Much of my childhood was spent in and around the little town of Berkley, Michigan. My uncle was Berkley High School, class of ’65. One of his classmates was Byron Hoffmeister. I’d heard him mention Hoffmeister over the years, what a “bad guy” he was, but until I dug into this episode, I had no idea.
Join us as we explore the life and many crimes of Berkley’s own Byron Hoffmeister.
Labor Day weekend of 1979, the body of Monica Hockey is discovered by the side of the road in Clarkston, Michigan. She’s been beaten, stabbed and her killers attempted to break both of her legs.
A murder so disturbing, so violent, that prosecutors lobby for the return of the death penalty.
On Monday November 23, 1987 the bodies of Gail and Ricky Brink are discovered in their Holland Township (Michigan) home. Twenty two year old Gail and 29 year old Ricky were each shot multiple times, likely in the small hours of Sunday November 22.
It will take 25 years for their killer to be brought to justice.
In April of 1974 two prisoners walked away from the Magnum Prison Farm near Marquette Michigan. They embarked on a 55 hour crime spree that involved kidnapping, robbery and murder. The spree culminated in the deaths of three people, including Troy Michigan Police Officer Martin “Marty” Chivas.
Episode includes an interview with Troy Mayor Dane Slater, who worked with Martin Chivas in 1974.
In March, 1982 someone entered the Paulson family home in a rural part of Allendale Township, Michigan. Using a .22 caliber weapon he shot and killed all five members of the family, then set the house on fire.
The killer, Maris Karklins, would not be captured until July 1982 when he fatally shot his mother in the Karlklins family home.
Andris Karklins, the younger brother of Maris was a talented guitarist who was on tour at the time of the slayings.
Don’t talk to Strangers – The Oakland County Child Murders is a limited run podcast focused on eight child murders that took place in and around south Oakland County between January 1, 1976 and March 16, 1977. Four of these murders appear to be the work of an as yet unidentified serial killer known as the Oakland County Child Killer.
On November 12, 2013 Chelsea Small was working at the Advance America store in Taylor, Michigan. During a robbery she was shot twice and her killer made off with $200 in cash. Despite video and images of the killer, he remains at large.
On June 8, 2012 Lisa Marie Knight met up with her former husband, Lloyd Frey, they had plans to visit their youngest child.
The visit never happened. Lisa made a 10:30p phone call to a friend, and then she vanished.
Det/Sgt Harshberger of the Michigan State Police is in charge of Lisa’s case and he’s determined to locate Lisa and bring those responsible for her disappearance to justice.
If you have any information on Lisa’s disappearance you’re asked to call Michigan State Police Alpena Post at 989-354-4101.
In 1971 Ralph Dean Templeton, known as “Dean” decided to leave his life in Flint, Michigan behind. He set out on a cross country journey in his unsuccessful bid to become the 38th president of the United States.
In January of 1975 Templeton was murdered, shot and left on the side of the road in rural Washington.
Templeton’s grave marker is all that remains from his efforts.
In this bonus “mini-sode” we discuss the dig for the bodies of up to seven women happening in northern Macomb County. The life and crimes of convicted murderer Arthur Ream, touch on the Oakland County Child Killer and review the cases of missing women from the metro area that could be uncovered in the search.
On a sunny, summer Saturday in 1990 all hell broke lose inside the Osco Store in South Bend Indiana. The store was robbed, leaving three dead and a mystery that lasted more than a decade before former employee, Charles Allen, was put on trial.
Was Allen responsible for the horrific robbery/murder? Or did South Bend police develop tunnel vision? Families would wait more than 10 years for an arrest and trial.
On Earth Day (April 22) 1990, 17 year old Chris Temple went with friends for a bonfire at Rose Lake Research Area in Bath Township Michigan. Around 9 p.m. Chris walked away from the bonfire, never to be seen again. In the almost 30 years since he vanished, there have been rumors, stories and speculation, but no evidence leading to the whereabouts of Chris Temple.
Content warning – murder, sexual assault, harm to animals.
In 1987 Barbara Blackstone was 30 years old, happily married and enjoying a successful career as a high school teacher. Someone snatched her from her home, murdered her and dumped her body in the woods. Also that summer, two other young women were murdered and left in the woods, 18 year old Angela Hackl and 29 year old Linda Nachreiner.
While arrests were made in Hackl and Nachreiner’s cases, no charges were ever brought forward in Blackstone’s case.
On a spring day in 1996 Debra Iverson disappeared from Birmingham, Michigan after leaving a doctor’s appointment. Leaving her husband, family and two young sons behind.
When her body was discovered the next morning, strangled in her vehicle in a remote lot near Stoney Creek Metro Park, all eyes turned to her husband. It would be seven months without a single lead before the case broke open.
A young couple, desperate for money kidnapped Iverson, but the money wasn’t enough. Anitra Coomer and McConnell Adams would be sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing her.
Between September of 2009 and December of 2018 ten women have vanished from Flint and the surrounding area. While some of these cases have limited information available, I’ve tried to put as much out there as possible in the hope that they can find their way back home.
This episode was created because in November of 2017 the partial remains of two women were found in Broome Park. MLive story