Up North Cold Case

In June 1968, Richard Robison, his wife Shirley, and their four children left Detroit and headed out of the city, expecting to enjoy a summer of fun and relaxation. Nine days later the family was murdered inside their northern Michigan summer cottage. The crime wasn't discovered for almost a month. Fifty years have passed and yet, one of the most mysterious and tragic crimes in Michigan's history remains unsolved. Why? Will the case ever be solved? True crime author Mardi Link dusts off the evidence she used to detail the crime in her bestselling book, When Evil Came to Good Hart, and shares vintage audio never before released to the public.

After the Robison family is found dead inside their summer cottage, Michigan State Police detectives Lloyd Stearns and John Flis learn Richard Robison was involved in a mysterious business deal that included overseas phone calls, transforming a regional airport, and someone named "Mr. Roebert." Did this business plan contain a motive for murder?

In the weeks before Richard Robison took his family up north, he was seen with his assistant, Joe Scolaro, driving around New Hudson Airport, almost daily. Police detectives Lloyd Stearns and John Flis interview the airport managers and learn of a shadowy potential investor known only as "Mr. Roeberts." Who was this man who had a voice like a robot? And why did he disappear the day before the murders?

When the University of Michigan Press first published my book on the case, a staff editor interviewed me for an in-house podcast. I shared my reasons for writing the book, and some theories on the crime. Do they still hold true?