MI MI - Francis "Pat" Brown, 17, & Sheldon Miller, 14, fatally shot, Detroit, 3 Jul 1964

[dotr]

Sheldon Miller Francis Brown murdered July 3, 1964. Detroit Michigan UNSOLVED COLD CASE - Newspapers.com

 

[Startover]

Bladel victiums were all connected to the railroad,,,
Rudy Bladel (1932-2006) - Find A Grave Memorial

 

[Richard]

Bladel victiums were all connected to the railroad,,,
Rudy Bladel (1932-2006) - Find A Grave Memorial

This is true to a certain extent. Bladel was believed to have killed seven railroad men and seriously wounded another in separate attacks over a course of 15 years (1963-1978).

He was only convicted of killing three men in the last attack and in wounding the one man in another. While Law Enforcement felt that he was the perpetrator of the other attacks, he was never prosecuted for them. Nor did he ever admit to any of them.

But does that mean that Bladel ONLY shot at railroad men? It is very possible that he also killed others during those years who might not have fit the narrowly defined profile of his "known" victims.

 

[Richard]

Pleased at the coincidence of this new book release...
https://www.amazon.ca/Watching-the-Devil-Dance/dp/1771963255

It would be interesting to know what author Will Toffan might have to say about the possible connection between Charles Lamb and the murders of Pat and Sheldon on 3 July 1964.

 

[dotr]

It would be interesting to know what author Will Toffan might have to say about the possible connection between Charles Lamb and the murders of Pat and Sheldon on 3 July 1964.

WT seems to be quite approachable... is former RCMP and has a FB page..

 

[Richard]

Matthew Charles "Matt" Lamb, Canadian killer and subject of a recent book, "Watching the Devil Dance" by Will Toffan. (click on photo to enlarge)

Could he have crossed the river between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit Michigan in July 1964 to murder Pat Brown and Sheldon Miller?

Here is a link to an interview between reporter Nadine Yousif with author Toffan:

‘Watching the devil dance.’ Revisiting the haunting tale of a spree killer in 1960s Windsor

 

[Richard]

Detroit Metropolitan Police investigated the 3 July 1964 murder of Francis Patrick Brown, 17 and Sheldon Robert Miller, 14...

... The initial reports mentioned a large, heavy set man who might have been over six feet tall. That description came from an unnamed (in News reports) 17 year old boy. The boy stated that he did not know the man but ran from him because he believed him to be a "bully" that had troubled him before.

Later the boy tentatively picked out a 22 year-old man in a police lineup, as possibly the person he had seen. The person he picked out had what was considered an airtight alibi because he was being questioned by Dearborn police on another matter at 11 PM the night of the shootings...

Police were frustrated with the outcome of their investigations and research regarding this possible suspect and later publicly called the boy who described him as a liar who had wasted their time.

Looking back on the tip, however, one might reconsider that suspect. The shootings were believed to have occurred at about 10:30 PM. The alleged suspect was believed to have been seen some time shortly after the shootings - perhaps as late as 10:45 PM. If that suspect got into a car or onto a motorcycle, it is entirely possible that he could have made it to Dearborn - only 7 or 8 miles south of the crime scene by 11:00.

Two main thorough fares or direct routes from the crime scene to Dearborn would have been Telegraph Road or Southfield Parkway.

 

[Richard]

A 1964 DETROIT WXYZ RADIO NEWSPAPER FLASHBACK




An interesting website which features old Detroit radio shows from the time frame.

LINK:

A 1964 DETROIT WXYZ RADIO NEWSPAPER FLASHBACK – Motor City Radio Flashbacks

 

[dotr]

A 1964 DETROIT WXYZ RADIO NEWSPAPER FLASHBACK




An interesting website which features old Detroit radio shows from the time frame.

LINK:

A 1964 DETROIT WXYZ RADIO NEWSPAPER FLASHBACK – Motor City Radio Flashbacks

Thanks, very interesting and research handy!

 

[Richard]

Thanks, very interesting and research handy!

There is a section which includes all the radio coverage of the Kennedy assassination beginning on 22 November 1963.

 

[Richard]

Other events taking place in the nation and the world in Summer of 1964:

June 1964

• June 2 – Senator Barry Goldwater wins the California Republican Presidential primary, making him the overwhelming favorite for the nomination.
• June 9 – In Federal Court in Kansas City, Kansas, Army deserter George John Gessner, 28, is convicted of passing United States secrets to the Soviet Union.
• June 10 – The U.S. Senate votes cloture of the Civil Rights Bill after a 75-day filibuster.
• June 12 – Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton announces his candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination, as part of a 'stop-Goldwater' movement.
• June 19 – U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, 32, is seriously injured in a private plane crash at Southampton, Massachusetts; the pilot is killed.
• June 21
  • Civil Rights Movement: Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner – Three Congress of Racial Equality workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, are abducted and murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, by local members of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan with local law enforcement officials involved in the conspiracy.
  • Jim Bunning pitches a perfect game for the Philadelphia Phillies.

July 1964

• July 2 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, abolishing racial segregation in the United States.
• July 8 – U.S. military personnel announce that U.S. casualties in Vietnam have risen to 1,387, including 399 dead and 17 MIA.
• July 16 – At the Republican National Convention in San Francisco, U.S. presidential nominee Barry Goldwater declares that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice", and "moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue".
• July 23 – The first Arby's opens in Boardman, Ohio.
• July 27 – Vietnam War: The U.S. sends 5,000 more military advisers to South Vietnam, bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.

August 1964

• August 1 – The final Looney Tune, Señorella and the Glass Huarache, is released before the Warner Bros. cartoon division is shut down by Jack Warner.
• August 2–4 – Vietnam War – Gulf of Tonkin incident: United States destroyers USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy are attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. Air support from the carrier USS Ticonderoga sinks one gunboat, while the other two leave the battle.
• August 4 – Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner – The bodies of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, murdered in June, are found.
• August 5 – Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow – Aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• August 7 – Vietnam War: The United States Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.[4]
• August 16 – Vietnam War: In a coup, General Nguyễn Khánh replaces Dương Văn Minh as South Vietnam's chief of state and establishes a new constitution, drafted partly by the U.S. Embassy.
• August 17 – Margaret Harshaw, Metropolitan Opera Soprano, sings the role of Turandot in Puccini's opera Turandot at the New York World's Fair. August 21 1964
• August 22 – Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights activist and Vice Chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, addresses the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention, challenging the all-white Mississippi delegation.
• August 24–27 – The Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City nominates incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson for a full term, and U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as his running mate.
• August 27 – Walt Disney's Mary Poppins has its world premiere in Los Angeles. It will go on to become Disney's biggest moneymaker, and winner of 5 Academy Awards, including a Best Actress award for Julie Andrews, who accepted the part after she was passed over by Jack L. Warner for the leading role of Eliza Doolittle in the film version of My Fair Lady. Mary Poppins is the first Disney film to be nominated for Best Picture.
• August 28 – Bob Dylan turns the Beatles on to cannabis for the first time.[5]
• August 28–30 – Philadelphia 1964 race riot: Tensions between African American residents and police lead to 341 injuries and 774 arrests.

LINK:

1964 in the United States

 

[Richard]

The murder of Pat Brown and Sheldon Miller remains unsolved 57 years later.

This occurred on the eve of the Fourth of July 1964. The boys were in a school yard park, along with a number of other young teenagers. They were shot to death in what appears to have been an unprovoked attack by a cold blooded killer who walked away, reloaded his revolver, and returned to shoot each boy in the head to be certain that he had killed them.

No motive was ever determined and no suspect was ever apprehended.

What other murders have similar elements?

 

[dotr]

A little surprised at the reference to homosexuality in this newspaper clipping.
15 Oct 1964, 2 - The Herald-Press at Newspapers.com
Sheldon Miller and Francis Brown murdered July 3, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan UNSOLVED COLD CASE

 

[Richard]

A little surprised at the reference to homosexuality in this newspaper clipping.
15 Oct 1964, 2 - The Herald-Press at Newspapers.com
Sheldon Miller and Francis Brown murdered July 3, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan UNSOLVED COLD CASE

I wonder about the so called "Psychological Liar" 17-year-old who stated that he saw and described a potential suspect in the area just after the murders. Was anything he said true? If he was in the area at the time, was he possibly involved in or responsible for the shooting of Pat and Sheldon?

He was never identified by the police or press. Although he was a minor (17 years old), that did not keep the press from reporting the names of several other minors who were eyewitnesses.

I believe that the reference to homosexuality in the article meant that the officer considered it a possibility that the killer might have been a homosexual predator/pedophile - at least that investigators were not ruling that out as a possible motive.

There was never any information to suggest that Pat or Sheldon were homosexuals, and it is highly doubtful that the police officer addressing the Parents Group at the school would have even hinted as such back in 1964, as it would have been a very improper thing to say about the two young murder victims.

 

[Richard]

Here is a link to another unsolved Michigan murder - that of Connie Kaye Crossland, age 15. She was murdered exactly one year to the day before the murders of Pat and Sheldon.

LINK:

MI - MI - Connie Kaye Crossland Corunna, 15, Shiawassee County, 3 July 1963

 

[Nina Michigan]

Here is a link to another unsolved Michigan murder - that of Connie Kaye Crossland, age 15. She was murdered exactly one year to the day before the murders of Pat and Sheldon.

LINK:

MI - MI - Connie Kaye Crossland Corunna, 15, Shiawassee County, 3 July 1963

I'm familiar with Connie's case and last I heard from LE (JMO/YMMV) her case was being looked at. This was at the end of 2019.

 

[Richard]

This double murder has remained unsolved for over 57 Years. If they were still alive, Sheldon Miller would be 71 years old and Pat Brown would be 74. They were shot to death for no apparent reason on the eve of the 4th of July 1964. Two young men with promising lives ahead of them were killed in cold blood.

Although there was some forensic evidence and much testimony from people in the area at the time, no suspect has ever been named or charged.

This unsolved murder has been brought to the attention of the Michigan Cold Case Unit.

 

[Richard]

Richard Brown, older brother of Patrick Brown, wrote his thoughts about the murders in a testimonial for Fred Gibson's book. You can read them here:

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Impulse-Action-Part-Book-ebook/dp/B0075Q2UV4

 

[Richard]

Thoughts about Sheldon Miller by his mother and sister in this article:



LINK:
Sheldon Miller and Francis Miller murdered in Detroit July 3, 1964. UNSOLVED COLD CASE - Newspapers.com

David Budson (1948 - 2011) Obituary:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/timesheraldonline/name/david-budson-obituary?id=9113274

 

[Richard]

Sheldon Robert Miller
BIRTH unknown
DEATH 3 Jul 1964
BURIAL
Machpelah Cemetery
Ferndale, Oakland County, Michigan, USA
LINK:
Sheldon Robert Miller (unknown-1964) - Find a...

Francis Patrick Brown
BIRTH 10 May 1947
DEATH 3 Jul 1964 (aged 17)
BURIAL
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan, USA
LINK:
Francis Patrick Brown (1947-1964) - Find a Grave...