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The Michigan Murders: The True Story of the Ypsilanti Ripper's Reign of Terror Kindle Edition

by Edward Keyes (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 2,883 ratings
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Edgar Award Finalist: The true story of a serial killer who terrorized a midwestern town in the era of free love—by the coauthor of The French Connection.

In 1967, during the time of peace, free love, and hitchhiking, nineteen-year-old Mary Terese Fleszar was last seen alive walking home to her apartment in Ypsilanti, Michigan. One month later, her naked body—stabbed over thirty times and missing both feet and a forearm—was discovered, partially buried, on an abandoned farm. A year later, the body of twenty-year-old Joan Schell was found, similarly violated. Southeastern Michigan was terrorized by something it had never experienced before: a serial killer. Over the next two years, five more bodies were uncovered around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan. All the victims were tortured and mutilated. All were female students.
 
After multiple failed investigations, a chance sighting finally led to a suspect. On the surface, John Norman Collins was an all-American boy—a fraternity member studying elementary education at Eastern Michigan University. But Collins wasn’t all that he seemed. His female friends described him as aggressive and short tempered. And in August 1970, Collins, the “Ypsilanti Ripper,” was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole.
 
Written by the coauthor of The French Connection, The Michigan Murders delivers a harrowing depiction of the savage murders that tormented a small midwestern town.
 
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  1. Print length
    437 pages
  2. Language
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  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    April 19, 2016
  6. File size
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Very engrossing . . . in the finest you can’t put it down tradition.” —Hartford Courant
 
“This factual account of each murder, through the conviction of the killer, has all the excitement of a first-rate work of fiction, and is told straight, without the usual sociological jargon. Keyes collaborated with Robin Moore on The French Connection; The Michigan Murders is his first solo effort, and it is a good one.” —The Miami Herald
 
“The Michigan Murders is the ultimate True Crime classic, unfolding like great mystery fiction while still delivering the powerful charge of real life.” —Jamie Agnew, owner, Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookshop
 
“True crime devotees won’t want to miss this one!” —Publishers Weekly
 
 

About the Author

Edward M. Keyes (1927–2002) was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from Fordham University, where he wrote for the newspaper and was a lefty pitcher for the baseball team. He continued writing for more than forty years, first as a newspaper reporter, columnist, and editor for small-town New York dailies, and later as a staff writer for such magazines as Look and Quick. His articles appeared in Sports Illustrated, Cosmopolitan, True, American Weekly, Inc. Magazine, and TV Guide, among others, and he cowrote a syndicated newspaper column with famed trial lawyer Melvin Belli.
 
In 1956 Keyes coauthored, with Al Schact (the Clown Prince of Baseball), My Own Particular Screwball, and in 1969, he collaborated with author Robin Moore on the bestselling thriller The French Connection, which was adapted into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name. He is the author of the Edgar Award–nominated and New York Times–bestselling true crime book The Michigan Murders; Double Dare, a suspense thriller set in New York City based on the true story of an undercover police informant; and Cocoanut Grove, a spellbinding, minute-by-minute account of the fire that destroyed Boston’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub in November 1942.
 
Keyes and his wife and partner, Eileen Walsh Keyes, raised seven children in New Rochelle, New York. He spent his final years retired in San Diego, California.
 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01DJWSY3K
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (April 19, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 19, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3315 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 437 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 2,883 ratings

About the author

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Edward Keyes

Edward Keyes

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Edward M. Keyes (1927–2002) was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from Fordham University, where he wrote for the newspaper and was a lefty pitcher for the baseball team. He continued writing for more than forty years, first as a newspaper reporter, columnist, and editor for small-town New York dailies, and later as a staff writer for such magazines as Look and Quick. His articles appeared in Sports Illustrated, Cosmopolitan, True, American Weekly, Inc. Magazine, and TV Guide, among others, and he cowrote a syndicated newspaper column with famed trial lawyer Melvin Belli.

In 1956 Keyes coauthored, with Al Schact (the Clown Prince of Baseball), My Own Particular Screwball, and in 1969, he collaborated with author Robin Moore on the bestselling thriller The French Connection, which was adapted into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name. He is the author of the Edgar Award–nominated and New York Times–bestselling true crime book The Michigan Murders; Double Dare, a suspense thriller set in New York City based on the true story of an undercover police informant; and Cocoanut Grove, a spellbinding, minute-by-minute account of the fire that destroyed Boston’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub in November 1942.

Keyes and his wife and partner, Eileen Walsh Keyes, raised eight children (Stephen, Dara, Edward, Terry, Kennen, Jeanine, Lisa, Thomas) in and around New York City. He spent his final years retired in San Diego, California.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
2,883 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Randy Lee Mayes
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved reading and following it
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2014
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I read this book in 1977 when it first came out. I was the features editor for the Eastern Michigan University school newspaper, the Eastern Echo and reviewed it for the school newspaper. I got to interview several of the key investigators and went to most of the killing and dumping sites. The book is amazingly accurate and a fast paced read. I loved reading and following it. I reread it this year and now we have this thing called the internet which wasn't around in 1977 and it makes a big difference. Many gaps can be filled in and speculation answered that couldn't be addressed thoroughly in 1977. I recommend some serious internet searches for anyone buying this book today so you can augment what was known in 1977, particularly the television interviews with all of the principals and the jail interview with John Norman Collins. It is fascinating follow-up to the book. Now that we have DNA testing that confirms JNC did most of the murders, it makes the accuracy of the book even more amazing. The more that is learned, the more impressive the book has become. Edward Keyes did an amazing job. In the internet search it reveals that Sheriff Harvey and his group believed John Norman Collins' mother was a prostitute which contributed to why JNC went off the deep end and started killing young women. I wish he had come out and said that in the book, although he hinted at it. It provides the motive for the killings. Also, there is widespread belief there was one more than one killer and I have come to that conclusion myself. At least one other person helped move the bodies. The book alludes to that and also notes that JNC's friends and housemates must have suspected JNC but never spoke to the authorities probably out of misguided loyalties. Like I said, the book has been proven extremely accurate over time and people who like true crime stories simply must read Keyes' excellent book. Watch the Channel 7 TV interviews on the internet too to get a more complete story. Incredible!
7 people found this helpful
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CallMe Crazy
4.0 out of 5 stars good investigation story
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2022
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As usual real people are unfortunate victims as are their families devastated and traumatized. In this way, the reading is engaging as far as the unfolding of evidence and the twists and turns of investigative work that solves crimes committed and brings a killer to justice. O
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don w
3.0 out of 5 stars Murder story good, but not great
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2021
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The Michigan Murders book gives an excellent inside look at a string of murders around two Michigan universities, but its problems made it impossible to give it high marks.

Four issues were bothersome.
First, the author chose to use fictional names for many of the characters, in the supposed interest of not hurting any innocent people. True crime stories don’t work that way; readers today want to check other sources and compare information. We didn’t even get the killer’s real name!
Second, the testimony from the trial is usually a key part of any book like this. A lot of it was really shortened, while the author went overboard with hair analysis testimony with poor explanations. A strong finish was certainly damaged here.
Third, where are the photos, maps, sketches, et cetera? Again, this is true crime and nonfiction. What’s the deal? It’s a good thing we have the internet to supplement this book.
And, finally, the wrap-up was pretty slim. Where’s the reactions of the people involved, not only in the murder trial but other victims tied to the killer? What about the jury?

It’s a good book that had some great research and writing. It fell short in too many ways, however, to give it 4 or 5 stars. Recommend it? Yes. But that recommendation comes with fair warning that you may not be completely satisfied.
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ealovitt
5.0 out of 5 stars My introduction to the evil that men do
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2016
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It's been almost 50 years since the Ann Arbor - Ypsilanti area of Southeastern Michigan was rocked by a series of murders, most of them coeds from Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti) and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). The seven victims, ranging in age from thirteen to twenty-three, were abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered by a killer who used the same m.o. and similar dump sites, although the police were slow to connect the similarities. The killer's primary hunting ground was Michigan's Washtenaw County, although one victim was murdered in California.

Edward Keyes, now deceased, spent several years in the early 1970s investigating these murders, and this book won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime in 1977. It is a horrific read. I was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan (1966 - 1969) during the killer's rampage (July 9, 1967 - July 23, 1969), and this was back before the concept of "serial killer" was popularized by former FBI Special agent Robert Ressler in 1974. The six separate police agencies that were working on the murders did not begin to coordinate their efforts, or even see a pattern to the killings until after the discovery of the third victim.

In "The Michigan Murders," the author states that: "Identifications of ...the victims, their families and friends; of bystanders, witnesses, suspects; even of the one finally accused and tried...have been disguised." This made his book a bit confusing for me to read, since I knew the actual names of the victims and the killer from the original press coverage of the murders. Recently, the Investigation Discovery Channel broadcast an episode--'A New Kind of Monster' (first aired December 10, 2013)--about these murders that also used the victims' real names. They are:

Mary Terese Fleszar (19) - EMU accounting student went missing on July 9, 1967
Joan Elspeth Schell (20) - EMU art student went missing on June 30, 1968
Maralynn Skelton (16) - Romulus High School student went missing on March 24, 1969
Dawn Louise Basom (13) - Ypsilanti school student went missing on April 16, 1969
Alice Elizabeth Kalom (23) - U of M grad student went missing on June 7, 1969
Roxie Ann Phillips (17) - Salinas, California went missing on June 30, 1969
Karen Sue Beineman (18) - EMU student went missing on July 23, 1969

The killer, John Norman Collins was also a student at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) where, according to the author, he met many of his victims. This book delves into the lives of Collins' victims (under those pesky assumed names) and also into their grisly deaths. The police, most especially Washtenaw County Sheriff Harvey do not always come out looking efficient and well-coordinated, although the author bends over backward to be fair. The reader is allowed to judge for himself or herself, after hearing the stories of the 'store mannequin' or Harvey's attempted suborning of witnesses.

"The Michigan Murders" takes the reader through the murders, the imprisonment of the killer and his trial. There is even a chapter devoted to Peter Hurkos, the Dutch housepainter, who allegedly manifested psychic powers after recovering from a head injury and coma caused by a fall from a ladder. Two very grumpy policemen were detailed to transport him to various sites connected to the murders. Although Hurkos showed flashes of insight, nothing came of his insertion into the case.

This serial killer is still alive and is incarcerated in the Marquette Branch Prison in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, while his victims have mouldered in their graves for almost half a century. I, who lived and went to school among them will never forget them or the evil that was done to them.
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Top reviews from other countries

James
5.0 out of 5 stars A baffling case, expertly told!
Reviewed in Canada on May 28, 2022
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What starts out as the quest to solve 7 murders boils down to the battle to convict for just one. The path is long and convoluted but Keyes keeps us turning the page. Up there with the best true crimers!
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LadyArden
5.0 out of 5 stars Truth is stranger than fiction
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2019
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Very gripping story telling. Who needs fiction when you can read true crime thats been written so well? Keyes uses fictitious names which is in respect to those who suffered but I’d forgotten by the end of the book that he’d done that so was confused when I tried to research the killer by the incorrect name. Unbelievable that John Norman Collins wasn’t tried for all the other murders he committed including a 13 year old child. He literally got away with murder. What stood out to me was the quiet acceptance and composure by some of the parents of their daughters’ deaths in a time when the term “serial killer” didn’t exist. Everything seemed to go unquestioned. The parents of the first murdered girl were advised not to look at their daughter’s body so probably never knew the extent of the horror she endured before her death. Maybe it was better they didn’t see anything but on the other hand, the quiet reserve and acceptance of what had happened was Disconcerting. It meant that word didn’t get around after the first murder about the shocking horror that had happened which might have helped prevent some of the murders that followed.
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john b
4.0 out of 5 stars The Michigan Murders
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2021
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Well written but a bit drawn out over the hair clipping evidence. Felt there was more that could have come to light. We’re there any further murders!
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Greg Finucan
4.0 out of 5 stars Morbidly fascinating
Reviewed in Canada on April 10, 2019
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Details are intense,some murders described too vividly,outcome somehow not satisfying,seems to me Michigan prosecutors and police were either derelict or inept
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Catherine Iliff
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2022
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Brilliantly written.
Couldn't put it down.
Felt as if I was there.
Highly recommend this to all true crime readers.
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