Robinson family murders....i'm looking for info.

[Rick B]

Yes, Dead End was atrociously edited... spelling errors about, but I thought it was an otherwise fascinating book.

[Rick B]

Yes, Dead End was atrociously edited, but was an otherwise fascinating book in my opinion.

[Richard]

I am reading the book now and find it also fascinating - like reading the police report. I noticed the spelling mistakes - can't believe there are so many. I lived on Dolores across the street from the Robisons. I was 9 years old at the time and remember the family well. The story is captivating - I wish it would come to some closure.

[Katrina]

Reader K wrote:

I read Dead End. Was anyone else appalled by the tremendous amount of spelling and grammatical errors in this book?

Yes, the first thing I noticed were the several references to "jealousy" instead of jalousie windows. That with the spelling and grammatical errors tended to make it less believable.

Also, I had never heard of the luggage tag from the Robisons being found in a car glove box years later. Anyone know anything about that???

[Richard]

The luggage tag story is true - I am not sure about the story of whose car it was. I remember reading it in the Oakland Press a feww years ago.

Katrina wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes, the first thing I noticed were the several references to "jealousy" instead of jalousie windows. That with the spelling and grammatical errors tended to make it less believable.
Also, I had never heard of the luggage tag from the Robisons being found in a car glove box years later. Anyone know anything about that???

[Mardi]

I'm a writer working on a book about Good Hart for the University of Michigan Press. I, too, am following the Robison case. Anyone with info they'd like to share can email me at [e-mail]. I think everyone would just like to get it solved.

[Mike]

Reader K wrote:

I read Dead End. Was anyone else appalled by the tremendous amount of spelling and grammatical errors in this book?

That should be tremendous NUMBER of errors...

[Roger]

Haven't read Dead End as yet, but please know that Trafford, the publisher is one of those self publishing companies an if the author didn't pay them to edit or proof read there are bound to be spelling errors. Question ..... who does the author conclude is the killer....?

[Dan]

Seems like I'm not the only one frustrated by the editing. The author's description of the actual crime is very chilling and frieghtening to say the least and for that I give credit, but the book is so sloppily done in terms of editing I'm having a tough time getting through it.

[Dave]

I thought the police had pretty much decided that the business partner did it.
This thing has haunted me since I was a 9 year old kid in Southfied. We went to church in Lathrup and I've always felt a certain connection.

[Hollymi]

In spite of all the errors, I thought it was an incredible book. I was fascinated by the description of the crime & the investigation. I was disappointed that the names were changed and that it was not treated more as a true crime book. I have a hard time believing it was the business partner, even though many things things do point to him.

[Hollymi]

Not sure what happened with the previous post, but I am not Holly in Carleton MI.

[Ann L]

Wow! I've never seen this site before. I have never forgotten the Robison's murders. I was ten years old, and my family had a cottage nearby. My brother and sister and I played with the three younger kids, and I had a crush on Randy.(He wore these really cute red-suspendered swim trunks.) My uncle was the last one to see them alive, and Monty Bliss,(the caretaker) was a dear family friend. I remember the constant news coverage in the Petoskey News Review. It shattered my innocent-kid sense of security. I have lots of memories. I read the Tarnished Eye, but not Dead End. Yet. T.E. had a lot of the crime scene evidence accurate, but beyond that it was interesting fiction. When the Robison's partner committed suicide, he really did write a suicide note saying he did not kill the Robisons. I wish they would solve this one.

[Laura]

Hi Ann,
What was Susan like? I was 8 when it happened, and I lived close to where they lived in Lathrup Village. I too have never forgotten this case. Through the Freedom of Information Act, I was able to obtain a copy of the actual police report (over 400 pages). The detectives involved believed that the business partner either did it or was involved in it because: the shells of the gun used to kill the Robison's were an exact match to those found on the business partners shooting range. One of the weapons involved had been traced to the business partner. The business partner had been found out by the police to have actually embezzled money from Robison's business etc.. It is all in the police report. The business partner committed suicide when he was tipped off that he was about to be arrested for this crime. It is all very sad and sorted. There are those that believe that the business partner had an accomplice- but in the final analysis, the whole truth will probably never be known.

[richard-petoskey]

The newest edition of DEAD END has corrected earlier errors. Do not be surprised if the author's conjecture is soon proven true by a
re-opening of the COLD CASE!!!rw

[JetstarIII]

I'm from Saginaw, MI. I've been visiting Carp Lake/Mackinaw City almost every summer on vacation since I was two years old, and family has both lived and vacationed there since the early 40's. Among other strange occurrences or scary 'stories' in the area, the Robison tragedy has intrigued us for many years. My mom recalls being up there at the family cottage on Elder Road near Carp Lake, in July of 1968 when she was seventeen, and how my grandfather took her and her sisters through Good Hart, to drive past the Robison cottage only a few days after the bodies were found. This affected her in a way because prior to the incident, they never had to lock the cottage doors at night. She says she was also 'banned' from taking her sisters to their favorite swimming spot which is a quiet, almost hidden area on Sturgeon Bay about seven miles north of Good Hart. Recently for my mom's birthday, my brother and I purchased 'A Tarnished Eye' after finding out about the book from reading the little info available on the tragedy. She enjoyed it so much she found a copy of 'Dead End'. A month ago, I went up to Mackinaw City for a short camping trip. Before I left, my mom contacted her cousin (my 2nd cousin) who lives up there in the summer to ask if we could pitch our tent on her property in case the campground was full. My mom brought up the two books she just read and the two got into a discussion about the Robison murders. She told my mom that she still had the first news articles from July of 1968. She also mentioned something else...That her uncle, who was a stone mason, and building a new cottage in Good Hart in early/mid summer of '68, told his family one day after coming home from the job [quote] "They think they're all rich and 'hotty-totty' up there, but they smell terrible", complaining of an awful odor he would smell while building this new cottage... I found this very intriguing. During my short camping trip last month, I visited Good Hart, of course with my camera, to get a shot of where the cottage once was. Since it was razed shortly after the incident, it's hard to know where it exactly happened. If anyone has any info it would be helpful, as my mom plans to take a trip up to Mackinaw soon and would like to visit Good Hart. Also, if anyone would like to share stories about the area, I have many strange and sometimes scary, but true, stories I have gathered from family and from personal experiences from growing up vacationing in Emmet County.

[MeToo]

I was appalled also by the factual errors...the murders did not happen on Lamkin Drive as the location was described in the book. The location was described as a gravel road right out of Good Hart. That is where I lived, and no murders occurred there. I was also appalled by the racist comments regarding the Indian who worked with Monty Bliss..the place described where he lived was actually inhabited by another Indian family who had nothing to do with Monty Bliss. The idea that Monty Bliss road through the cemetary yelling Indian war cries is absolutely ludicrious. Racist and insensitive.

[Mardi]

Hey Richard, can you tell us more about the case being re-opened?

[Ann L]

I don't remember too much about Susan, Laura. What I do remember was that Susan was cute, a little shy, and her mom really doted on her.(Probably because she was the baby and the only girl.) My little sister played with her on the beach.
I have lots of good Good Hart stories, too, but this one has had the greatest impact on me. It would be interesting to read the police report. My question is why they didn't arrest the partner earlier if there was so much evidence pointing to him. His suicide was a few years later, so they had plenty of time. There were things that interfered with being able to confirm his guilt.

[Sue]

Laura, In the police report did they mention any correlation between Norman Bliss dieing in a motor cycle accident the week end before the Robison's were murdered? We thought that maybe his accident was connected to their murder. They were supposed to have been close but didn't go to his funeral.
I was 14 the summer that they were killed. It was a terrible, terrible time.