MI MI - Oakland County Child Killer, "The Babysitter Murders" , 1976-77 #2

[Nina Michigan]

The only thing I can say at this point is how shocked I was to learn that CB was picked up in Alma with two shotguns as well as ropes and ligatures. It seems that Green thought he would make a deal by dropping a dime on CB, but instead CB made bail and 7-days later TK is kidnapped just 4-miles from CB's family home.

I have to wonder if TK would still be alive if the investigators had the hindsight to put CB under surveillance.

It wasn't about hindsight, it was that (IMO) they weren't going to bring up the possibility that the son of the CFO of General Motors was a child rapist and killer. I don't think anyone would have approved him being put under surveillance.

 

[Nina Michigan]

Wasn't there a third man who couldn't be prosecuted because he was already dead?

Correct. I believe all three were in a "biker gang" and had criminal records

 

[Ozoner]

Correct. I believe all three were in a "biker gang" and had criminal records

I'd still like to know the identity of the third man. So far as I know, it's never been made public.

 

[TrueCrimeEditor]

Posting the link to this book as its editor, and as one who was a kid in Oakland County at the time of the crimes and has studied the case in-depth for a few years now. By pure happenstance, I ended up working on this project with the author--a Detroit News reporter who covered the case for many years. This is the most comprehensive and current account of the Oakland County Child Killings in one volume (7x10" about 275 pages) and contains many unrevealed details of the four-decade investigation, along with original interviews with detectives, prosecutors, suspects and others involved with and affected by the case. Posting it here for any who, like myself, wished there was a book like this on the OCCK when they first started reading up on it. To be published in Aug/Sept.

The Snow Killings – Exposit Books

 

[tilomagnet]

Sounds interesting, I will buy it if there will be a Kindle edition.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Barry King, father of Oakland County Child Killer victim Timothy King, dies

Barry King dedicated life to solving case

Barry King, the father of Oakland County Child Killer victim Timothy King, has died.

Local 4 and ClickOnDetroit have learned Barry King died this week while in hospice care.

Timmy King was the fourth victim to be connected to the Oakland County Child Case in the 1970s. The 11-year-old went missing from his home in Birmingham on March 16, 1977. His body was found March 23, 1977 in a ditch along Gill Road, about 300 feet south of 8 Mile Road in Livonia...

 

[Nina Michigan]

I am very sad about Barry's passing. I hope he is at peace.

 

[Earth]

I am very sad about Barry's passing. I hope he is at peace.

I hope that he is with his son again.

 

[Nina Michigan]

I hope that he is with his son again.

I'm certain that he is reunited with his first wife (Tim's mother) and his son.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Barry King Obituary (1931 - 2020) - The Detroit News (legacy.com)

 

[tilomagnet]

Very sad that he died with no resolution of this messed up case in sight any time soon.

 

[Ozoner]

Very sad that he died with no resolution of this messed up case in sight any time soon.

I think it was mostly resolved back in '78 when Christopher Busch died by a gunshot would that was certainly not suicide.
I don't know whether he acted alone, though. If a connection could be discovered between Christopher Busch and Arch Sloan, that would fill in the last, missing puzzle piece.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Family of victim in Oakland County Child Killer case speaks out 45 years later (clickondetroit.com)

Mark Stebbins was killed when he was 12-years-old

For decades, investigators have been working to find out who the serial killer is and if he’s still alive. Those who knew the victims were forever changed by what happened during those 13 months.

Four children were abducted and murdered with their bodies left in various locations within, or near Oakland County. There were at least two other murder cases that investigators believe may have been connected...

 

[tilomagnet]

Did the recent book The Snow killings get any publicity locally in Detroit? If not, thats truly disturbing....

 

[thatch9201]

Did the recent book The Snow killings get any publicity locally in Detroit? If not, thats truly disturbing....

Yes, some publicity for sure. We had the author present a library program (on Zoom, these days) where I work. The program was well attended. I know that almost all the libraries surrounding us also had a Zoom program with the author. Unfortunately, I missed the program!

 

[Nina Michigan]

Yes, some publicity for sure. We had the author present a library program (on Zoom, these days) where I work. The program was well attended. I know that almost all the libraries surrounding us also had a Zoom program with the author. Unfortunately, I missed the program!

I'm sure there will be additional programs! She's been very active.

 

[Richard]

The Victims:


Timothy John King
9 Jul 1965 – 22 Mar 1977



Kristine Marie Mihelich
25 Apr 1966 – 21 Jan 1977


Jill Robinson
1964 – 26 Dec 1976


Mark Douglas Stebbins
13 Sep 1963 – 19 Feb 1976


During a 13-month period, four children were abducted and murdered with their bodies left in various locations within the county. The children were each held from 4 to 19 days before being killed. Their deaths triggered a murder investigation which at the time was the largest in US history. The murders are still unsolved.

Fear and near mass hysteria swept southeastern Michigan as young people were inundated with information on "stranger danger", and parents clogged streets around schools dropping off and picking up their children. The few who did walk, walked in groups and under the watchful eyes of parents in "safe houses", where children could go if they felt uncomfortable. Children even avoided using a playground directly behind the Birmingham police station.

One incident in Livonia involved a tow-truck driver who assaulted a man he had seen asking two boys on the street for directions. He turned out to be a tire salesman on a business trip from Akron, Ohio, who had gotten lost with no knowledge of the slayings. The Detroit News offered a $100,000 reward for the killer's apprehension.


Sketches of a suspect in the Oakland County Child Killings

LINK:

Oakland County Child Killer Victims: a Virtual Cemetery - Find A Grave

 

[Ozoner]

The Victims:


Timothy John King
9 Jul 1965 – 22 Mar 1977



Kristine Marie Mihelich
25 Apr 1966 – 21 Jan 1977


Jill Robinson
1964 – 26 Dec 1976


Mark Douglas Stebbins
13 Sep 1963 – 19 Feb 1976


During a 13-month period, four children were abducted and murdered with their bodies left in various locations within the county. The children were each held from 4 to 19 days before being killed. Their deaths triggered a murder investigation which at the time was the largest in US history. The murders are still unsolved.

Fear and near mass hysteria swept southeastern Michigan as young people were inundated with information on "stranger danger", and parents clogged streets around schools dropping off and picking up their children. The few who did walk, walked in groups and under the watchful eyes of parents in "safe houses", where children could go if they felt uncomfortable. Children even avoided using a playground directly behind the Birmingham police station.

One incident in Livonia involved a tow-truck driver who assaulted a man he had seen asking two boys on the street for directions. He turned out to be a tire salesman on a business trip from Akron, Ohio, who had gotten lost with no knowledge of the slayings. The Detroit News offered a $100,000 reward for the killer's apprehension.


Sketches of a suspect in the Oakland County Child Killings

LINK:

Oakland County Child Killer Victims: a Virtual Cemetery - Find A Grave

Looking at the sketches, I don't see much of a resemblance to any of the suspects who have been named. I guess Gregory Greene would be the closest, though.

 

[tilomagnet]

Greg Greene and/or John Hastings are reasonable matches to the King abduction sketches from the pool of suspects that is known. It sure wasnt Bush or Sloan or Lamborgine.

There are some conflicting stories whether Greene was out on bail in March 77 or not, i.e. available for the King abduction. However the killings did eventually stop when Greene went to jail, while Bush lived for another 20 months before he was "suicided" with no more OCCK killings occur.

 

[Ozoner]

Greg Greene and/or John Hastings are reasonable matches to the King abduction sketches from the pool of suspects that is known. It sure wasnt Bush or Sloan or Lamborgine.

There are some conflicting stories whether Greene was out on bail in March 77 or not, i.e. available for the King abduction. However the killings did eventually stop when Greene went to jail, while Bush lived for another 20 months before he was "suicided" with no more OCCK killings occur.

I've had a hard time locating pictures Hastings (or of Greene) that actually date to 1976 or 1977, but in the pictures I have seen of Hastings, I don't see a resemblance to the sketches.

Since Busch and Greene knew each other, I think they were probably both involved in one way or another. Maybe Greene was the OCCK but let Busch have access to the kids in exchange for babysitting them.

My understanding is that Busch's brother Charles Nels Busch has refused to let LE get a DNA sample unless his entire family is put in witness protection, is that right? That doesn't tell me everything I want to know, but it tells me most of it.