Robison family murders

45°34′02″N 85°06′48″W / 45.56722°N 85.11333°W / 45.56722; -85.11333DateJune 25, 1968; 56 years ago (1968-06-25)Mass shooting, mass murderWeapons

• .22-caliber AR-7 semi-automatic rifle
• .25-caliber Beretta semi-automatic pistol
• Claw hammer

Deaths6PerpetratorJoseph Raymond Scolaro III (alleged)MotiveUnknown. Possible concealment of alleged perpetrator's embezzlement from his employer.^[1]ChargesUnattributable due to suicide of prime suspect

The Robison family murders (also known as the Good Hart murders) refer to a mass murder which occurred in the secluded resort area of Good Hart, Michigan, on June 25, 1968. The victims were a vacationing upper-middle-class family from Lathrup Village who were shot and killed inside their Lake Michigan holiday cottage, with two decedents also bludgeoned with a hammer prior to death.^[2] Their bodies remained undiscovered until July 22.^[3]

Following an exhaustive investigation by the Michigan State Police and the Emmet County Sheriff's Office,^[4][5] initial investigations were completed in December 1969, with ample circumstantial evidence indicating the perpetrator was a senior employee of Richard Robison's named Joseph Raymond Scolaro III, who had engaged in embezzlement which his employer is known to have discovered and begun investigating shortly before his murder.^[6]

Emmett County prosecutors initially determined insufficient evidence existed to successfully prosecute Scolaro, who committed suicide in March 1973 at age 34—reportedly upon hearing of his likely impending indictment for the murders following the discovery of further physical evidence attesting to his guilt. He remains the sole and prime suspect in the murders.^[7]

At the time of their commission and discovery, the Robison family murders were considered the worst case of mass murder in Michigan history.^[8] Officially, the case remains open.^[1]

Robison family

Richard Robison was born in Wayne County, Michigan, in November 1925. He had met his fiancée, Shirley Fulton, in the mid-1940s while both attended college.^[9] The couple wed in 1947 and had four children: Richard Jr. (b. 1948); Gary (b. 1951); Randall (b. 1955); and Susan (b. 1960).^[10]

Robison operated a small advertisement agency named R. C. Robison & Associates, which strategized advertisement campaigns for businesses with the Detroit region;^[11] he also worked as a commercial artist, executive and publisher for Impresario magazine, which focused on cultural issues such as the arts, theatricals and music and was also based within his one-story Southfield office.^{[n 1]} The markedly wealthy family owned a private Learjet, and lived in the affluent Detroit suburb of Lathrup Village.^[13]

By 1968, Richard Jr. attended Eastern Michigan University, Gary was a student at Southfield-Lathrup High School, Randall was a middle school student, and Susan—described as a "pony mad" child—a first grade student. The family regularly attended church services, and neither parent drank, smoked or gambled.^{[10][n 2]}

Vacation

In the summer of 1968, the Robisons embarked on their annual vacation to the Blisswood Resort community within the small town of Good Hart,^[15] with plans to spend three weeks of their vacation at the seasonal log-and-stone holiday cottage they had purchased in the 1950s for $15,000 and which the family had named Summerset. The cottage itself was situated at the end of a long private driveway within a heavily-wooded area and which at one section runs alongside a 100-foot bluff close to the Lake Michigan shoreline.^[9] The family had visited the property every summer since 1957.^[10][16]

The vacation began on Sunday, June 16, with the family traveling in two cars to the destination. They were accompanied by several traveling companions, who would stay in their own rented holiday homes. These individuals included friends of the Robison boys, some business acquaintances, and personal friends of Richard Sr. and Shirley. Among those to know about the vacation and the location of the Robisons' secluded holiday home were several employees at Impresario magazine.^[17]

On June 23, one of the Robisons' traveling companions, 18-year-old Norman Bliss (the son of the caretaker of Blisswood Resort), was killed in a motorcycling accident while returning to Good Hart from nearby Cross Village, reportedly while intoxicated. The accident occurred sometime after 1:30 a.m., and the Robison family did not learn of the accident until that evening. Upon receipt of this news, Richard Sr. paid personal condolences to Bliss's parents at their Good Hart holiday home, offering to pay for the teenager's grave marker and flowers or a wreath. He also explained the family would be unable to attend the funeral as they were due to fly to Kentucky and Florida with view to purchasing real estate and would "not be back [to their cottage] for a couple of weeks." He added the earliest date they would likely return would be July 15.^[18]

June 25, 1968

On the morning of June 25, Richard Robison Sr. telephoned his personal banker at the National Bank of Detroit, Frank Joity, to discuss business pertaining to an expected recent deposit to his account of $200,000, only to be informed that the deposit had not been made, of financial irregularities within his business account within recent weeks and that his business balance was just $15,000.^{[19][n 3]} These revelations infuriated Robison, who telephoned his receptionist, demanding to speak to a senior employee of his named Joseph Scolaro III—the only employee of his with direct access to company accounts^[10]—to seek an explanation as to the missing funds. Investigators later determined this phone call had been made shortly after 10:30 a.m. Telephone records would later determine that over the following hours, Robison Sr. both called and attempted to call Scolaro on seventeen occasions, demanding an explanation.^[3]

Due to the conversation Robison Sr. had with the caretaker of Blisswood Resort the previous evening pertaining to impending travel plans, neither the Robisons' travel companions nor the caretakers of the resort became suspicious when the family were not seen for several weeks despite the fact the family's Ford LTD station wagon plus their rented Chrysler Newport remained parked close to the cottage.^[17] This was in part due to the fact that, in previous years, the family had largely, though not exclusively, kept to themselves during their vacations at the resort.^[21]

The final confirmed sighting of the Robisons occurred at approximately 4 p.m. on June 25, when individuals tasked to trim trees within the grounds of Summerset left the property.^[10]

Murders

Investigators would later determine the most likely time the Robison family were murdered was in the early evening of June 25, 1968. The murders evidently began when the assailant was outside the property, as five .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle gunshots were fired through a rear window of Summerset Cottage at Richard Robison Sr. as he sat in a chair.^{[4][16][n 4]} The perpetrator then entered the cottage through an unlocked door and killed the remaining five family members—Shirley (40), Richard Jr. (19), Gary (16), Randall (12), and Susan (7)—with shots to the head and body from both the rifle and a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol.^[4][23] Most likely, the final two family members killed were Richard Jr. and Gary, who were likely shot as they attempted to retrieve a rifle the family stored in a closet in the rear bedroom. Susan and Richard Sr. were also bludgeoned with a claw hammer found at the murder scene, although there were few signs of a struggle within the cottage.^[4][24]

A single bloody footprint on the floor would lead investigators to conclude that one person had committed the murders, and this individual had most likely closed all the curtains to the cottage and crudely attempted to cover the bullet holes in the window from his initial salvo with a piece of cardboard before turning on the heating within the property, then locking the door to the premises before leaving the scene. Fifteen spent shell casings—eleven .22-caliber and four .25-caliber—were left at the premises.^[4][23] A note penned upon a section of paper towel affixed to the cottage door read 'Be back by 7-10. Robison.' ^[12]

Discovery

The bodies of the Robinson family remained undiscovered until July 22. Their bodies were discovered by the owner and caretaker of the resort, Chauncey Bliss, following a complaint from a neighbor of the family of a pungent odor emanating from the cottage she had noted while playing a card game with friends on the grounds of her own property some 150 feet (46 m) from the Robison cottage. Bliss found the door locked; he pried open the molding to gain entry to the cottage only to discover the crime scene. Bliss immediately notified authorities.^[25]

Investigators would determine Richard Sr. had been shot in the chest with a .22 caliber firearm and once in the head with a .25 caliber rifle. He had also received a skull fracture, and his body lay in the hallway to the property beneath the body of his youngest son, Randall, who had been shot once in the head by a firearm of unknown caliber. Susan lay alongside her father and brother; she had received a single .25 caliber gunshot to the face in addition to a skull fracture.^[22]

Shirley Robison's body lay on her stomach in the living room; she had received a single .25 caliber gunshot wound to the head and a plaid blanket had been placed over her body. Richard Jr. lay midway between the hallway and northwest bedroom of the property; he had received several gunshots to the head from a .25 caliber firearm. Gary was discovered lying parallel to the east wall of the northwest bedroom; he had been shot once in the back with a .22 caliber firearm and twice in the head with a .25 caliber firearm.^[22] A ballistic examination of the bullets determined the .25-caliber firearm used in the murders was an automatic Beretta pistol, whereas the .22-caliber bullets had been fired from a somewhat uncommon AR-7 ArmaLite semi-automatic rifle.^[4][23]

The time-lapse between the homicides and their discovery in addition to the perpetrator having turned the heating on within the property had resulted in the decedents' bodies being in an advanced state of decomposition, thus destroying potential physical evidence.^[26] Questioning of the sole family whose seasonal home had been close to the Robison cottage revealed they had not been present in their cabin on June 24 or 25; however, another couple informed investigators that sometime in the late afternoon of June 25, they had heard two men and a woman shouting, followed by the sound of gunfire—all emanating from the direction of Summerset. They had chosen not to investigate, believing the Robisons to be "shooting gulls on the beach."^[27]

Initial investigation

Investigators rapidly determined the murders were committed by and individual or individuals known to one or more members of the family. Although an expensive ring belonging to Shirley was missing, no money or other items of value had been taken from the victims, thus discounting robbery as a motive. Furthermore, although Shirley Roberson was nude from the waist down, no family member had been sexually assaulted.^[27] Theories pertaining to potential family links to organized crime circles were also discounted.^[28]

Prime suspect

By the second week of the investigation, the Michigan State Police and the Emmet County authorities strongly suspected that one of Richard Robison's senior employees, 30-year-old Joseph Raymond Scolaro III, had been the perpetrator. Scolaro was a veteran of the United States Army Security Agency and a graduate of Harvard University;^[29] he had worked for Robison's advertising and publishing companies since 1965, and held a senior position within his publishing firm.^[12] He had been left in temporary charge of both businesses by Richard Robison shortly prior to the family vacation.^[4]

Scolaro admitted to having repeatedly conversed with his boss via telephone on the date of the murders in conversations he claimed revolved around an inquiry from Richard Sr. whether outstanding company checks had arrived at his office, but claimed to have heard nothing further from his employer. He expressed disbelief when confronted as to the vast missing funds from the company accounts—insisting only Robison and the company accountant dealt with company finances.^[19] Nonetheless, Robison's receptionist informed investigators Scolaro had abruptly left his office shortly after receiving the first phone call from his employer, and subsequent inquiries revealed he had not been seen or heard from by his family, friends or colleagues between 10:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. on the day of the murders. His alibis for this crucial time period were also quickly disproven.^[3]

Subsequent inspections of company financial records revealed that in the weeks prior to the murders, Scolaro had authorized an increase in his salary and expenses without his employer's knowledge. In addition, his handwriting on recent pre-signed checks from his employer revealed evident fraudulent activity.^[22] He had also purchased two firearms of each model determined by investigators to have been of the model and caliber used in the murders four months previous, although Scolaro claimed to have given one of the pistols to his employer and both rifles to other individuals.^[4] One of the rifles was traced to an acquaintance of Scolaro's in Chicago. Although this rifle was of the model and caliber used in the murders, ballistics testing revealed the firearm had not been the one used by the perpetrator. The other rifle could not be traced.^[22]

During the course of the investigation, Scolaro undertook two lie detector tests—both of which he failed.^[30] A third test was judged inconclusive as to the truth. Experts also noted that Scolaro's answers were indicative of his attempting to deceive the polygraph interviewers in his pre-test interviews.^[23]

Further evidence

A 1969 examination of a private firing range owned by Scolaro's father-in-law produced several shell casings forensically proven by the Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory to source from the AR-7 firearm used in the Robison murders; however, although the gun was still missing^[4][23][31] and Scolaro claimed to have given both rifles away, a neighbor informed police he had seen a .22-caliber AR-7 rifle in Scolaro's home shortly before the Robison murders.^[32]

Scolaro's missing .25-caliber Beretta automatic pistol was matched forensically in similar class characteristics to a second identical .25-caliber Beretta pistol that he produced for police on the second day after the bodies were found in Good Hart. Both guns had been purchased by Scolaro on the same day (February 2, 1968).^[4] Also found at the murder scene were several Sako .25-caliber spent cartridges; a rare 1968 Finnish brand sold only for the limited time in Michigan in January and February, 1968.^[4] It was documented by investigators that one of the actual few Sako ammunition purchasers in Michigan had been Joseph Scolaro III, on February 2, 1968.^[33][4] Scolaro's statements that he had given away both of the missing murder weapons and the Sako ammunition prior to the June 25, 1968 killings also proved invalid. They were one more part of his elaborate scheme to obstruct the investigation of the crime.^[23][34]

Dismissal of findings

The forensic matching of the spent shell casings to the rifle ammunition used in the murders was considered conclusive evidence of Scolaro's guilt to the two investigating police agencies involved in the case. They presented their combined Evidence Case Report CR 4114-08-785-66 to the jurisdictional prosecution on December 17, 1969.^[35] This detailed report implicated Joseph Scolaro as the sole perpetrator of the crime, with ample circumstantial evidence attesting to his guilt and concluding he had the means, motive and opportunity to commit the crime; however, Emmet County prosecutor Donald C. Noggle and Attorney General Frank Kelley ruled in mid-January 1970 that insufficient evidence existed to bring formal charges against Scolaro, referencing the two firearms used in the commission of the murders had not been recovered in addition to the absence of any fingerprints at the crime scene resulted in a lack of evidence placing Scolaro at the actual crime scene.^[36] As such, he was not charged with the murders, although investigators remained convinced of his guilt.^[14]

Intervening developments

Within months of the Robisons' murder, Scolaro assumed directorship of R.C. Robison & Associates and Impresario magazine, having purchased the firms from the Robisons' estate. Scolaro managed both firms from Richard Sr.'s office. He would later sell the magazine.^[28]

Upon orders of the National Bank of Detroit, executors of the Robison estate, Summerset Cottage was demolished in the spring of 1969.^[16]

Reopening of investigation

Four years after the commission of the murders, a newly elected chief prosecutor in Oakland County, L. Brooks Patterson—believing the Robison murders had been committed within his jurisdiction—formally reopened the prosecution. Upon reviewing the accrued evidence, Patterson informed Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Ronald Covault: "We are going to charge [Scolaro] with murder."^[22]

The decision to reopen the case was widely publicized in Michigan. Upon discovering the reason Emmett County prosecutors had determined insufficient evidence existed to successfully prosecute Scolaro was a lack of physical evidence to confirm his guilt, investigators sought to retrieve further sufficient evidence to secure the prime suspect's arrest.^[37]

Suicide of prime suspect

When Scolaro learned of his likely impending indictment resulting from this reopened investigation, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in his Southfield office on March 8, 1973. Two typewritten suicide notes were found close to his body. One note was addressed to his mother, warning her not to enter the office where his body lay; the other—also addressed to his mother—acknowledged the acts of fraud and forgery he had committed in life but ended with a handwritten denial of culpability for the murder of the Robison family.^[28]

The note Scolaro left in which he maintained his innocence of the Robison murders stated: "Mother, Where do I start ... I am a [liar]—cheat—phony. Any check that any of the people have with your signature isn't any good, because I forged your name to it to get them off my back. I owe everybody you can think of. I have made poor investments, and in some cases, no investments at all. ... I love you dearly, but living only causes you more heartache. I just can't help myself. Please understand. Love, Joe." The letter also listed several individuals whom he had defrauded in multiple business schemes.^[10]

At the base of this letter, Scolaro had penned a denial of culpability for the Robison family murders. This read:^[28]

P.S. I had nothing to do with the Robisons. I'm a cheat but not a murderer. Joe.

Aftermath

The suicide of the prime suspect in the Robison family murders resulted in the investigation into the case becoming largely inactive. However, as the law of Michigan does not permit an open murder case to be closed, the case officially remains open, although investigators, journalists and authors remain convinced of Scolaro's guilt.^[22]

The alleged perpetrator's suicide left many questions unanswered pertaining to the actual events surrounding the murders and their actual motive. These include whether the perpetrator acted alone, and whether he was aided and abetted by one or more other individuals.^[14]

Over many years other crime theories have surfaced but to date none has ever been substantiated.^[22]

See also

Notes

References

Cited works and further reading

• Branson, Jack; Branson, Mary (2011). Delayed Justice: Inside Stories from America's Best Cold Case Investigations. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-616-14392-3.
• Buhk, Todd (2021). Cold Case Michigan. United States: History Press. ISBN 978-1-467-14873-3.
• Dietz, Mary Lorentz (1983). Killing for Profit: The Social Organization of Felony Homicide. Boston, Massachusetts: Nelson-Hall Publishers. ISBN 978-0-830-41008-8.
• Evans, Colin (1996). The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes. New York City: John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 978-0-471-07650-6.
• Halber, Deborah (2015). The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Coldest Cases. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-451-65758-6.
• Hickey, Eric (2003). Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime. London: Sage Publications. ISBN 0-7619-2437-X.
• Katz, Hélèna (2010). Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-37692-4.
• Leyton, Elliot (2011) [1986]. Hunting Humans: The Rise Of The Modern Multiple Murderer. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-140-11687-8.
• Lester, David (2004). Mass Murder: The Scourge of the 21st Century. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers. ISBN 978-1-590-33929-9.
• Link, Mardi (2009). When Evil Came to Good Hart. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-02196-3.
• Mayo, Michael (2013). American Murder: Criminals, Crime, and the Media. Canton, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-1-578-59191-6.
• McRery, Nigel (2013). Silent Witnesses: A History of Forensic Science. London: Random House Books. ISBN 978-1-847-94683-6.
• Meyers, Charles (2004). Silent Evidence: Cases from Forensic Science. Charlotte, North Carolina: Catawba Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-887-90539-8.
• Newton, Michael (2004). The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes. New York City: Checkmark Books. ISBN 0-816-04980-7.
• Phelps, M. William (2020). Where Monsters Hide: Sex, Murder, and Madness in the Midwest. New York: Pinnacle Books. ISBN 978-0-786-04474-0.
• Yount, Lisa (2007). Forensic Science: From Fibers to Fingerprints. New York City: Chelsea House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-604-13061-4.

External links

• July 24, 1968 New York Times news article pertaining to the discovery of the Robinson family crime scene
• Contemporary Spokesman-Review article detailing the Robison family murders
• 45-year anniversarial Up North news article pertaining to the Robison family murders
• 2008 interview with When Evil Came to Good Hart author Mardi Link