August 21, 2024 • 23 mins
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What if an entire community's sense of safety is shattered by a single elusive predator? Join us as we unravel the sinister saga of the Oakland County child killer, a case that gripped Michigan in fear during the mid-1970s. In this episode, we recount the harrowing tales of 12-year-old Mark Stebbins, 12-year-old Jill Robinson, and 10-year-old Christine Mihelich, whose tragic fates sparked a wave of anxiety among parents. We also touch upon the lives of 16-year-old Cynthia Cadieux and 14-year-old Jane Allen, illustrating the widespread panic that plagued the local community and the extreme precautions that followed.
In our pursuit of answers, we dissect the profiles of key suspects, from James Vincent Gunnels—whose DNA linked him to one of the victims—to Theodore Lambergine and his unsettling ties to a child pornography ring. We ponder over mysterious figures like Bobby Moore and explore the bizarre occult theory introduced by a man named Jeff. Despite the case being reopened in 2012 with advanced DNA technology, the search for justice remains ongoing. Tune in to explore the intricate web of leads and theories, and ponder if resolution can ever be achieved for these innocent lives lost.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we begin today's episode, we want to
provide a subject matter warning.
This podcast delves intoreal-life crimes and their often
graphic and disturbing details.
Today's episode containsdiscussions of violence, murder
and other sensitive topics thatmay not be suitable for all
listeners.
We understand that this contentcan be triggering or upsetting
(00:22):
for some, and we urge you toconsider your own well-being as
you listen.
With that said, let's proceedwith today's case.
Between 1976 and 1977, at leastfour children on the Oakland
(00:43):
County area of Michigan weremurdered.
At the time, it was clear tothe authorities that each of
these killings were connectedand so, like any good police
force would do, they desperatelybegan searching for the
perpetrator.
But while the killings wouldultimately stop at this point,
the true person behind themwould never be brought to
(01:03):
justice, leaving many people tostill wonder to this day who
exactly was the Oakland Countychild killer?
Welcome to the End of Reasonpodcast.
Today we're going to be lookingat the still mysterious case of
the person or persons officiallyresponsible for the death of
four kids in mid-1970 Michigan,and possibly even more than that
(01:27):
.
But before we get to attemptingto ID the killer, we first have
to go back to where it allstarted, because it was on
February 15th 1976, that MarkStebbins, a 12-year-old boy
living in Ferndale, michigan,failed to return home from an
American Legion hall.
Of course, with this beingunlike him, his mother quickly
became worried, and so, at 11pmthat night, she would contact
(01:51):
the police to let them know herson was missing.
That said, while the police didtake this seriously, they were
unable to come up with anyanswers at first.
No, it wouldn't be until fourdays later, in fact, that some
light was finally shed on thesituation, when Mark Boetegeimer
, a local businessman, stumbledupon the body of the youngster
(02:13):
after leaving his officebuilding at 11.45am that day.
How did this happen?
Well, as he would laterdescribe it, on his way towards
the drugstore he caught sight ofwhat looked like a mannequin
sitting in a parking lot acrossthe street.
Upon closer inspection of this,however, it became closer it
was no mannequin.
(02:33):
No, it was a body.
But what makes this discoveryall the more interesting is that
at 9.30am, just a few hoursprior, a local man had been
walking his dog in the same area, with him later claiming that
if there, a local man had beenwalking his dog in the same area
, with him later claiming thatif there had been a body there,
his dog would have found it, so,knowing Mark must have been
placed there.
(02:53):
Within that two-hour period.
Then, police were able to getto work on trying to find out
what exactly had happened, andpretty quickly after this, they
ascertained that the child hadnot only died as a result of
strangulation, but that he hadbeen sexually assaulted
beforehand too.
Unfortunately, though, a majorerror would also be made by the
(03:15):
police here, as, rather thancheck his body for fingerprints,
they would wash Mark firstinstead, removing any chance of
getting a lead on his killerthis way.
Yes, it was a foolish mistaketo make, but luckily or
unluckily, depending on how youlook at it they would get
another chance to catch thekiller when, on December 22nd of
(03:36):
that same year, another bodyturned up, and this one would
soon be identified as being JillRobinson, a 12-year-old girl
from nearby Royal Oak who, likeMark Stebbins, came from a
broken home.
Unlike Mark, though, she wouldhave last been seen after
running away from home followingan argument with her mother a
few days prior.
(03:57):
And also unlike Mark, her deathwould be as a result of a
shogun blast to the head, withthere being no evidence of any
sexual assault taking placeeither before or after.
So, with this in mind, therereally was no reason for the
police to believe that the twocrimes were connected at this
point.
That said, suspicions wouldbegin getting raised about this
(04:20):
when, only a few weeks later,yet another body turned up, and
this time it would be an evenyounger child, christine
Mihelich, someone who was only10 years old at the time of her
murder.
As for what happened to her,well, another child of divorce,
christine had gone missing onJanuary 2nd 1977, after last
being seen buying a magazinefrom a 7-Eleven store at 3pm in
(04:43):
Berkeley.
Following this, she would bemissing for a full 19 days
before her body was eventuallydiscovered frozen in the snow in
the nearby area by a postalservice worker named Jerry Wozni
.
So, with Wozni immediatelycontacting the authorities, then
, it wouldn't be long beforethey'd quarantine off the scene
and start to come to theconclusion that they may have a
(05:04):
bigger problem on their handsthan was originally anticipated.
Yes, with this being the fifthmurder to occur in such a short
space of time, it began lookingmore and more like there was a
pattern here, especially asChristine had been suffocated,
just like Mark Stebbins was andyou heard us right, we did say
fifth killing because, also in1976, two other bodies had been
(05:26):
found, with these being16-year-old Cynthia Cadieux and
14-year-old Jane Allen.
But we'll get to why we haven'tfocused on those yet a little
bit later.
For now we need to go back tothe uproar this latest discovery
caused within the localcommunity, as, with parents now
growing increasingly concernedabout their children's safety, a
(05:49):
mass panic took hold, andeveryone suddenly decided they
needed to accompany their kidshome from school every day.
In fact, when a friend ofChristine's went missing from
class at her elementary schoolnot long after this, it would
spark such a frenzy that all theadults in the area immediately
began carrying out a franticsearch.
Luckily, though, this childwould be found safe and well
(06:11):
just 20 minutes later.
But even if she was okay, itwas clear by now that something
had to be done about thesituation, as it felt like only
a matter of time before anothermurder would occur.
And sadly, that murder wouldoccur sooner rather than later,
because on March 23rd 1977, thebody of Timothy King, a
(06:32):
11-year-old boy, would be foundnot far from his home in
Birmingham, also dead as aresult of suffocation.
Yes, this was the fourth andfinal canonical victim of the
Oakland County child killer and,what's more, like the first
victim, mark Stebbins, timothywould have been sexually
assaulted before the killingtook place, something which must
(06:54):
have been hard for his parentsto come to terms with, as they'd
been searching for him eversince he disappeared a week
before, on March 16th.
In fact, so concerned had theybeen that, in the days leading
up to Timothy's discovery, hisfather, barry, would even have
taken to local TV so as to pleadwith whoever might have
kidnapped his son.
But while they could never gettheir son back, what this murder
(07:19):
did do was finally force thepolice to kick things into
second gear, as it now becameapparent there was a serial
killer at work, so realisingthey had to act before another
body turned up.
Then the Oakland City Sheriff'sOffice would started sharing
information between the variousdepartments across Michigan,
with this soon leading to theformation of a task force
(07:40):
dedicated solely to catching thekiller.
And following the formation ofthis task force, over 18,000
tips would come flooding intothe Sheriff's Department from a
variety of different sources,with each of these believing
they had crucial informationabout who the killer or killers
were.
But while many of these tipswould be tantalising, none would
(08:02):
prove to be more exciting thanthe one given by the woman who
told authorities that she hadseen Timothy King talking to a
man in the parking lot of apharmacy not long before he
disappeared.
As to whom this man might be,well, she didn't know that
exactly, but she was able toprovide police with a detailed
description of not only him, toprovide police with a detailed
(08:26):
description of not only him, butthe car he was driving anyway.
Yes, according to this unmannedsource, the mystery man talking
to Timothy on that fateful daywas someone who she'd seen
around that area before, someonewho likely lived nearby, as he
seemed familiar with thesurroundings and in terms of
what he looked like, well, he'dbe described as a white male,
between 25 and 35 years old,with a fair complexion, husky
(08:48):
build, shaggy hair and sideburnsto boot.
As well as that, the car he wasdriving was said to be a blue
AMC Gremlin with a white racingstripe on the side, a fairly
common vehicle in that area,albeit usually without the
stripe.
So, armed with this newknowledge, the police would get
to work on getting a compositesketch of this figure made up
(09:10):
and, from there, getting it outthere to the public so as to see
if anyone knew who he was.
On top of this, they alsoquestioned everyone who was
registered as owning a blue AMCGremlin in the Oakland country
area, in the hopes that thiswould lead them towards the
killer's doorstep.
But while at first this did atleast give the authorities a
direction in which to aim theirinvestigation, in the end they
(09:33):
soon realized it wasn't bringingabout any results fast enough
for their liking.
After all, while four murdershad now been attributed to the
Oakland County child killer,there was every possibility that
even more bodies were out there, and if more were to turn up,
the cops wanted to be ahead ofthe game lest they suffer an
even greater public outcry.
(09:53):
Yes, we alluded to it earlier,but it's been speculated that
there were at least two morevictims in this case, as on
January 15th 1976, victims inthis case as on January 15th
1976, one month before the bodyof Mark Stebbins was found,
16-year-old Cynthia Cadieuxwould be found bludgeoned to
(10:14):
death near her home inBloomsville Township, and later
on, in August of that same year,jane Allen, a 14-year-old girl
from Royal Oak, would also befound dead in the trunk of an
abandoned car after having beena victim of carbon monoxide
poisoning.
Of course, while on the face ofit it's easy to lump all these
murders together as being thework of the same perpetrator,
(10:35):
the reason police have been sohesitant to do so over the years
is that the latter two victimsdon't really fit in with the
same modus operandi as theothers.
No, it seems more likely thatthese were the work of a
separate killer, something whichis even scarier if you sit down
and think about it for a second.
But even if the Oakland Countychild killer was not responsible
(10:56):
for the deaths of CynthiaCadieux and Jane Allen, they
still needed to be heldaccountable for the other four
children who had died at theirhands.
And so, after the police attemptat catching them via
investigating the Blue AMCGremlin had led nowhere, and
with them being burdened withthe knowledge that this killer
was still out there and thatthey could strike again at any
(11:18):
time, the Oakland CountySheriff's Department desperately
started trying to pin down somesuspects through the
development of a suspect profile.
And what this profileeventually suggested was that,
based on what they knew of thebodies and of the descriptions
given to them by the women whosay Timothy King talking to a
man prior to his disappearance,they were looking for a
(11:39):
Caucasian male in his 20s or 30s, someone who had above-average
intelligence and was charmingenough that he could lure kids
in easily.
On top of that, based on thefact that the children had
evidently been housed, fed andcleaned for days prior to their
deaths, it was determined thesuspect had to have had access
to a property big enough to keepthem in for at least 18 days,
(12:04):
as well as a regular jobsomewhere in Southern Oakland
County which would allow him tocome and go without leaving the
kids alone for too long.
But that wasn't all the policeprofile suggested, because it
also said the killer wasprobably homosexual, likely
suffering from some degree ofmental health problems and,
given the fact that he dumpedthe bodies so unceremoniously,
(12:25):
he was hoping they would befound.
So with this knowledge now inplace and it being sent out to
every department in the area,eight separate task forces would
be set up from there, each withtheir own individual roles to
play in the investigation, andpretty soon this would lead to a
number of suspects and personsof interest falling under the
attention of the task force.
(12:46):
But while we know now that noneof them would ever formally be
charged with the killings, thereremains a pretty good chance
that among their numbers, thereal murderer still hides.
So let's go through each ofthese right now and see what the
likelihood is of them being theOakland County child killer.
The first suspect investigatedby the cops during this period
(13:08):
would be Christopher Bush, a26-year-old man who lived in
Bloomfield Hills, and the reasonhe was a suspect was that, on
the same year as the killingswent down, gregory Green, a
27-year-old pedophile, wouldtell police that Bush had
confessed to him that he was theone who killed Mark Stebbins.
Needless to say, as soon as theauthorities learned this, they
(13:30):
rushed to arrest Bush, with itlater coming to light that he
had indeed been involved in anumber of sex crimes with minors
.
That said, despite the factthat he did own a blue AMC
Gremlin and had not only ropesfound in his home but also a
drawing of a boy who resembledhis supposed victim, detectives
were never able to show he wasthe one who killed Stebbins, and
(13:54):
their chances of getting thisconfession would ultimately drop
to zero when, just one yearlater, he took his own life
while out on a plea deal.
Still for years after, manymembers of his own family would
come to believe that ChristopherBush was not only the killer of
Mark Stebbins but of the otherthree canonical victims too, and
(14:15):
, what's more, with many ofthese family members believing
his suicide was staged and thathe was actually murdered, there
remained the possibility to themthat he hadn't been working
alone.
But he wasn't the only majorsuspect.
Police were able to link to thecrimes at this time, of course,
because at one point JamesVincent Gunnels would be
considered the most likelyculprit.
(14:37):
Why was this?
Well, while police certainlyhad reason to suspect him at the
time, years later his DNA wouldbe found to be a match for a
hair discovered on the body ofChristine Mihelich, and with
this being a mitochondrial DNAmatch, it meant that the hair
had to have come from Gunnelshimself, or at very least a male
(14:59):
member of his family.
That said, when eventuallyquestioned by the police, he
would maintain his innocence,claiming that he had no
knowledge of the crimes, and,despite the fact that he had
such evidence against him andthat he failed two separate lie
detector tests, he would neverbe formally charged with the
crimes.
Of course, he wasn't the onlysuspect they had, though,
(15:21):
because back in the 70s therewere several other leads they
could still follow.
Who were they?
Well, one of the main ones wasTheodore Lamborghini, a retired
autoworker who was believed tobe involved in an underground
child pornography ring going onat the time.
So if this was indeed hisbusiness, then it would give him
plenty of motive to kidnapthese children, as well as all
(15:42):
the motive he needed to disposeof them afterwards, so they
would not talk about what hadhappened.
In fact, years later, whenLambergine would be charged with
his involvement in this childpornography ring, the parents of
Mark Stebbins would go as faras to file a lawsuit against him
, blaming him for the death oftheir son.
But unfortunately, in the endthis would come to nothing, and
(16:04):
it would also be the only formalcriminal proceeding made
against him in the case of theOakland County child killer.
That's not to say, many don'tstill believe he was the man
behind the crimes, though, aswith him later facing 19 counts
of sexually assaulting children,there was certainly precedent
for his willingness to commitsuch actions and, as it happens,
(16:26):
he himself admits to having aninvolvement in the case, at
least tangentially.
That is yes.
While being interviewed in 2006,theodore Lambergine would be
asked directly if he was the manwho killed four children in the
late 1970s, and while he woulddeny this, he would claim he
knew who the culprit was a mannamed Bobby Moore.
(16:49):
Unfortunately, though, policewould never be able to track
down anyone in the local area bythe name of Bobby Moore.
But even with this lead failingto bear any fruit, there were
still other suspects they werelooking into at the time, one of
the most prominent of which wasa mystery figure named Frank.
Why was this one so mysterious?
Well, they would first come tothe attention of the authorities
(17:13):
after an anonymous letter wassent to a psychiatrist in town
by another man going by the nameof Alan, by another man going
by the name of Alan, and, asAlan explained it, frank, friend
and former military buddy ofhis, had committed the murders
and had done so as a means ofrevenge on the more affluent
citizens of Oakland County afterhe'd been forced to serve in
(17:33):
Vietnam.
So, upon feeling guilty aboutgetting tied up in the whole
thing when he accompanied Frankduring one of his murders, alan
would contact the police, withhis logic being that he was
seeking absolution by lettingthem know exactly what was going
on.
That said, he still wanted tomake sure he was protected while
he was spilling the beans, withthis being the reason why he
(17:56):
offered to meet with thepsychiatrist and give him
photographic evidence, but onlyin exchange for the police
offering him diplomatic immunity.
Unfortunately, though, this leadwould end up going nowhere too,
because, after arranging tohave the code words Weather
Bureau says trees to bloom inthree weeks printed in that
Sunday's edition of the DetroitFree Press so as to indicate he
(18:18):
was willing to meet up, thepsychiatrist would never get to
talk to Alan as he didn't show,and would never be heard from
again after that.
So that just leaves us with onemore suspect then Archibald
Edward Sloane.
But what made this figure sointeresting to police?
Well, sloane was already aconvicted child molester at the
time the crimes occurred, andwith one witness claiming to
(18:40):
have seen Timothy King beingabducted by two men, it
immediately made him a person ofinterest, so much so that the
police would even go as far asto search his car and place of
residence.
That said, nothing would comeof the investigation into him
either, and as time went on andany leads the police had began
to dry up, it looked like thisone was going to turn into a
(19:02):
cold case.
That was until 2005, at whichpoint a man going by the alias
of Jeff would contact police andstate that he had an
acquaintance back in 1977 whowas into some strange things,
such as occult rituals, and thathe was worried he may have been
involved in the murders.
But while this was a tenuousconnection at best, what made
(19:24):
the authorities decide to takeit more seriously was the fact
that many of the topics Jeff'sacquaintance had discussed with
him matched up with what they'dalready read in the Allen letter
from years before.
Unfortunately, though, once thepolice actually brought Jeff in
to question him formally, theywere met with a tale which they
deemed to be far too ramblingand unrealistic, one which
(19:45):
involved pagan holidays, thelunar calendar and Wiccan
rituals.
On top of that, jeff wouldrefuse to identify who his
acquaintance was with him,instead demanding to see the
Allen letter for himself so thathe could confirm the two
stories matched up.
So, with it seemingincreasingly likely this was a
(20:06):
man, just someone looking tomess the police around, he
wouldn't be questioned anyfurther, and from there things
truly would go cold, until 2012at least, at which point, with
new methods of solving the crimeavailable to them, the police
would reopen the case, and thistime, using the same DNA
matching technology which wouldcast James Vincent Gunnels in
(20:30):
such a poor light, the OaklandCounty Sheriff's Office would be
able to fully rule out at leastone suspect, as a check on
Christopher Bush DNA here provedto not be a match for anything
found on any of the physicalevidence the cops had.
But while this turned out to bedisappointing to the families
of the victims, who were stilllooking for answers, what
(20:50):
happened next would give themsome renewed hope, as, after
taking another look at hairfound while searching the car of
Archibald Edward Sloan, theauthorities would be able to
determine this matched hairswhich were discovered on the
bodies of Mark Stebbins andTimothy King.
And while this doesn'tnecessarily mean that Sloan was
the one who carried out themurders, it does imply he had
(21:12):
some involvement in it, ifnothing else.
In fact, it suggests he eitherhad the children in his car at
one point or that he lent hiscar to the person who kidnapped
them.
Sadly, though, this was stillnot enough to bring any formal
charges down on him for thecrimes, and to this day, even
with the case now being reopened, the police have been unable to
bring down any charges onanyone else.
(21:34):
But it's not all bad news,because there is still hope
remaining.
In fact, in 2013, an anonymoustip led to cops discovering a
blue AMC Gremlin which had beenburied in a farm in nearby Grand
Blanc, and while the policehave yet to directly like this
car to the one which wasreported years prior or to find
(21:55):
out who the owner of it is, it'sa lead they're continuing to
chase down in the hopes that itwill finally lead them to the
killer.
So that's where we stand today,then, with justice still not
looking like it's coming anytimesoon for the deaths of at least
four children, but while thiscase remains as of yet unsolved,
it's not like the policeinvestigation led to nothing at
(22:17):
all.
No, in fact.
While looking into TheodoreLamborghini, the authorities
would be able to uncover thefull extent of the child
pornography ring that was goingon right underneath their noses,
and so, if nothing else, atleast this has surely saved a
number of children over theintervening years.
But even with those positiveresults, the question will
(22:39):
always remain Just who was theOakland County child killer?
Was it one of the suspects weknow of?
Was it someone differententirely?
Or was it, as is entirelypossible, the combined efforts
of more than one person, perhapspeople who were involved in the
underground sex ring we nowknow was going on at that time.
It's certainly a chillingprospect and sadly it's there.
(23:03):
We're going to leave things fortoday because until we know
more, that's where the storywill have to end.
For now, thank you for joiningus on this journey through the
shadows of humanity.
On the End of Reason podcast.
As we conclude today's episode,remember that the pursuit of
truth never truly ends.
(23:24):
Until next time, stay vigilant,stay curious and never let go
of reason.
Before we begin today's episode, we want to
provide a subject matter warning.
This podcast delves intoreal-life crimes and their often
graphic and disturbing details.
Today's episode containsdiscussions of violence, murder
and other sensitive topics thatmay not be suitable for all
listeners.
We understand that this contentcan be triggering or upsetting
(00:22):
for some, and we urge you toconsider your own well-being as
you listen.
With that said, let's proceedwith today's case.
Between 1976 and 1977, at leastfour children on the Oakland
(00:43):
County area of Michigan weremurdered.
At the time, it was clear tothe authorities that each of
these killings were connectedand so, like any good police
force would do, they desperatelybegan searching for the
perpetrator.
But while the killings wouldultimately stop at this point,
the true person behind themwould never be brought to
(01:03):
justice, leaving many people tostill wonder to this day who
exactly was the Oakland Countychild killer?
Welcome to the End of Reasonpodcast.
Today we're going to be lookingat the still mysterious case of
the person or persons officiallyresponsible for the death of
four kids in mid-1970 Michigan,and possibly even more than that
(01:27):
.
But before we get to attemptingto ID the killer, we first have
to go back to where it allstarted, because it was on
February 15th 1976, that MarkStebbins, a 12-year-old boy
living in Ferndale, michigan,failed to return home from an
American Legion hall.
Of course, with this beingunlike him, his mother quickly
became worried, and so, at 11pmthat night, she would contact
(01:51):
the police to let them know herson was missing.
That said, while the police didtake this seriously, they were
unable to come up with anyanswers at first.
No, it wouldn't be until fourdays later, in fact, that some
light was finally shed on thesituation, when Mark Boetegeimer
, a local businessman, stumbledupon the body of the youngster
(02:13):
after leaving his officebuilding at 11.45am that day.
How did this happen?
Well, as he would laterdescribe it, on his way towards
the drugstore he caught sight ofwhat looked like a mannequin
sitting in a parking lot acrossthe street.
Upon closer inspection of this,however, it became closer it
was no mannequin.
(02:33):
No, it was a body.
But what makes this discoveryall the more interesting is that
at 9.30am, just a few hoursprior, a local man had been
walking his dog in the same area, with him later claiming that
if there, a local man had beenwalking his dog in the same area
, with him later claiming thatif there had been a body there,
his dog would have found it, so,knowing Mark must have been
placed there.
(02:53):
Within that two-hour period.
Then, police were able to getto work on trying to find out
what exactly had happened, andpretty quickly after this, they
ascertained that the child hadnot only died as a result of
strangulation, but that he hadbeen sexually assaulted
beforehand too.
Unfortunately, though, a majorerror would also be made by the
(03:15):
police here, as, rather thancheck his body for fingerprints,
they would wash Mark firstinstead, removing any chance of
getting a lead on his killerthis way.
Yes, it was a foolish mistaketo make, but luckily or
unluckily, depending on how youlook at it they would get
another chance to catch thekiller when, on December 22nd of
(03:36):
that same year, another bodyturned up, and this one would
soon be identified as being JillRobinson, a 12-year-old girl
from nearby Royal Oak who, likeMark Stebbins, came from a
broken home.
Unlike Mark, though, she wouldhave last been seen after
running away from home followingan argument with her mother a
few days prior.
(03:57):
And also unlike Mark, her deathwould be as a result of a
shogun blast to the head, withthere being no evidence of any
sexual assault taking placeeither before or after.
So, with this in mind, therereally was no reason for the
police to believe that the twocrimes were connected at this
point.
That said, suspicions wouldbegin getting raised about this
(04:20):
when, only a few weeks later,yet another body turned up, and
this time it would be an evenyounger child, christine
Mihelich, someone who was only10 years old at the time of her
murder.
As for what happened to her,well, another child of divorce,
christine had gone missing onJanuary 2nd 1977, after last
being seen buying a magazinefrom a 7-Eleven store at 3pm in
(04:43):
Berkeley.
Following this, she would bemissing for a full 19 days
before her body was eventuallydiscovered frozen in the snow in
the nearby area by a postalservice worker named Jerry Wozni
.
So, with Wozni immediatelycontacting the authorities, then
, it wouldn't be long beforethey'd quarantine off the scene
and start to come to theconclusion that they may have a
(05:04):
bigger problem on their handsthan was originally anticipated.
Yes, with this being the fifthmurder to occur in such a short
space of time, it began lookingmore and more like there was a
pattern here, especially asChristine had been suffocated,
just like Mark Stebbins was andyou heard us right, we did say
fifth killing because, also in1976, two other bodies had been
(05:26):
found, with these being16-year-old Cynthia Cadieux and
14-year-old Jane Allen.
But we'll get to why we haven'tfocused on those yet a little
bit later.
For now we need to go back tothe uproar this latest discovery
caused within the localcommunity, as, with parents now
growing increasingly concernedabout their children's safety, a
(05:49):
mass panic took hold, andeveryone suddenly decided they
needed to accompany their kidshome from school every day.
In fact, when a friend ofChristine's went missing from
class at her elementary schoolnot long after this, it would
spark such a frenzy that all theadults in the area immediately
began carrying out a franticsearch.
Luckily, though, this childwould be found safe and well
(06:11):
just 20 minutes later.
But even if she was okay, itwas clear by now that something
had to be done about thesituation, as it felt like only
a matter of time before anothermurder would occur.
And sadly, that murder wouldoccur sooner rather than later,
because on March 23rd 1977, thebody of Timothy King, a
(06:32):
11-year-old boy, would be foundnot far from his home in
Birmingham, also dead as aresult of suffocation.
Yes, this was the fourth andfinal canonical victim of the
Oakland County child killer and,what's more, like the first
victim, mark Stebbins, timothywould have been sexually
assaulted before the killingtook place, something which must
(06:54):
have been hard for his parentsto come to terms with, as they'd
been searching for him eversince he disappeared a week
before, on March 16th.
In fact, so concerned had theybeen that, in the days leading
up to Timothy's discovery, hisfather, barry, would even have
taken to local TV so as to pleadwith whoever might have
kidnapped his son.
But while they could never gettheir son back, what this murder
(07:19):
did do was finally force thepolice to kick things into
second gear, as it now becameapparent there was a serial
killer at work, so realisingthey had to act before another
body turned up.
Then the Oakland City Sheriff'sOffice would started sharing
information between the variousdepartments across Michigan,
with this soon leading to theformation of a task force
(07:40):
dedicated solely to catching thekiller.
And following the formation ofthis task force, over 18,000
tips would come flooding intothe Sheriff's Department from a
variety of different sources,with each of these believing
they had crucial informationabout who the killer or killers
were.
But while many of these tipswould be tantalising, none would
(08:02):
prove to be more exciting thanthe one given by the woman who
told authorities that she hadseen Timothy King talking to a
man in the parking lot of apharmacy not long before he
disappeared.
As to whom this man might be,well, she didn't know that
exactly, but she was able toprovide police with a detailed
description of not only him, toprovide police with a detailed
(08:26):
description of not only him, butthe car he was driving anyway.
Yes, according to this unmannedsource, the mystery man talking
to Timothy on that fateful daywas someone who she'd seen
around that area before, someonewho likely lived nearby, as he
seemed familiar with thesurroundings and in terms of
what he looked like, well, he'dbe described as a white male,
between 25 and 35 years old,with a fair complexion, husky
(08:48):
build, shaggy hair and sideburnsto boot.
As well as that, the car he wasdriving was said to be a blue
AMC Gremlin with a white racingstripe on the side, a fairly
common vehicle in that area,albeit usually without the
stripe.
So, armed with this newknowledge, the police would get
to work on getting a compositesketch of this figure made up
(09:10):
and, from there, getting it outthere to the public so as to see
if anyone knew who he was.
On top of this, they alsoquestioned everyone who was
registered as owning a blue AMCGremlin in the Oakland country
area, in the hopes that thiswould lead them towards the
killer's doorstep.
But while at first this did atleast give the authorities a
direction in which to aim theirinvestigation, in the end they
(09:33):
soon realized it wasn't bringingabout any results fast enough
for their liking.
After all, while four murdershad now been attributed to the
Oakland County child killer,there was every possibility that
even more bodies were out there, and if more were to turn up,
the cops wanted to be ahead ofthe game lest they suffer an
even greater public outcry.
(09:53):
Yes, we alluded to it earlier,but it's been speculated that
there were at least two morevictims in this case, as on
January 15th 1976, victims inthis case as on January 15th
1976, one month before the bodyof Mark Stebbins was found,
16-year-old Cynthia Cadieuxwould be found bludgeoned to
(10:14):
death near her home inBloomsville Township, and later
on, in August of that same year,jane Allen, a 14-year-old girl
from Royal Oak, would also befound dead in the trunk of an
abandoned car after having beena victim of carbon monoxide
poisoning.
Of course, while on the face ofit it's easy to lump all these
murders together as being thework of the same perpetrator,
(10:35):
the reason police have been sohesitant to do so over the years
is that the latter two victimsdon't really fit in with the
same modus operandi as theothers.
No, it seems more likely thatthese were the work of a
separate killer, something whichis even scarier if you sit down
and think about it for a second.
But even if the Oakland Countychild killer was not responsible
(10:56):
for the deaths of CynthiaCadieux and Jane Allen, they
still needed to be heldaccountable for the other four
children who had died at theirhands.
And so, after the police attemptat catching them via
investigating the Blue AMCGremlin had led nowhere, and
with them being burdened withthe knowledge that this killer
was still out there and thatthey could strike again at any
(11:18):
time, the Oakland CountySheriff's Department desperately
started trying to pin down somesuspects through the
development of a suspect profile.
And what this profileeventually suggested was that,
based on what they knew of thebodies and of the descriptions
given to them by the women whosay Timothy King talking to a
man prior to his disappearance,they were looking for a
(11:39):
Caucasian male in his 20s or 30s, someone who had above-average
intelligence and was charmingenough that he could lure kids
in easily.
On top of that, based on thefact that the children had
evidently been housed, fed andcleaned for days prior to their
deaths, it was determined thesuspect had to have had access
to a property big enough to keepthem in for at least 18 days,
(12:04):
as well as a regular jobsomewhere in Southern Oakland
County which would allow him tocome and go without leaving the
kids alone for too long.
But that wasn't all the policeprofile suggested, because it
also said the killer wasprobably homosexual, likely
suffering from some degree ofmental health problems and,
given the fact that he dumpedthe bodies so unceremoniously,
(12:25):
he was hoping they would befound.
So with this knowledge now inplace and it being sent out to
every department in the area,eight separate task forces would
be set up from there, each withtheir own individual roles to
play in the investigation, andpretty soon this would lead to a
number of suspects and personsof interest falling under the
attention of the task force.
(12:46):
But while we know now that noneof them would ever formally be
charged with the killings, thereremains a pretty good chance
that among their numbers, thereal murderer still hides.
So let's go through each ofthese right now and see what the
likelihood is of them being theOakland County child killer.
The first suspect investigatedby the cops during this period
(13:08):
would be Christopher Bush, a26-year-old man who lived in
Bloomfield Hills, and the reasonhe was a suspect was that, on
the same year as the killingswent down, gregory Green, a
27-year-old pedophile, wouldtell police that Bush had
confessed to him that he was theone who killed Mark Stebbins.
Needless to say, as soon as theauthorities learned this, they
(13:30):
rushed to arrest Bush, with itlater coming to light that he
had indeed been involved in anumber of sex crimes with minors
.
That said, despite the factthat he did own a blue AMC
Gremlin and had not only ropesfound in his home but also a
drawing of a boy who resembledhis supposed victim, detectives
were never able to show he wasthe one who killed Stebbins, and
(13:54):
their chances of getting thisconfession would ultimately drop
to zero when, just one yearlater, he took his own life
while out on a plea deal.
Still for years after, manymembers of his own family would
come to believe that ChristopherBush was not only the killer of
Mark Stebbins but of the otherthree canonical victims too, and
(14:15):
, what's more, with many ofthese family members believing
his suicide was staged and thathe was actually murdered, there
remained the possibility to themthat he hadn't been working
alone.
But he wasn't the only majorsuspect.
Police were able to link to thecrimes at this time, of course,
because at one point JamesVincent Gunnels would be
considered the most likelyculprit.
(14:37):
Why was this?
Well, while police certainlyhad reason to suspect him at the
time, years later his DNA wouldbe found to be a match for a
hair discovered on the body ofChristine Mihelich, and with
this being a mitochondrial DNAmatch, it meant that the hair
had to have come from Gunnelshimself, or at very least a male
(14:59):
member of his family.
That said, when eventuallyquestioned by the police, he
would maintain his innocence,claiming that he had no
knowledge of the crimes, and,despite the fact that he had
such evidence against him andthat he failed two separate lie
detector tests, he would neverbe formally charged with the
crimes.
Of course, he wasn't the onlysuspect they had, though,
(15:21):
because back in the 70s therewere several other leads they
could still follow.
Who were they?
Well, one of the main ones wasTheodore Lamborghini, a retired
autoworker who was believed tobe involved in an underground
child pornography ring going onat the time.
So if this was indeed hisbusiness, then it would give him
plenty of motive to kidnapthese children, as well as all
(15:42):
the motive he needed to disposeof them afterwards, so they
would not talk about what hadhappened.
In fact, years later, whenLambergine would be charged with
his involvement in this childpornography ring, the parents of
Mark Stebbins would go as faras to file a lawsuit against him
, blaming him for the death oftheir son.
But unfortunately, in the endthis would come to nothing, and
(16:04):
it would also be the only formalcriminal proceeding made
against him in the case of theOakland County child killer.
That's not to say, many don'tstill believe he was the man
behind the crimes, though, aswith him later facing 19 counts
of sexually assaulting children,there was certainly precedent
for his willingness to commitsuch actions and, as it happens,
(16:26):
he himself admits to having aninvolvement in the case, at
least tangentially.
That is yes.
While being interviewed in 2006,theodore Lambergine would be
asked directly if he was the manwho killed four children in the
late 1970s, and while he woulddeny this, he would claim he
knew who the culprit was a mannamed Bobby Moore.
(16:49):
Unfortunately, though, policewould never be able to track
down anyone in the local area bythe name of Bobby Moore.
But even with this lead failingto bear any fruit, there were
still other suspects they werelooking into at the time, one of
the most prominent of which wasa mystery figure named Frank.
Why was this one so mysterious?
Well, they would first come tothe attention of the authorities
(17:13):
after an anonymous letter wassent to a psychiatrist in town
by another man going by the nameof Alan, by another man going
by the name of Alan, and, asAlan explained it, frank, friend
and former military buddy ofhis, had committed the murders
and had done so as a means ofrevenge on the more affluent
citizens of Oakland County afterhe'd been forced to serve in
(17:33):
Vietnam.
So, upon feeling guilty aboutgetting tied up in the whole
thing when he accompanied Frankduring one of his murders, alan
would contact the police, withhis logic being that he was
seeking absolution by lettingthem know exactly what was going
on.
That said, he still wanted tomake sure he was protected while
he was spilling the beans, withthis being the reason why he
(17:56):
offered to meet with thepsychiatrist and give him
photographic evidence, but onlyin exchange for the police
offering him diplomatic immunity.
Unfortunately, though, this leadwould end up going nowhere too,
because, after arranging tohave the code words Weather
Bureau says trees to bloom inthree weeks printed in that
Sunday's edition of the DetroitFree Press so as to indicate he
(18:18):
was willing to meet up, thepsychiatrist would never get to
talk to Alan as he didn't show,and would never be heard from
again after that.
So that just leaves us with onemore suspect then Archibald
Edward Sloane.
But what made this figure sointeresting to police?
Well, sloane was already aconvicted child molester at the
time the crimes occurred, andwith one witness claiming to
(18:40):
have seen Timothy King beingabducted by two men, it
immediately made him a person ofinterest, so much so that the
police would even go as far asto search his car and place of
residence.
That said, nothing would comeof the investigation into him
either, and as time went on andany leads the police had began
to dry up, it looked like thisone was going to turn into a
(19:02):
cold case.
That was until 2005, at whichpoint a man going by the alias
of Jeff would contact police andstate that he had an
acquaintance back in 1977 whowas into some strange things,
such as occult rituals, and thathe was worried he may have been
involved in the murders.
But while this was a tenuousconnection at best, what made
(19:24):
the authorities decide to takeit more seriously was the fact
that many of the topics Jeff'sacquaintance had discussed with
him matched up with what they'dalready read in the Allen letter
from years before.
Unfortunately, though, once thepolice actually brought Jeff in
to question him formally, theywere met with a tale which they
deemed to be far too ramblingand unrealistic, one which
(19:45):
involved pagan holidays, thelunar calendar and Wiccan
rituals.
On top of that, jeff wouldrefuse to identify who his
acquaintance was with him,instead demanding to see the
Allen letter for himself so thathe could confirm the two
stories matched up.
So, with it seemingincreasingly likely this was a
(20:06):
man, just someone looking tomess the police around, he
wouldn't be questioned anyfurther, and from there things
truly would go cold, until 2012at least, at which point, with
new methods of solving the crimeavailable to them, the police
would reopen the case, and thistime, using the same DNA
matching technology which wouldcast James Vincent Gunnels in
(20:30):
such a poor light, the OaklandCounty Sheriff's Office would be
able to fully rule out at leastone suspect, as a check on
Christopher Bush DNA here provedto not be a match for anything
found on any of the physicalevidence the cops had.
But while this turned out to bedisappointing to the families
of the victims, who were stilllooking for answers, what
(20:50):
happened next would give themsome renewed hope, as, after
taking another look at hairfound while searching the car of
Archibald Edward Sloan, theauthorities would be able to
determine this matched hairswhich were discovered on the
bodies of Mark Stebbins andTimothy King.
And while this doesn'tnecessarily mean that Sloan was
the one who carried out themurders, it does imply he had
(21:12):
some involvement in it, ifnothing else.
In fact, it suggests he eitherhad the children in his car at
one point or that he lent hiscar to the person who kidnapped
them.
Sadly, though, this was stillnot enough to bring any formal
charges down on him for thecrimes, and to this day, even
with the case now being reopened, the police have been unable to
bring down any charges onanyone else.
(21:34):
But it's not all bad news,because there is still hope
remaining.
In fact, in 2013, an anonymoustip led to cops discovering a
blue AMC Gremlin which had beenburied in a farm in nearby Grand
Blanc, and while the policehave yet to directly like this
car to the one which wasreported years prior or to find
(21:55):
out who the owner of it is, it'sa lead they're continuing to
chase down in the hopes that itwill finally lead them to the
killer.
So that's where we stand today,then, with justice still not
looking like it's coming anytimesoon for the deaths of at least
four children, but while thiscase remains as of yet unsolved,
it's not like the policeinvestigation led to nothing at
(22:17):
all.
No, in fact.
While looking into TheodoreLamborghini, the authorities
would be able to uncover thefull extent of the child
pornography ring that was goingon right underneath their noses,
and so, if nothing else, atleast this has surely saved a
number of children over theintervening years.
But even with those positiveresults, the question will
(22:39):
always remain Just who was theOakland County child killer?
Was it one of the suspects weknow of?
Was it someone differententirely?
Or was it, as is entirelypossible, the combined efforts
of more than one person, perhapspeople who were involved in the
underground sex ring we nowknow was going on at that time.
It's certainly a chillingprospect and sadly it's there.
(23:03):
We're going to leave things fortoday because until we know
more, that's where the storywill have to end.
For now, thank you for joiningus on this journey through the
shadows of humanity.
On the End of Reason podcast.
As we conclude today's episode,remember that the pursuit of
truth never truly ends.
(23:24):
Until next time, stay vigilant,stay curious and never let go
of reason.
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