about it before I read!

[Patricia]

One day I was having breakfast with a friend in 1969 and happen to see the front page of a local newspaper. There was a photo of a young woman my age whose body had been discovered (the 6th in a series of such deaths in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area of Michigan. The question "Do you know this woman" jumped out at me. I was startled because I did remember this woman from my classes at High School. Her name was Alice Kalom. The photo was a morgue photo... I don't think they would try to find the identity of a murder victim this way today, but back then there weren't as many ways of identifying victims. I remember this whole scary episode of time back in Michigan and was curious to see how this book would portray the murders. All the victims as well as the convicted murderer were given false names in the book, but the facts were very well done. This book is well written and I was fascinated on how easy it was for this young man to befriend and make off with these girls. Especially with all the news about the murders going on. If you like to read about crime this is a very well written and mesmerizing book.

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one has great personal meaning for me -- it's about a string of murders in my hometown that created the agency where I later got my first job as a crime victims' advocate. Well-written history of the chase after and capture of the man who killed six of the seven victims -- and then there was Jane, found killed in a different way and left in a different place, but connected to the others anyway. Gripping even if you've never heard of Ypsilanti, Michigan.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing itself is very dated (I mean, obviously, the book is over 40 years old) and I skipped a lot of the trial because I could not read any more pages cross examining an expert over hair clippings. Overall, I found the book interesting and moreso because I'd never heard of these murders though I grew up about 45 miles away from Ypsilanti. I grew up less than five miles from the prison in Jackson so it was an unnerving thought knowing this man was likely still incarcerated there.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start by saying that this true crime book is very well-written and interesting. The troubling thing is that the author changed all of the names, including the victims and the accused murderer. However, with the internet at your disposal, it takes less than a couple minutes to find the true identities of the people in the book.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best book but it was interesting to hear the details about the craziness that happened in Ann Arbor and Ypsi mainly because I'm a Michigander and I had heard about these cases many times before.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great true crime read. Thorough and well researched. It stretched out a bit during the trial, but I was more than willing to see it through. After being on my tbr pile for so long, it's great to have finally read it.

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nerve wracking like any good crime mystery, except it's true.

This story was very well written, the characters vivid, and the whole trial suspenseful. Perhaps the only thing lacking is it would have been nice to have photos of all the people involved.

[Peter R Wetton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book but spoiled by the authors crazy decision to change everyone’s name to hide identity. All identities are freely available on line.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit long and detailed before revealing what had actually happened. I liked knowing all the locations in the book since I live nearby. Sad story.

[Maria Carnago · Rating 3 out of 5]

August book club book!
Crazy to think this man lived blocks from my dad and attended the same school as him 🤪

[Tonya Stankov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like I was reading this book forever. The book itself is very long and full of unnecessary descriptions of what the woman looked like. Our society has come a long way since the time this book was written, not only the ability of science to link a criminal to these crimes, but also socially. As a female athlete, I was especially frustrated by the author calling a woman who is 5 foot 7 inches and 135 pounds large. Excuse me, are you for real? My guess is it is just that the author has zero understanding of how much adult women truly weigh, and that whoever found these bodies took a guess at their weights, women weighing 95 to 110 is abnormal even back then. I also did not like that they did not continue to seek justice for all the victims. I understand it’s true crime and I am grateful how far our society has come since this book was written.