Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver was a fictional account of the murder of Mike Chenoweth in Big Bay, Mich., in 1952. Traver, pen name for John D. Voelker, represented the defendant Coleman Peterson in the subsequent trial. Had the book been written today, it may have been a non-fiction account of the crime and trial, rather than fictional.

In Cold Blood is considered, by many, to be the first true-crime account written as non-fiction. Author Truman Capote recounts the brutal murders of Herbert Clutter and his family in 1959 by two drifters. Capote moved to Kansas to research the book, published in 1966. The murderers were captured and convicted of the crimes. They were hung in 1965.

Another work that increased the popularity of true crime writing was Helter Skelter written by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. This work written by the man who prosecuted Charles Manson and his followers for the 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate. The bestseller was published in 1974 and was the basis for two movies.

The popularity of "In Cold Blood" and "Helter Skelter" has resulted in the true crime genre of literature. Authors now research and publish works about any case that captures the public's imagination. Michigan has a number of true crime stories that have been published.

Washtenaw County, Mich., was the scene of seven brutal murders of coeds in the summers of 1967, 1968 and 1969. Edward Keyes recounts the terror and confusion felt in the college towns of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti during that period in his account of The Michigan Murders. John Norman Collins was convicted of the murder of coed Karen Sue Beckmann in 1970; he now resides at Marquette Branch Prison.

Local historian and author Fred Stonehouse details the rough and tumble criminal world of the Great Lakes in Great Lakes Crime I and II. Murder, mayhem, booze and broads are fully covered in these volumes, including the 1938 mysterious death of Danny Dodge, son of John Dodge, one of the founders of the Dodge Brothers Co. on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.

The murder of Mike Chenoweth is recounted in Murder, Michigan by Gary W. Barfknecht, published in 1983. Unfortunately, Barfknecht gave the fictionalized account of the murder using the names from the book and film, leaving the actual victim unnamed. Brief entries on 70 different murders are included in this book.

Larry Wakefield, writer for the Grand Rapids Press, The Detroit News and Traverse City Record-Eagle, has researched 13 murders in Michigan from the Civil War to the 1930s. Included in Butcher's Dozen is The Mad Bomber of Bath, Andrew Kehoe, an unsuccessful farmer and spiteful school board member who set off a bomb in 1927 that killed 39 and injured almost 100 people.

In 1968, northern lower Michigan was shocked by the mass murder of the Robinsons, a Detroit area family of six, killed by an unknown murderer in their summer home in Good Hart. This cold case has captivated law enforcement officers and authors. Judith Guest wrote a fictionalized account of the murders in her best seller The Tarnished Eye. Mardi Link, whose aunt lived near the Robinsons, has written the latest account of the mystery in When Evil Came to Good Hart.

Dave Distel and his wife, Lynn, met with publishing success with The Sweater Letter. This true crime story set in the Ontonagon area has been reprinted with the title Hunt to Kill. The death of Judy Blake Moilanen looked like a tragic hunting accident, but the more law enforcement officers looked at the case, the more suspicious it became. A year later, a jury convicted Judy's husband, Bruce Moilanen, of murder.

Death's Door by Steve Lehto is the story of the 1913 Italian Hall disaster in Calumet. After exhaustive research, Lehto is convinced that the death of 73 could easily be called mass murder. Lehto sets the scene for this tragedy against the brutal strike by miners that stopped copper production. This book is not only an account of the murders, but a good way to understand social conditions of the time.

As with all areas of the country, Michigan has its colorful characters and tragic deaths. The 50th anniversary of Anatomy of a Murder offers an opportunity to explore other crimes set in our state and to read some great true crime stories.

- Pam Christensen

Library Director