2024-06-21 01:02:24
MURDER IN AMERICA is a true crime podcast that takes a state-by-state look at the most infamous homicides across the United States of America. Co-hosted by Courtney Shannon & Colin Browen (of "The Paranormal Files"), the two delve deep into the darkest tales of murder from each and every state, featuring a from a different state every week. Their passion for true crime, along with Colin's career in investigating paranormal activity gives the two a fresh outlook on these crimes, and allows them to gain the deepest perspectives possible when analyzing the grisly details of these horrific acts. Welcome, to Murder in America. - New episodes are posted every Friday. - If you LIKE what we do, you can gain access to BONUS PODCASTS by becoming a Patron!: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica - FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/murderinamerica/ - FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/murderinamerica - FOLLOW COLIN'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL (876,000 Subscribers): https://www.youtube.com/theparanormalfilesofficialchannel - FOLLOW COURTNEY ON INSTAGRAM!: https://instagram.com/courtbrowen/ - FOLLOW COLIN ON INSTAGRAM!: https://www.instagram.com/colinbrowen/
Hi, I'm Kristen and I'm her little brother, William. We're from the podcast guide to the unknown, where we only talk about scary stuff and have a good time doing it. Come join the scary fun everyone. wherever you get your podcast. You'll find guide to the unknown.
Hey guys, it's Colin here. So, as you can probably tell, Courtney and I have been on our summer break for the last two weeks, Working hard behind the scenes to bring you new episodes of murder in America. We are officially done with the murdered American series and we're coming back to the United States with our return next week. But we have some really exciting news to announce. We just launched a brand new true crime podcast called the conspiracy files and today this episode that is being presented Here on murder in America is actually the second episode of the conspiracy files.
new episodes are going to be posted every single Wednesday. So if you love murder in America and you want to help support the show, go stream the conspiracy files. wherever you get your Podcasts on the show. We're gonna be diving deep into suspicious suicides, Unsolved murders, serial killer stories, celebrity deaths, and we're gonna be exposing international pedophile ring. So we're kind of running the whole gamut here of conspiracies, but it is a true crime show.
if you love true crime, Definitely go listen to the conspiracy files. It has taken months of hard work with our full team to bring the show to life. And yeah, you guys are gonna love this first episode about the Oakland County child killings. Anyways, this is the conspiracy files available now on all streaming platforms.
Before we begin today's show, I want to make a few official statements. number one I don't want to die and I have no plans on taking my life anytime in the near future. Anything happens to me in the next few weeks. You know who did it. number two all the facts presented in the following episode can be independently verified using the resources in the description of this podcast.
and Number three all parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. All opinions presented here on the following program are solely those of the host and producers, aka me, of the conspiracy files. And with that, let's dig in.
You.
So today, on the conspiracy files, We are gonna be taking a look at one of the most compelling conspiracies, in my opinion, of all time the story of the Oakland County child killings, the unsolved murders of four children, their links to a international pedophile ring centered on a Island called North Fox Island. and it's crazy because I'm doing this podcast right now and just a few days ago I got back to Houston from Detroit, where I actually filmed the whole episode for my youtube channel, the paranormal files, Investigating this story. We visited the locations where these bodies were dumped that you're gonna hear about. we interviewed people connected to the story, we investigated leads and ultimately, we actually chartered a boat out to North Fox Island to see this place for ourselves. and oh my god, this conspiracy is disturbing.
this podcast is going to be disturbing and that episode of My youtube channel is gonna be disturbing. So I'm gonna time this out so that that documentary is released before this episode. So if you want to go see what we found on North Fox Island for yourself after listening to this, I would highly recommend going to the paranormal files official YouTube channel, The links gonna be in the description, and look for our video titled pedophile Island the darkest place in America. But anyways, enough of that got some incredible news coming up soon. guys, I'm so glad to have everybody joining us for this journey here.
And yeah, let's just dig right in. Decades have passed since the initial events of the Oakland County child killer case, yet It remains an enigmatic puzzle that yearns for resolution. The tragic and brutal murders of four young children, whose lives were tragically and abruptly cut short, Continue to baffle and disturb people in Detroit, Michigan. These innocent victims were forcibly taken, subjected to unimaginable suffering and ultimately left for the world to discover, instilling shock at the incomprehensible brutality of such horror. the fact that these sickening acts remain unsolved is Perplexing and once again disturbing because during the course of the investigation, Concerns have arisen regarding the treatment of key suspects.
was Christopher Bush, the son of a wealthy family, Prematurely released from police custody only to commit another murder a few days later? The prominence of privilege in this case casts a shadow over the justice system, raising doubts about its integrity. Equally disturbing is the close proximity of these murders to North Fox Island, a notorious hub known for its involvement in a pedophile ring, Francis Sheldon, a person connected to Michigan's elite through his great-grandfather, Russell Alger, who served as both US senator and governor, Managed to evade capture despite his affiliation with the pedophile network. That's right. Francis Sheldon, before he was brought to justice, Boarded his private plane and flew out of the country.
This guy was one of the most vile pedophiles I've ever researched. he produced hundreds of thousands of images and videos of child pornography and he's tied to these murders, and he completely escaped justice. he fled the country and he was never apprehended or Brought to justice for any of this stuff. This connection between high society and heinous crimes adds yet another layer of complexity to this mystery, giving rise to various Conspiracy theories, which I believe are true. The unfolding of this case is like a dark curtain being drawn back, revealing a diverse array of perverts, suspicious suicides and potential police Involvement, Oakland County, located between Detroit and Flint in Michigan, is known for being one of the wealthiest counties in the entire United States.
it was once home to executives of major automotive companies such as Ford, GM and Chrysler. however, between February 1976 and March 1977, this serene community experienced a series of chilling events that captured national attention For young lives. two boys and two girls aged 10 to 12 were cruelly taken away under circumstances that bore striking Similarities. their deaths raised a mystery that has haunted the region for decades. The first known victim was Mark Stebbins, a 12 year old boy who disappeared on February 15th 1976.
he was last seen leaving an American Legion Hall in Ferndale, Michigan, during daylight hours. four days later, His meticulously cleaned and positioned body was found in a snowbank in Southfield. The autopsy revealed that Mark had been smothered to death and showed rope burns on his neck, wrists and ankles. Additionally, Mark had been brutally sodomized. Jill Robinson, a sixth grader aged 12, became the second victim.
She left her Royal Oak home on December 22nd 1976 after an argument with her mother. Her body was then discovered on December 26th alongside Interstate 75 in Troy. She had been killed by a shotgun blast to the face, but showed no signs of sexual assault. It is eerie to note that Jill had previously expressed her fear of being shot in the face by an unknown man to both her mother And therapist. we're gonna see some weird paranormal psychic stuff come up time and time again throughout this case.
it's pretty bizarre how people seem to be predicting deaths and Psychics are finding evidence Now with Jill. the theory is that Jill may have been smothered to death herself and then shot in the face post-mortem by the killer. people think they may have smothered. Jill left her there and when her body let out some sort of an Exhale, even though she was already dead, the killer freaked out and shot her in the face. So they don't think that the shotgun blast was what killed Jill.
It was the smothering once again. The third victim was Christine Mihalik, a ten-year-old girl who disappeared on January 2nd 1977 after buying a magazine at a convenience store in Berkeley. Her body was found on January 21st by a postal worker on the side of a road. The autopsy revealed similarities to the deaths of Jill Robinson and Mark Stebbins. like Jill, She had not been sexually assaulted, But she had been smothered to death, like Mark.
all three victims were found fully clothed, washed and well-fed. The final victim was Timothy King, who was 11 years old. at the time of his death on March 16th 1977, he borrowed 30 cents from his sister to buy a candy bar at a nearby pharmacy. His body was then discovered on March 22nd in a ditch in Livonia, Michigan. He showed signs of his wrists being bound.
He had been sexually abused and suffocated, and afterwards his body was cleansed. Now something to note here is that some researchers and authors that have dug into this case have actually found evidence That says that one or more of the bodies were actually not cleaned and scrubbed. J. Reuben Appleman. He is the guy who wrote the kill jar, a great book on this case.
He actually stated that he got a hold of I can't remember if it was a police report or an autopsy report, But one of the two and he said that one of the victims, Who they claimed in the media was found scrubbed head-to-toe, was actually found covered in their own urine feces. There was blood all over their body. Semen samples were recovered. The body was not cleaned and washed like the news stated that it was. So why would the news media be lying about the state that these bodies were found in?
and if it wasn't the news media? Why would the police be lying about the state that these bodies were found in? It's a pretty weird inconsistency to say that you know You found the body completely clean and scrubbed, which also, you know, would lead you to think there's no DNA or an incriminating evidence on the body, but it's weird you would say that when in reality the body was filthy and Showed obvious signs of abuse, torture, rape, you know, But anyways during the late 1970s in Oakland County. There were other disappearances and killings that were unrelated to the Oakland County child killings. For example, three girls aged 14 to 16 were murdered, with enough variations in their cases to rule out a connection by law enforcement.
Cynthia could do. a 16 year old girl was found nude in Bloomfield, Michigan, on January 16th 1976. she died of a crushed skull caused by a blunt instrument, and her body showed evidence of rape and sodomy. Just three days later another murder occurred when 14 year old Sheila's rock was raped, shot and killed in Birmingham, Michigan. in August of that year, Jane Allen hitchhiked from Royal Oak only for her body to be discovered.
four days later in the Miamis Berg River In Ohio, while the murders of Cynthia could do and Sheila's rock were solved, the timing of these events in Oakland County Remains curious. could they be connected? We still don't know. you see, Oakland County had already experienced sensational events prior to these crimes. in July of 1975, Jimmy Hoffa, the famous Teamster president with alleged mafia ties, was last seen in the parking lot of the Broomfield Hills in affluent nearby town.
So you've got the facts. There are four children found dead. Police say their bodies were scrubbed completely of DNA. police reports that have been uncovered 30, 40 years later, say they weren't actually scrubbed and there was DNA and other things found on them. But yeah, you've got lots of concerned parents, lots of concerned people Thinking that there's a serial killer because of the media attention now on the loose in Oakland County, Michigan, so let's get into what they did to try solve these crimes.
law enforcement agencies, Noting the striking similarities in the case, Believed that the Oakland County child killer was either acting completely alone or as a part of a group, and they were responsible for these four murders. This is the point when Oakland County child killer is put out in the news, And this is something you'll notice in this case. that I've noticed is that right from the get-go, the police and the news media Tried to pin all of these murders on one single person, like a deranged serial killer, even though a lot of the murders They have inconsistencies between them. that would make it more likely that it was multiple people that were involved. But you'll see that the police and the media really pushed for the single killer theory.
now it's worth mentioning that each victim was found bathed and clothed, according to the news, and Deliberately left in easily discoverable locations. The evidence also indicated that the children were fed and kept alive for several days before their tragic deaths, Adding another disturbing element to the crimes. This is true. They found food in the stomachs of some of the children who had been held captive. So this killer was apparently as good as care as a killer can take of a child.
That's what they were doing. They were feeding them. I mean, it's better than them being starved. I guess at least there's a little bit of comfort in the food. So in response, a significant investigative effort was launched in Michigan, Involving multiple law enforcement agencies and the establishment of a specialized task force.
This comprehensive investigation involved interrogating numerous suspects, employing psychics for assistance and pursuing countless leads. Despite these exhaustive efforts, though. The task force was ultimately disbanded in December 1978 without solving the mystery. To this day, this case remains open and unanswered. However, a lingering question persists is the case truly unresolved, or has the evidence already been found and presented?
But it's just being ignored. Well, there were two major breakthroughs in the case. The first breakthrough occurred in 2005, when detective sergeant Corey Williams of the Livonia Police Department in Michigan successfully connected information from two unsolved cases. Williams solved a murder committed by Richard Lawson, a former taxi driver who had killed his boss, Xavier Giller, in 1989 before he fleed to California. while examining Lawson's criminal records from an unrelated robbery arrest in Pennsylvania in 1989, Detective Williams came across a statement made by Richard Lawson that initially meant nothing to Pennsylvania authorities, But held significance to him.
Lawson mentioned knowing who was responsible for the snow killings in Michigan. The snow killings are what they called another nickname for the Oakland County child killings. So this guy who murdered someone had somewhat confessed to knowing who committed these crimes. No one had listened to him. No one had connected the dots until now.
now. interestingly enough, Detective Williams himself had been a teenager at the time of the Oakland County child killing murders and Remembered them vividly due to his father's involvement as a police officer working on the case back in the 70s. with Lawson's revelation, Williams obtained a name, Theodore Lambergine, an Autoworker residing in Detroit at the time of the murders. now, according to Richard Lawson, Ted Lambergine at one point had showed him a photograph, a disturbing photograph, a naked photograph of who he believed was victim Number four, Timothy King. Yes, this would be counted as child porn.
in the photo, Tim was naked and Ted Lambergine looked at the photo and told Lawson cute, isn't he? Now. when Ted Lambergine was pulled over after leaving his apartment in Parma Heights in 2005, He expressed resignation, stating I knew my past would catch up to me. Detective Corey Williams proceeded to interrogate Ted Lambergine, who admitted his involvement in a pedophile ring in Detroit during the 1970s With Richard Lawson, the murderer, and another individual known as Bob, or bad-eyed Bob Moore. Ted Lambergine denied any involvement, though, in the Oakland County child killing case, and he even agreed to undergo a Polygraph test to prove his innocence.
However, he failed the test. detective Williams then confronted Lambergine, Suggesting that his failure was not due to fear, but rather because he was partly responsible for the murders. Ted Lambergine, Seemingly remorseful, bowed his head to the detective and claimed God has forgiven me now, despite Lambergine's failed polygraph test. This was not a crime in itself and there were no charges that could be brought against him, So consequently he was released. Reporters attempted to question him on one occasion, but he quickly dismissed them.
But the breakthrough in the case occurred in 2006, when Ohio police wore hidden recording devices during their conversation with Ted Lambergine, Regarding allegations made by 16 victims, who claimed he had brutally assaulted them when they were minors. on tape, Ted Lambergine admitted to assaulting these young victims, all boys who were under 15 years old. So, as it turns out, Ted Lambergine was indeed a hardcore pedophile. So obviously, after catching this admission on hidden recording, Ted Lambergine was arrested. Now, upon his arrest, Ted sat in handcuffs in the back of a squad car and said maybe God has a plan.
Although he was facing three life felony charges, Ted refused an offer of a 10-year sentence in exchange for providing information about the Oakland County child killings. This raises questions about what he feared so much that he would opt to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Now, keep that in mind for a second, for a little bit of perspective. He could have spent 10 years in prison and Been out if he had just been honest about what he knew which he obviously knows about the Oakland County child killings. Instead, he chose prison for the rest of his life.
So the truth of this situation is so much more disturbing, so much more dangerous, So much just more vile that Ted Lambergine chose a life in prison to protect that secret. I mean that's fucking hardcore, but let's keep moving. the second breakthrough occurred in July 2006, when polygrapher Patrick Coffey met another polygrapher who claimed to have tested the Oakland County child killer. coincidentally, Patrick Coffey lived on the same Street as Timothy King, victim number four, and Had been friends with Tim's older brother, Chris King. Tim's murder had actually inspired Coffey to pursue a career in law enforcement, which led him there to the polygrapher's convention.
Now, during a conference speech on immigration trials in California, Coffey was approached by a Michigan based private polygrapher, Larry Wasser. the two of them discussed Coffey visiting Michigan for speaking engagements. When Larry Wasser mentioned that he was from Michigan and entered the field of polygraphing due to his childhood neighbor and friend Tim King, Being a victim of the Oakland County child killer, Larry Wasser then dropped a bombshell on Coffey, stating that he had actually Administered a polygraph test to the quote guy who killed Coffey's neighbor, Tim King. Now, although Coffey pressed Wasser for more information, Wasser only revealed that the polygraph was related to a separate case and that both the guy and his attorney were deceased. Now, Wasser's disclosure went against ethical obligations to his client and he later denied ever making such statements to Coffey.
But nevertheless Coffey shared this information with Tim King's siblings, Chris and Kathy King, who in turn Related to detective Williams, now a part of the new Oakland County child killer task force. Detective Williams was highly interested in the information provided by Larry Wasser and, in an attempt to gather more details, Williams issued a subpoena to Larry Wasser. However, Larry sought legal representation and refused to say anything further, being aware that he had violated attorney-client privilege during his conversation with Patrick Coffey. Nevertheless, Larry Wasser did disclose to detective Williams, without revealing any names, that the individual he had administered a polygraph test to had Confessed to the Oakland County child killing crimes in great detail, as well as other disturbing offenses against children. This incident took place in 1978, one year after the death of Timothy King or victim number four.
So, despite claiming he had a poor memory and refusing to provide a name, Larry Wasser's extensive knowledge allowed detective Williams to narrow down the list of suspects By showing Larry a group of individuals who had been polygraphed and cleared in 1977. It only took minutes for him to identify Christopher Bush as the guy. now, before we move into Christopher Bush, Let's explore who Greg Greene is. on January 25th 1977, Greg Greene was arrested in Flint, Michigan, for sexually assaulting a 13 year old boy. during his interview with Flint detective Tom Waldron, Gregory Greene implicated Chris Bush as the killer of Mark Stebbins victim number one of the Oakland County child killing.
Gregory Greene was originally from Flint, Michigan, but had moved to California in the early 1970s, where he became involved in coaching a young Boys baseball team, of course, this is where these people are always drawn now. Gregory Greene Molested multiple members of this team he coached and he faced multiple charges, including criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and attempted murder. Greene spent six months in Orange County Jail after choking two victims, one of whom almost died when Greene strangled him while sodomizing him. now Gregory Greene burned this young boy with cigarettes as an attempt to wake him up because he thought He was dead, then dumped him on the grass near a hospital and sped off in his car. This victim survived and identified Greg to law enforcement.
It's important to note a similarity with victim number two of the Oakland County child killings. Now Jill Robinson's body was dumped near the Troy Police Department. Greene's arrest took place on August 2nd 1974. when questioned about his sexual experiences with women, Gregory Greene admitted to struggling to become aroused. on January 31st 1975, Greene was sentenced to the Patton State Mental Hospital in San Bernardino, California, As a mentally disturbed sex offender.
this occurred one year prior to the start of the Oakland County child killings. Less than a year later, on January 21st 1976, Gregory Greene was released and returned to Michigan just days before the abduction and murder of Mark Stebbins, or victim number one. in May of 1976, Christopher Bush and Greg Greene abducted Kenneth Bowman, a 13 year old boy, whom they subsequently Sodomized in a wooded area. Bowman recalled that Greene displayed more violence during this incident and even choked him until he lost consciousness. further evidence of Greene's dangerous tendencies emerged when he asked Bowman to accompany him to a store with the intention of Kidnapping and killing another young boy.
Gregory Greene told this young boy You should come with me to the store so we can kidnap, rape and murder a different young boy Due to the sexual crimes against Kenneth Bowman. Gregory Greene, after he was caught, was brought in for questioning by the Flint Police Department on January 25th 1977, which is when Greene implicated Chris Bush as the killer of Mark Stebbins. The following day after this confession, the police searched Gregory Greene's van and discovered two pairs of panties, But no further action was taken regarding these findings. could these panties have belonged to victims Jill Robinson and Christine Mihalic? On the same day, Christopher Bush was apprehended by the Flint Police Department for sexual crimes against children, Specifically for crimes against Bowman, who was abducted by Greene and Christopher.
now Christopher Bush denied any involvement in Mark Stebbins murder, But admitted to being a part of the Big Brother program, And he even provided pickup spots where he would pick up children as a part of the program, Spots that eerily coincided with the locations where the first three Oakland County child killing victims were abducted from. So he willfully gave this information, said oh, yeah, I help children in these areas. This is where I pick them up from. Three of those areas were the spots where children were abducted to be murdered as a part of Oakland County child killer crazy. Now.
Christopher Bush mentioned to the police that he had a shared fantasy with Gregory Greene involving a split-shift child Imprisonment scenario where one captor would work during the day and the other at night to ensure that one Captor was always present with their victim who was being held hostage. Christopher Bush underwent a polygraph test administered by Ralph Cabot, and he was cleared. however, upon closer examination of Cabot's polygraph results in February 2008, Three separate examiners concluded that Christopher Bush's results should have been inconclusive. Now, after Christopher and Gregory Greene were arrested for the kidnapping and rape of that young boy, Kenneth Bowman, Christopher Bush's residence in Alma, Michigan, was searched by police, and there the police discovered Shotguns and a massive amount of child pornography, and this evidence would never be seen again. We're going to talk about that in a second.
On January 31st 1977, Christopher Bush was released on bond after his arrest. Subsequently, he faced several more arrests connected to sexual encounters with young boys, But every time that he was arrested and charged, he was shortly released afterwards. Now the question really starts to rise in one's mind as to why the police Repeatedly let Christopher go and get away with these crimes, despite having him in custody Multiple times on multiple different disturbing sex crime charges against kids. One possible explanation as to why he kept getting arrested and released is Christopher Bush's wealth. For example, Gregory Greene received a life sentence, While Christopher Bush did not, for their involvement in the same crime that led to their questioning.
Now, Gregory Greene died in prison in the mid 1990s. However, in 2008, Detective Williams interviewed Gregory Greene's former cellmate, who stated that Gregory said he killed four kids And got away with it. This cellmate passed a polygraph test. So we've got Gregory Greene admitting that he murdered children. He's implicating Chris Bush.
back in the 70s, Gregory Greene and Chris Bush together had already kidnapped and molested a young boy. They had both been found with child porn. They were both hardcore pedophiles and yet never officially a suspect or anything crazy, right? And now we're gonna get into the even wilder part of this Christopher Bush's story. So who is Christopher Bush?
And how is he able to evade connection to the Oakland County child killing crimes or any other crimes? Despite being a key suspect, along with his accomplice and friend Greg Greene? So Christopher Bush was the son of Harold Lee Bush, and Christopher held significant power and influence within the community due to his father's high-ranking executive position at General Motors. That's right. Christopher Bush's father, Harold Lee Bush, was the chief financial officer of General Motors.
So his family was extremely wealthy and his family held a lot of power in the Detroit area. This is back when Detroit was Motor City and cars ruled Detroit's economy. So, needless to say, Christopher Bush had some power behind him. He attended the prestigious Institute La Rosie in Switzerland, Which has a history of educating royalty and is often referred to as the School of Kings. According to his brother, Charles, it's believed that Christopher's attraction to young boys began during his time at La Rosie.
Christopher Bush even molested his own brother, John Bush's sons Brent and Scott. So there was a phone call made on March 19th 1977 urging the police to investigate Christopher Bush's cottage by the lake as he was seen with two minors. However, no action was taken. shortly afterwards, on March 22nd. Just three days later, Timothy King's bruised, battered, raped, lifeless body was discovered.
an article published on March 12th 1977 in the Travis City Record Eagle mentioned Christopher Bush in relation to the North Fox Island child pornography ring. The article stated that the child pornography ring obtained roles, film roles of child porn from Chris Obviously, as you can imagine, child porn that Christopher himself had filmed with his victims, Which indicated that Christopher had a much deeper involvement with the child porn ring than being just a client who? Purchased this sickening material. and now we get into North Fox Island. This is crazy.
So we could do a whole podcast about this, and I think I'm actually going to do a separate North Fox Island podcast because there Is so much information here Connecting this pedophile ring to Catholic churches, to other pedophile rings in America, to Boy Scout troops, other serial killers. It's crazy what happened on this island, but let's talk about it briefly. The events surrounding North Fox Island are also, like we said before, worth investigating. on July 23rd 1976, Gerald Richards, a gym coach at st. Joseph's Elementary in Port Huron, Michigan, was arrested for engaging in homosexual activity with a ten-year-old boy.
Richards, who worked as a magician part-time and is definitely one of the creepiest looking guys I've ever seen, was directly connected to Francis Sheldon's North Fox Island operation, where child Pornography was being produced and sold and sexual activities involving children took place. Gerald Richards provided information about Frank Sheldon to the police as a part of a plea deal. He implicated Dyer Grossman, a New York millionaire, Adam Starchild, an expert in money laundering, and Reverend Claudius Bud. Irma Vermeil, a pastor of Alto Parish in Tennessee, who later served prison time for operating a house of boy Prostitution. you see, a roll of undeveloped film sent to Gerald Richards from California was discovered to contain photos taken at boys farm, incorporated in Alto, Tennessee.
Boys farm was an organization affiliated with the church and ran by a priest that had been exploiting children for years. The police raided boys farm on November 10th 1976, resulting in the arrest of Richard Vermeil. It was revealed that the victims were given alcohol, shown pornography and then coerced into participating in underage orgies that were filmed. now Francis Sheldon, the proprietor of North Fox Island, the billionaire pedophile who escaped on his Plane Epstein of the 1970s was among the list of 300 sponsors associated with boys farm. So in December of 1976, the Michigan State Police issued two warrants for the arrest of Francis Sheldon For crimes involving the molestation of a 10 year old boy and a 14 year old boy.
Francis Sheldon, However, was gone. It seems that he had been given a tip-off, whether that was from his accomplice, Gerald Richards, or from someone he knew in the police. So when authorities went to raid Francis Sheldon's offices, Francis had already been given the time and Francis had emptied every single one of his filing cabinets. He had burned all of his paperwork. He had made sure there was no evidence to be found.
on North Fox Island itself, There was nothing left for Francis Sheldon and, like I said before, he took off on a plane and Vanished into thin air. later on. He was found in Europe, but we'll talk about that in a second. Now. the North Fox Island pedophile ring was organized as a boys camp.
So this is insane. Francis Sheldon, Gerald Richards, the pedophiles who started this whole thing, along with those other guys I just listed, they all conspired and basically created an organization that promised parents from local communities an opportunity to Let their child explore some of Lake Michigan without having to take them there themselves. Frank Sheldon was really Involved with the local community. people absolutely loved him. He would stop by people's houses for dinner.
people absolutely trusted him with their kids and Francis flew children frequently to and from North Fox Island as a vacation of sorts to this boys camp. Well, that's the disturbing part is, once Francis Sheldon and Gerald Richards got these children all the way to this private island 18 miles off the coast in the middle of Lake Michigan. There was nowhere they could go. There was no one that could hear their screams. And once they got these boys there, they Brutally raped these boys.
They sometimes gang raped these boys and They filmed and took photos of all of this to sell. So when you cut it down even further, How was North Fox Island getting this money and how is it being hush-hush? Well, it's pretty crazy. Francis Sheldon and Gerald Richards had organized North Fox Island in such a way that it actually qualified for government assistance. so they were taking in these boys that came from poorer homes and communities and providing them with these Experiences and fun times during the summer, teaching them lessons about manhood and being good influences.
At least that's what they were claiming to do, When in reality, they were taking these boys to the island to rape them and sell the videos of the rapes across the world. and what's crazy is, since their company was Sponsored by the government, Gerald Richards and Francis Sheldon actually were paid by the government per child They brought to the island. I think the monetary value was fifteen hundred dollars, or one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars back then. But let's go with fifteen hundred. That's in 1970s dollars.
I don't know what that would be nowadays, But that means that Francis Sheldon and these other pedophiles were literally getting paid by the US government to bring these children out there. They were paying them fifteen hundred dollars ahead to take care of these boys. So they were making money not only from the government, but they also had this thing called sponsorship. So if you wanted to sponsor the boys camp and, on the surface, Provide funding for new buildings on the island for more experiences for the children, You could become a sponsor of the boys camp. But what was really happening is these creepy men were sponsoring the boys camp put on by Francis Sheldon and Gerald Richards, And in exchange for their monthly donation, they would be mailed an envelope in the mail containing Pornographic, child porn images that were taken on North Fox Island, And sometimes they would get strips of film of child porn that was once again filmed at North Fox Island.
So it's not like this was low-key. there were hundreds, thousands of pedophiles that were donating to this Organization so that they could receive child porn in the mail every month. There were hundreds of victims, children that were being raped out on the island That I think were afraid to come forward. I don't exactly know Why. you know, the story never broke.
i'm sure children were silenced and all of that, But this whole storm was brewing. So eventually, when one child reported that they had been molested on the island and people started talking about it, That's when the police knew They had to crack down on North Fox Island. I mean, there's a lot of this. this North Fox Island is tied into John David Norman, One of the biggest producers of child porn in American history. It's tied to Boy Scout Troop 137 in New Orleans, another child porn factory.
It's tied to the Houston child porn warehouse where four tons of child porn were found in the 1970s. And it's just disgusting how none of these people, except Gerald Richards, ever were punished for these crimes. Francis Sheldon got away scot-free. the hundreds of pedophiles that received this child porn in the mail. None of them were ever arrested.
the people who were on the island running this stuff. Only Gerald Richards was arrested. I'm sure there were more people there than just him, And there were some videos, apparently, that depicted multiple men assaulting these boys. But anyways, when this all was found out, Francis Sheldon left the country. He was able to escape and, in contrast to this, Gerald Richards did not possess the same level of wealth.
He was the sole individual involved in the North Fox Island operation who was found guilty and sentenced to prison, Even though he literally only served about two years for running an international child pornography ring, Victimizing hundreds of children for sexually assaulting kids himself. A little over two years in prison. This guy got. how fucked up is that? And although Gerald Richards was released from prison in 1980, He was rearrested in 1988, eight years later, by postal inspectors on charges related to child pornography tracking.
So he couldn't stop this. Gerald Richards guy Was busted with one of the biggest child porn busts of all time. He spoke in front of the US government at senate hearings, And then he got out and did it again, and eventually Gerald Richards killed himself at the age of 49 in 1996. So he's dead now. at the formation of all this, Gerald Richards initially encountered Francis Sheldon through a publication known as better life magazine, A magazine which catered to men with an interest in young boys.
This magazine used a coded pedophile language to let people know what they were really talking about. Now, according to Michael Farquhar, a victim who was molested as a child during that time period, there were lawyers, Doctors and politicians present on North Fox Island. This wasn't just a child pornography production island. This was an island where rich people could pay Francis Sheldon, pay anybody and fly out to rape a child. Obviously, this account brings to mind the story of Jeffrey Epstein and his association with underage children, As well as his connections to wealth and power, the millionaires that were using Epstein to procure children for them.
And yeah, this raises a lot of questions about whether this sort of stuff is still happening today. I have an easy answer for you Yes, yes, it does. It's happening right now, while i'm recording this. it's happening while you're watching this A day, two weeks, years later. It's.
it's happening, and we also have to look at the case of Johnny Gosch. we're going to be doing a full Johnny Gosch episode soon, but Johnny Gosch was a 12 year old paper boy who went missing from Des Moines, Iowa Gosch was one of the first missing children featured on milk cartons as a part of a campaign. Paul Benassi, a young teenager at the time of Johnny's abduction, Claimed his involvement in a pedophile network by assuming the role of lure to bring in youthful victims. So there are pedophile rings and networks everywhere and Paul Benassi, all that we're going to be talking about. There's a big project that I am involved with coming soon, But we're not going to get too much into that now, but these pedophile rings in the 1970s were happening Everywhere and no one was ever brought to justice for them.
We need to find these people and fucking skewer them to the fullest extent of the law, in my opinion. Nowadays, a lot of them are still alive. Lock them the fuck up, But anyways back to it. one undeniable fact is that there's mitochondrial dna evidence Linking christopher bush and gregory green to a victim of the oakland county child killer Through a connection to one of chris and greg's victims, a man named vince gunnels, who turned into a pedophile himself. Now vince gunnels was sexually assaulted by christopher bush and gregory green during the mid 1970s, when he was still a young teenager.
However, he eventually became a willing participant. now, vince gunnels Mitochondrial dna was found on christine. Mihalic. Speculation suggests that vince gunnels may have been used as a bait to lure other victims towards christopher bush and gregory green, Due to him being young and somewhat attractive at the time. now, while he was incarcerated for sex crimes against children, Vince gunnels made an intriguing statement over the phone to his sister.
Karen zaspil, saying I wasn't there when it happened, implying possible involvement. Now, vince gunnels was also acquainted with christopher bush's nephews scott and brent bush, who were also victims of abuse by christopher and gregory. Detective williams initiated an interview with brent bush in february of 2008, during which brent immediately inquired if it pertained to gregory green. Upon confirmation that the investigation covered both gregory and his uncle, christopher Brent disclosed that both individuals engaged in anal intercourse with him and coerced him into performing sexual acts with other boys while they took photographs. Detective williams further interviewed brent's brother scott regarding their uncle, leading to a startling revelation.
Here's a quote detective williams, You recalled something that happened when you were riding around with chris one time scott bush. Yeah, There were some boys that had been missing in the paper. and um, I was curious to see where they were abducted from. and he took me to a place where he, the victim, was abducted from And he said he, the victim was standing right over there. and I thought that was weird, that he'd know that.
Detective gray, his words were scott bush. His words were that's where he, the victim, was standing. detective williams. He, the victim was standing right over there. scott bush Yeah, he physically pointed and said he, the victim was standing right over there.
Brent bush stated that his uncle's suicide on november 20th 1978 coincided with the end of the molestation. It certainly stopped the oakland county child killing crimes. So christopher bush and gregory green seem like extremely likely suspects. I mean There have been admissions. There have been other people that implied their involvement.
There are prior sex crimes against children. There are patterns of behavior, Locations, knowledge that they knew. there's so much evidence. You'd think christopher bush would go down for this right or at least be arrested. Well, november 20th 1978 christopher bush commits Suicide.
that's right before any resolution can be found. in this case, christopher bush, according to police, Takes his own life. Now it should be stated that the oakland county child killing crimes And demolestations of children like brent bush, all stopped after christopher bush killed himself. You know, I don't think he killed himself, So from now on, i'm just going to refer to it as what it is Murdered. after christopher bush was murdered.
He was taken out to prevent him from giving up more people. Now, let's go through the suspicious things that surround christopher's death.
Firstly, chris bush appeared to be sleeping at the time that he died, Which is pretty odd for a suicide. I don't know who kills himself in their sleep. Additionally, the manner in which christopher was shot with a rifle in the forehead differed from typical suicides where victims shoot themselves in the mouth. Like I said before, it's just weird to think that he would take a rifle keep in mind and shoot himself directly in the forehead. Moreover, there was no evidence of gunshot residue on chris bush's fingers or arms And there was no blood splatter.
None now keep that in mind. for a guy that shot himself, There's no gunshot residue anywhere on his body, Even though he took the gun and shot himself, and there's no blood. There's no blood anywhere in the room. You can even go google crime scene photos right now. There is no blood in the room, implying.
He shot himself in the head, blew the back of his head off. That would be an extremely gruesome and bloody scene and christopher, if he really did kill himself, wouldn't be around to clean it up. Another peculiar aspect was the presence of ropes on the floor, Which possibly suggested an attempt to link christopher bush to the oakland county child killing crimes. Furthermore, there's a disturbing painting and sketched drawing depicting a screaming boy that resembled mark Stebbins or victim number one, hung up on the wall. So there were ropes found in the room.
There was a hand-drawn picture of a screaming child hanging on christopher bush's wall. No blood at the crime scene and strangely, both the ropes and the drawing went missing, along with other evidence related to the case. Isn't that strange? all the evidence relating to christopher bush went missing. some of it was destroyed in a flood at the fbi office, which That's just crazy.
And yeah, so let's say someone was trying to frame christopher bush as the killer, Even though I think he probably did kill somebody. I know he definitely killed one victim. It's the perfect way to knock him off. You put ropes in the room. You put a picture of a screaming child.
Years later everyone's gonna think it was christopher bush, and yet still not even the police confirmed that it was christopher bush. So it's like what the hell was. I don't know. It's also worth noting that christopher bush lived within a five mile radius of each victim. Another curious item of concern is richard mcnamee from bloomfield police department, the officer who responded to the christopher suicide scene, who shortly afterwards faced criminal sexual conduct charges, including pedophilia, himself, so The first responding officer to the scene of christopher bush's suicide ended up being a pedophile himself, And he killed himself shortly afterwards, too.
I think he ended up killing himself just a little bit after christopher bush did a few days, but I could be wrong on that. So yeah, the first responding officer was a pedophile. another suspicious incident involved officer christopher Flynn, who allegedly shot himself twice in the chest shortly before christopher bush's suicide. In the book the kill jar by j. Reuben appleman, Christopher flynn is portrayed as a concerned father who received information from a young boy named chris sedecky, Claiming to have witnessed a police officer escorting victim number three into his car.
after flynn was informed of this account, He died days later. However, in other narratives about the oakland county child killings case, Christopher flynn is painted as a potential suspect himself. so basically, a Individual told christopher flynn, who was a police officer, that he had witnessed one of the victims being led Not by one of the suspects, but he saw this victim being abducted by a police officer. So this child told authorities what he saw, that the police were involved with the kidnapping. shortly afterwards, christopher Flynn, the first guy he told about it, shot himself twice in the chest.
just think of that sentence. and then, in this weird pattern, All of the people that chris sedecky, this person who saw the policeman with the victim Every time he would tell somebody the story, they would die. There were car accidents. There were suicides. The police officers, including the guy he claimed to have seen Actually showed up to chris's house when he was young and allegedly beat the shit out of him, breaking bones, Threatening him to stay silent.
So yeah, If what he saw is real, then that once again changes this entire story and shows that the police were involved in this entire thing. Now, the oakland county child killer task force disbanded in december of 1978, just one month after chris bush's suicide, Which suggests that they believed further investigation was unnecessary. Tim number was a childhood friend of timothy king, one of the victims. When tim number was in his 20s, he worked at a clothing store in the evenings. during this time He had a conversation with a man who claimed to be a retired detective.
Curious about the detective's background, number asked him about any famous cases He had worked on. to number surprise, the retired detective mentioned the oakland county child killings Number, expressed disappointment that the case remained unsolved and in response, the detective cryptically stated It's been taken care of. this detective was identified as jack halbfleisch and has confirmed this conversation. Now, given the multitude of suspects associated with this case. It is challenging to keep track of them all.
It appears highly probable that multiple individuals were involved in the oakland county child killer crimes A collective effort rather than the work of one or two people, a team killing. Another notable suspect is arch sloan, who is currently serving prison time for raping a 10 year old boy. At one point, arch sloan worked as a driver for a book mobile unit, a mobile library delivering books to underprivileged children. However, he exploited this position to victimize six young boys aged between 11 and 14 from 1970 to 1971. Now arch sloan received a sentence of five to ten years in prison, But was released early to work at a service station where he served as a mechanic and tow truck driver, Occasionally collaborating with the police.
on the night of mark stebbins death or victim number one, Arch sloan's parole officer saw news coverage and immediately thought of him as a possible suspect. The parole officer promptly contacted southfield police and requested they search sloan's 1966 Pontiac Bonneville. It's worth noting that this occurred in 1976, when dna analysis was not yet employed by crime labs. However, in 2010, dna obtained from a mysterious hair found in arch sloan's car Was matched to hairs found on mark stebbins and timothy king's genitals. Now, this phantom hair did not belong to arch sloan, leaving the identity of the hair unknown, But this is a direct connection between arch sloan And two of the victims through dna.
This was a huge break in the case. now, in the documentary children of the snow released in 2019, retired michigan state police detective david robertson, whose father led the original oakland county child killing task force in the 1970s, discussed the dna evidence reviewed in 2010. robertson mentioned confronting arch sloan about his bonneville, his car, to which arch claimed it had been sold to a michigan state police lieutenant's son. Notably, the dna found on victim number three's jacket was a mitochondrial match to that of someone related to law enforcement. When pressed further about excluding the state policeman's son as a suspect, robertson became evasive.
Detective williams, when confronted with this information, acknowledged that the car had indeed belonged to a trooper's son, But maintained that there could be no possible link to victim number three. This response raises eyebrows, as detective williams appeared dedicated to solving this case, But seemed protective when suspicions shifted towards someone within law enforcement. It's highly probable that one of the suspects involved in the case has ties to the police, Particularly since the witness, chris sedecki, claims He saw christine mihajlik get into a car with a police officer in full uniform at the parking lot of the 7-eleven And the two drove away before later on she was found abducted, raped and murdered. Another person of interest, john crosby, who was associated with arch sloan, came under police scrutiny due to his connection with a pedophile named William yarborough. Adding another layer to the story helen dagner, who was married to a police officer that committed suicide four years before john bush's suicide, Claimed to have met a man named john hastings in 1991, who confessed to being the oakland county child killer.
However, when questioned by the police about his interactions with dagner. John hastings claimed he was providing false information. He said he was just filling dagner with what she wanted to hear. John hastings, interestingly enough, was actually a person of interest in the original oakland county child killing investigation, So this was a big lead for police. helen dagner Sadly has since passed away and her website is no longer active, despite being seen as an eccentric individual.
during her lifetime She was one of the first advocates for justice for the oakland county child killing victims on the internet Through dagner kathy king, the sister of tinnithy king, or victim number four, Became involved and continues to maintain a blog seeking justice for her brother. Interestingly, john hastings was also wealthy and around the same age as christopher bush, living just blocks away from each other. Now, according to kathy king's account, when she asked helen dagner about christopher bush, Dagner mentioned that hastings had a friend who died by suicide on november 20th 1978. This date stood out because her own husband took his life on that day in 1984, And november 20th 1978 was the day christopher bush killed himself. So that was a direct link between christopher bush and john hastings.
this suspect Another suspect worth noting, is bad-eyed bob moore. It was at bob moore's place when ted lambergine you remember he was a suspect and a pedophile as well Allegedly got out and pointed to a picture of a naked timmy king, one of the victims of oakland county child killer. Bob moore was also a known child pornographer and pedophile who owned a bike shop in a notorious part of detroit, at the time called The cast corridor. now the cast corridor was called a heaven for pedophiles because this specific stretch of road in detroit. There were multiple pedophile rings that were running there.
there were child porn studios operating out of there. There were minors that would prostitute themselves out and walk the streets. So if you were a pedophile in detroit cast corridor was the place for you and, bad-eyed bob moore Ran a child porn production studio out of the basement of his bike shop and he also allegedly hosted pedophile parties at his house. Now it should also be noted that bob moore has been connected to francis sheldon of the north fox island. pedophile ring Along with all these other players.
all these people that were listing out ted lambergine, bob moore, gerald richards, Francis sheldon, christopher bush. They're all interconnected. They all ran in the same pedophile circles. So when you talk about one, you're really talking about everybody. And to speak of the devil, there's also speculation regarding john mckinney, an art dealer whose death may be connected to this case.
John mckinney was an art dealer in the cast corridor. He dealt with bob moore. He was a pedophile. He allegedly had some photographs, possibly of victims. There's a lot behind his story that we could get into, but this episode's already going really long.
But john mckinney was murdered in the midst of this oakland county child killing investigation. So if these people really were whacking people who were going to expose the truth, they killed christopher bush. They killed this guy, john mckinney. They murdered police officers. Who knows why and who they were protecting?
I mean, there's a whole nother thing we could get into that. the book, the kill jar, covers Where these people are talking about how their parents, their fathers, who were involved at general motors back in the 1970s They were all pedophiles that were pimping out children and there was a network of babysitters That would prepare these children for pedophile encounters and child porn shoots And that allegedly it was all these higher-up executives at general motors and the other automotive companies that passed these children around like toys. There's letters from victims that you can read in the book. That's crazy, But one theory is that these oakland county child killing victims could be connected to that, And these high-powered, really rich executives had the money to just have everybody whacked, including christopher bush. christopher bush's father, Interestingly, after chris died, was murdered, committed suicide.
christopher's father had his body Cremated, so to this day we can't get any dna from christopher's body because he's just ashes now. I think that was definitely a strategic ploy. Christopher bush's dad also burned all the documents relating to his family. So he basically he burned all their social security cards, their birth certificates Really strange stuff and there have been allegations against him by multiple victims that he was One of the heads of this general motors pedophile ring. So it's crazy once you look back into all of this.
there were all these pedophile rings and christopher bush was linked to francis sheldon and North fox island, and that cabin where he was seen with one of the victims was in close proximity to the airports where Francis sheldon would take off from. there are also reports that Francis sheldon's pedophile ring was filming snuff films and that maybe the murders of these children Were funded at least one of them. it's possible that this murder was funded by francis sheldon so that it could be filmed. All these murders could have been filmed. I mean, when you run around in these pedophile networks, I'd imagine that movies like snuff films after you rape, you know a child, that those would fetch really high Money or have a very high monetary value.
There's also theories that these kids were flown out to north box island In the time that they were missing because they were gone for a pretty long time. maybe they were raped there. maybe These rapes were rapes that went wrong and these children died, or maybe there were billionaires that were paying francis sheldon. And i'm not even talking about the victims in the oakland county child killings. now we're talking about all the victims, because those dates don't really match up.
but Francis sheldon could have been paying, or people could have been paying francis to fly these kids out from underprivileged communities So that they could rape and kill them on camera. I mean the fbi itself has never done a thorough search of north fox island. The police haven't done a thorough search. They've never done ground penetrating radar out there. They've never brought Body sniffing dogs.
They've never done anything. so Who knows, there could be mass graves of children on north fox island. It's fucking crazy that there's. I mean that whole thing deserves a second podcast, but all of this too. I hope this has made sense.
and in conclusion, all this raises concerns for me about how there were numerous pedophiles and pedophile rings operating in the same area at the same time. Similar cases involving pedophile networks, such as the johnny gosh case, jeffrey epstein, the franklin cover-up, Have been coming to light, suggesting the possibility of an ongoing mega network. to this day, The question remains what actions can be taken to address this issue? I don't really know. So that's the end of my script.
That was a really long one. We could have gotten triple that with all this, but to this day Nobody ever convicted for a single one of the oakland county child killings north fox island. personally, I think christopher bush, gregory green, definitely guilty, but I have a feeling that all these men, as disturbing as it sounds, I feel like they're all guilty in their own way. I feel like these kids were being abducted. They were then being passed around Sexually assaulted.
they were being filmed while these rapes happened. these films were being sold, Even if it didn't happen on north fox island. They were probably videotaped being raped, because they're dealing with these sorts of people like christopher bush, Possibly videotaped being murdered. snuff. I mean Really, who knows, who knows how deep all this goes, but the justice in this case doesn't exist and hopefully one day the police departments will have the balls to look into the people that Need to be looked into, because it's all spelled out right there.
If you listen to this podcast, i'm pretty sure you're gonna be thinking the same thing. i'm thinking Christopher bush, gregory green, definitely in on it. They most likely abducted these kids. They were taken to different places, pimped out, raped, repeatedly murdered, filmed, and Yeah, I mean there's so much more to it. even with francis sheldon in the north fox island pedophile ring, There was allegedly a doctor's office in a nearby community on the shore of the lake Where multiple victims claimed they saw francis sheldon and other men?
Assaulting children and then murdering them in this doctor's office and filming all of it. so like this shit was happening all over the state of michigan and with the police officers being involved in the north fox cover-up, with All these people I mean the files on christopher bush and north fox island were lost in a flood At the fbi headquarters, the fuck does that tell you? That's crazy shit. Oh, yeah, two of the most important unsolved cases of all time, with hundreds of victims and Dozens of suspects. we lost all of it before we could convict anybody.
Anyways, thank you guys for watching. I really hope you enjoyed today's video slash podcast. Be sure to follow the show on youtube If you don't already subscribe. shout out to everybody watching on youtube. shout out to everybody listening If you want to watch that documentary that I produced about this whole case, we got some insane Stuff and we visited north fox island.
It was the hardest location i've ever tried to film, but That is on my youtube channel. now the paranormal files. Thank you guys. stay safe out there and let me know your theories. If you're listening to this podcast on some sort of a streaming platform, head over to youtube and type out your theories in the comments, Because I want to know what you guys think Happened here.
Let's have a discussion in the comment section, but i'm going to get off here. Thank you guys so much and i'll catch you on the next one.
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