MI MI - Richard 42, & Shirley Robison 40, & 4 children, Good Hart, 25 Jun 1968

[Richard]

Thanks for the reply. Were you aware that, if I understand correctly, per a police report on Mrs. Robison's brother Marvin Fulton, Fulton had
a) claimed no association with Robison's business, yet was listed as a Director with MI SEC, and
b) dined with Ford and Robison - curious!
c) seemingly appeared at crime scene whilst bodies were undiscovered and also after discovery and he owned a .25 cal and .22 cal and police report on Marvin Fulton stated that 'lines and grooves of the weapons...are same as weapons used in this murder'...

The Robison Family Murder - a holiday home invasion

Again, considering Mr. Fulton as a possible suspect in the murders, one has to ask what his record was like before and after - in particular regarding this type of crime.

The AR-7 rifle and Beretta pistol were not particularly common firearms. It seems quite a big coincidence that so many of the suspects seem to have had those specific weapons.

The official ballistic report would be a very interesting document to see, along with any subsequent test reports and comparisons on suspects' weapons.

A newspaper report that says "lines and grooves are the same" is obviously making a subjective interpretation of a police statement - if not making it all up as they go along. One way or the other, it is at best second hand information and at worse...

 

[itsrak]

Again, considering Mr. Fulton as a possible suspect in the murders, one has to ask what his record was like before and after - in particular regarding this type of crime.

The AR-7 rifle and Beretta pistol were not particularly common firearms. It seems quite a big coincidence that so many of the suspects seem to have had those specific weapons.

The official ballistic report would be a very interesting document to see, along with any subsequent test reports and comparisons on suspects' weapons.

A newspaper report that says "lines and grooves are the same" is obviously making a subjective interpretation of a police statement - if not making it all up as they go along. One way or the other, it is at best second hand information and at worse...

It wasn't a newspaper report that stated that the 'lands and grooves' of the weapons registered to Fulton were the same as those of the weapons used in the murders, it was a Michigan State Police 'Additional Complaint Report' on Marvin Fulton prepared in Sept. 1969 (see attached).

Interestingly, these aren't guns Mr. Fulton had owned for a long time - both guns (a .25 cal. Reck P-8 LA Fury and a .22 cal. Ruger) were registered to Mr. Fulton within a year of the murders. Hmmm. FWIW, here is a brief vid on the Reck P-8 LA Fury:

And here is a bit of info on the 1960s vintage Ruger six shot:

As noted in the previously linked Darkideas piece: "Fulton becomes more suspicious when he tries to distance himself from Richard Robison’s business. He claimed to have nothing to do with it, but was listed as a company director with the Michigan Securities Commission. Police also obtained evidence that he had dined with Richard Robison and Harry Ford; an unusual invitation for someone who had no interest in the business. It is also a possible link to the overcharging swindle. But the most damning evidence comes from the guns."

 

[Richard]

...

Interestingly, these aren't guns Mr. Fulton had owned for a long time - both guns (a .25 cal. Reck P-8 LA Fury and a .22 cal. Ruger) were registered to Mr. Fulton within a year of the murders. Hmmm...

... He claimed to have nothing to do with it, but was listed as a company director with the Michigan Securities Commission. Police also obtained evidence that he had dined with Richard Robison and Harry Ford; an unusual invitation for someone who had no interest in the business. It is also a possible link to the overcharging swindle. But the most damning evidence comes from the guns."

Thank you for the info on Fulton and his pistols. It would tend to support a theory that there were more than one perpetrator present at the murder of the Robison family.

Michigan (even back in 1968) required a person to be 21 years old and to have a police issued permit to purchase a pistol or revolver. Once the purchase was made, there was a short amount of time before it had to be presented to the police for inspection and registration. The registration card allowed the pistol owner to carry it openly (with restrictions), and to transport it in a container, but if one wanted to carry it concealed, a further permit was required. So, it would be possible for police to determine if a person (like Fulton, Scolaro, or any other Michigan resident) LEGALLY possessed a pistol or revolver. Of course, then - as now - there was no way to check on the same with criminals who didn't bother with such formalities.

The Ruger revolver was a high quality pistol and with its long barrel would have been fairly accurate at close range. But regardless of the inherent accuracy of such a revolver, a person has to have a good deal of practice and experience to use it effectively. Is there any evidence that Fulton had those skills?

Even a highly skilled pistol shot would have had a hard time hitting anything with the .25 automatic, unless he was holding it right up to the victims' heads. And that may well have been the case. Some reports state that victims were bound and shot in the head with a .25 pistol. If that were, in fact, true - then the possibility of multiple perpetrators becomes more of a probability.

Remember that early news reports stated that police felt there were between two and four firearms present. Other firearms mentioned over time were two Beretta .25 pistols, an Armalite AR-7 .22 rifle, and possibly a .22 revolver made by Hi Standard.

Now how accurate those reports were is questionable without the ballistic report to support them. It is also quite possible - if more than one perpetrator were involved - that other weapons were present but perhaps not fired.

Stories of various types of firearms reportedly linked to the killings abound.

One story stated that two of the Robison boys were possibly trying to get to a .22 rifle kept in a closet of the cabin, but that they were shot down before they could reach it. Scolaro stated that he had given one of his Berettas and some Sako ammo for it to Mr. Robison. But still other stories state that NO firearms were found at the scene.

The statements and actions of Mr. Fulton are highly suspicious. But was he known to have done such violence before or after the Robison murders?

There were many other Michigan murders committed with .22 firearms in that era. There were three girls killed in separate murders by .22 pistols at the time of John Norman Collins' activity. Initially thought to be connected, two of those killings were attributed to others, but one is believed to have been by Collins. (See Collins thread in the Serial Killer section).

There were also two boys, Pat Brown and Sheldon Miller, who were murdered on 3 July 1964 (see their websleuths thread) in Northwest Detroit by an unknown assailant using a nine shot .22 revolver. A week later and only a few miles southwest in Livonia, a family of three was murdered in their home.

I wonder if the Michigan State Police did any kind of ballistic comparisons of recovered bullets or casings from those crimes.

 

[itsrak]

So Mrs. Robison's brother was curiously listed as an officer of Mr. Robison's company. And he'd for some reason been invited to lunch with Mr. Robison and a key employee of Mr. Robison's big client Masco/Delta who may have been engaged in a scam of overbill Masco. And Mr. Robison had been expecting a large $200k inflow the day of the murders - from Masco? And Mr. Fulton, curiously, may well have showed up at the murder scene on July 4 while the bodies were rotting inside the cabin, and showed up there again after bodies were discovered and investigation was underway (neighbors/witnesses who saw the red car on both occasions think it was the same car on both dates). The victims had been struck with both .22 and .25 cal ammo.

And so a bit over a year later the cops run a check for any guns registered to Mr. Fulton. What are the odds that a) he'd have registered weapons and b) that he had acquired both relatively recently (within 12 months of the murders) and c) that one would be a .22 cal and the other would be a .25 cal (and these aren't sporting/hunting guns, they're pistols)....same as the murder weapons! and d) that police would conclude that the lands and grooves of the guns matched those of the weapons used in the murders!

 

[itsrak]

Searching for info on Marvin Fulton. Here is an ancestry dot com record that am quite sure relates to his family:

Shirley Fulton in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®

1940 US Census record shows Marvin and Shirley Fulton (future Mrs. Robison) as children of Thomas and Arlene Fulton then residing in city of Wayne, suburban Detroit. Shirley born in 1928 which would have made her 40 in 1968, which was Mrs. Robison's reported age at death, so very likely this is her family. Marvin shown to have been four years younger, so born around 1932, which would have made him around 36 at the time of the 1968 murder of his sister Shirley Robison and her family, and would make him around 89 years old today.

Based on his birth date circa 1932, looks like his full name was Marvin Loren Fulton, as a man by that name passed away in 1994 in the Detroit area at age of 62, which would have made him born around 1932. Marvin Loren Fulton obituary - Newspapers.com Was this Marvin Loren Fulton Shirley Robison's brother, who was known per police report to own and drive at red Opel circa 1968? Was it his red Opel that was spotted by neighbors at Summerset on July 4, 1968 (when folks thought the Robisons were away on trip to KY and FL), nine days after the murders, and again a few days after the bodies were discovered when Marvin, per police records, showed up to retrieve a canoe? Did he take an awful secret to the grave?

 

[Betty P]

Before I would make an educated guess as to whether or not any of the suggested suspects were involved, I would want to see the actual case file and in particular the ballistic report.

Remember that these murders went un-noticed until quite a bit of time passed. Because of that, any eyewitness statement of what they saw or heard - and when becomes suspect. Most people can't remember if something took place yesterday or the day before - let alone several days or weeks in the past. This also makes it very difficult for someone like Scolaro (or anyone testifying about him) to say where he was or what he had done weeks or even years before at a specific time.

I tend to agree that Scolaro does not seem like someone who would murder an entire family at the far end of the state - and still make it home in time for the Johnny Carson show.

The actual deed of killing the family is much more along the line of what Collins was actually doing before and after in other places in Michigan. And it also seems to fit what Edwards is known to have done. But trying to connect either of them with that family in that remote cabin is something else.

When it comes to firearms and ballistics - all I have seen is second hand statements of bullets or casings being like this or that weapon. If there was a solid, ballistic match with any other bullets/casings used in other crimes, or to specific recovered firearms - then the police should have stated the facts clearly. They did not.

The killer's choice of firearms was odd. A .22 rifle or a .22 pistol, or .25 pistol can certainly kill someone - but they are very under powered compared to just about any other choice. And yes, the killer likely DID run out of ammunition. He would have had to shoot each victim multiple times to kill them. A person with a .25, two inch barrel, automatic pistol would have a hard time even hitting his target at anything but point blank aim.

The idea of someone like Scolaro giving his firearms to someone else to use on the family is beyond strange. If a hitman has to use your personal weapon, you'd have to wonder how much of a professional he is - and what his angle is. It would be a perfect set-up for blackmail.

Ballistics is a science which can identify the type of rifle or pistol which fired a given bullet or its spent shell casing. Police could state with a degree of certainty what the make and model of firearm it was and sometimes they release this information to press early on. If at some point, a suspected weapon is found, it can be test fired and the bullet and casing compared to the ones in evidence for an exact match.

This, however, might be difficult if years have gone by before the subject firearm is tested because wear, rust, changing of parts, etc. might have taken place, changing the marks made on the bullet and casing.

Here is a link I posted on another thread recently regarding the subject of ballistic comparisons in regard to .22 casings and the marks left on them:

https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5241&context=jclc

There's a lot more detail on the ballistics and what they studied in this article from the Mackinack Journal. Very detailed with a lot of information from the case files, including photos of the bullet jackets, etc.

https://www.gwood.us/media/1194/063_wiles.pdf

The article also discusses the "Key Man Insurance", an insurance policy that had been taken out on Richard Robison. It was an insurance policy that would protect the company if a key employee suddenly died or was disabled. Scolaro had taken out the policy and encouraged Robison to have it. However, it required Robison to have a medical exam, which he hadn't yet taken. Scolaro wasn't aware of that until after the murders when he found the insurance policy was no good.

 

[Richard]

Richard Carl Robison
BIRTH 29 Nov 1925
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
DEATH 25 Jun 1968 (aged 42)
Good Hart, Emmet County, Michigan, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Beverly Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, USA



One of Michigan's most horrifying and perplexing mass murders took place in late June 1968, at the private summer resort of Blisswood in northwest Michigan, two miles north of Good Hart. An entire family of six - Richard C. Robison, 42, and his wife Shirley, 40; sons Richard, 19, Gary, 17, Randy, 12, and daughter Susie, 8 — was gunned down at their summer cottage on Lake Michigan. One of the bodies was discovered on Monday, July 22, by caretaker Chauncey A. Bliss after the Robisons' neighbors alerted him to a foul odor near the cottage. The caretaker wasn't surprised that the door was locked and windows tightly curtained. The last time he had seen the family was on June 23, when Robison had told him they were about to leave on a trip. What he saw inside made his blood run cold. He quickly closed the door, relocked it and called police. Within a short time, half a dozen police officers arrived, entering the cottage through what one of the officers described as a "wall of flies." They found dead bodies all over the place. All had been shot in the head. It appeared that Shirley had also been sexually assaulted. The police also found a blood-stained hammer on the living room floor, and a set of bloody footprints. An autopsy revealed that all had been shot by bullets of two different calibers, identified later as from a .25 Beretta handgun and AR-7 .22 long rifle. It was found that Susan had also been bludgeoned by a hammer. After months of investigation, the authorities were convinced that this was a premeditated, cold-blooded mass murder by a lone gunman who wanted Robison dead and no witnesses. The evidence suggested that the family was gathered around a table in the living room, playing cards. The first shots came from a .22 caliber rifle through a window near the door. The killer then entered the cottage to finish his grisly work with the handgun...

Family Members

Spouse

[URL='https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12829145/shirley-loretta-robison#'][/URL]
Shirley Loretta Fulton Robison
1927–1968 (m. 1947)
BIRTH 30 Sep 1927
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
DEATH 25 Jun 1968 (aged 40)
Good Hart, Emmet County, Michigan, USA
BURIAL
Acacia Park Cemetery
Beverly Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, USA

Children

Richard Craig Robison
1948–1968

Gary Lee Robison
1951–1968

Randall Mark Robison
1955–1968

Susan Claire Robison
1960–1968

LINK:

Richard Carl Robison (1925-1968) - Find A Grave...

 

[Richard]

It is interesting to note that the Find A Grave website has a pretty clear listing of all the Robison and Fulton relatives - except that there is no listing for a grave of Mr. Marvin Fulton.

The remarks section, which goes into detail on the murers does mention him as chartering a plane, along with Mr. Scolaro to fly up to Good Hart, MI shortly after the discovery of the bodies.

If Scolaro and Fulton flew up together, it would certainly indicate that they knew each other fairly well. It does, however conflict with any story of either of them driving there in a red car on that date - and of Fulton wanting to get his canoe. How was he supposed to get it home?

 

[itsrak]

It is interesting to note that the Find A Grave website has a pretty clear listing of all the Robison and Fulton relatives - except that there is no listing for a grave of Mr. Marvin Fulton.

The remarks section, which goes into detail on the murers does mention him as chartering a plane, along with Mr. Scolaro to fly up to Good Hart, MI shortly after the discovery of the bodies.

If Scolaro and Fulton flew up together, it would certainly indicate that they knew each other fairly well. It does, however conflict with any story of either of them driving there in a red car on that date - and of Fulton wanting to get his canoe. How was he supposed to get it home?

Good catch about that joint plane trip. Can you provide link to the mention of the plane trip? thx.
Would be interesting to know timing of the plane trip to scene vs. Marvin's driving to scene to retrieve canoe. I'd guess plane trip came first. Must have strapped canoe to top of Opel.
I wonder why Marvin purchased those handguns in the months leading up to the murders. Same for Joe.
I'd say there is a pretty good chance the killer was on that plane.

 

[Betty P]

It is interesting to note that the Find A Grave website has a pretty clear listing of all the Robison and Fulton relatives - except that there is no listing for a grave of Mr. Marvin Fulton.

The remarks section, which goes into detail on the murers does mention him as chartering a plane, along with Mr. Scolaro to fly up to Good Hart, MI shortly after the discovery of the bodies.

If Scolaro and Fulton flew up together, it would certainly indicate that they knew each other fairly well. It does, however conflict with any story of either of them driving there in a red car on that date - and of Fulton wanting to get his canoe. How was he supposed to get it home?

Interesting. In one of the stories (I think the one in Mackinack Journal) it mentions Fulton arriving some days into the investigation, like a several days after the bodies were found. It was then he asked to retrieve his kayak and had his red car with him. Maybe that was a second trip?

 

[Betty P]

Good catch about that joint plane trip. Can you provide link to the mention of the plane trip? thx.
Would be interesting to know timing of the plane trip to scene vs. Marvin's driving to scene to retrieve canoe. I'd guess plane trip came first. Must have strapped canoe to top of Opel.
I wonder why Marvin purchased those handguns in the months leading up to the murders. Same for Joe.
I'd say there is a pretty good chance the killer was on that plane.

It's in the comments section of the Find A Grave entry for Richard Robison's grave in Richard's post above.

Richard Carl Robison (1925-1968) - Find A Grave...

There's a lot of information and evidence gathered for this investigation. It seems like every time someone writes a good in-depth article on the crimes, they cover a different aspect, sometimes discussing evidence no one has uncovered or reported on.

It's also a little difficult to research media coverage of this case because the big daily newspaper then - the Detroit Free Press - had a strike going on that summer, so they didn't cover the crime until the paper resumed publication in August. Even then, there was so much news happening, it didn't get as much coverage as it should have.

ETA: Detroit Free Press covered the murders on August 10, the first day they went back into publication after the strike.

 

[itsrak]

Interesting. In one of the stories (I think the one in Mackinack Journal) it mentions Fulton arriving some days into the investigation, like a several days after the bodies were found. It was then he asked to retrieve his kayak and had his red car with him. Maybe that was a second trip?

Neighbors who saw Fulton's car at Summerset when he retrieved his canoe said that they saw the same car there on July 4,1968, before the bodies were discovered.

I found it interesting that Mardi Link's book on this case made barely any mention of Marvin Fulton at all. Of course, he was long dead by the time she wrote her book. The book does, however, note that Marvin Fulton was a beneficiary to the estate of the Robisons and did receive a chunk of the e$tate...cha ching!

 

[Richard]

Here is a link to a very long and interesting blog site about the Robison murder. Last entry about the Robison case seems to be about 2011.

What Really Happened to Teresa Halbach?: May 2018

 

[Betty P]

Here is a link to a very long and interesting blog site about the Robison murder. Last entry about the Robison case seems to be about 2011.

What Really Happened to Teresa Halbach?: May 2018

That's very interesting, quite a "rabbit hole" of discussion. Thanks, Richard! Were they ever able to verify it was Ed Edwards posting in that old Topix forum?

If so its interesting to consider Edwards as a suspect, but still unlikely he was. As someone out on parole with an extensive criminal history, he would be taking a big risk hiring himself out to Scolaro to commit the murders.

If that's Edwards posting, he did show an interest in the crime.

 

[Richard]

That's very interesting, quite a "rabbit hole" of discussion. Thanks, Richard! Were they ever able to verify it was Ed Edwards posting in that old Topix forum?

If so its interesting to consider Edwards as a suspect, but still unlikely he was. As someone out on parole with an extensive criminal history, he would be taking a big risk hiring himself out to Scolaro to commit the murders.

If that's Edwards posting, he did show an interest in the crime.

The blog that I linked seems to be something that was put together from postings from an earlier site (2006-2009), along with other material introduced by an "editor". It is somewhat disjointed and hard to follow at times.

You might notice that postings from the first "Psychedelic" blog are given a serial number and jump out of order from one to another with interim postings left out. Sometimes a post will refer to other posts which are not included on the new site.

The editor does indicate that Ed Edwards posted on the original site, and excerpts from Edwards' book and photos of his are included in the new site (which was lasted posted to in 2019) - often out of context from previously posted material.

There is no doubt that Edwards was a violent criminal and lying con artist. He was obviously a good writer. But if you asked him what time it was, and he told you - you would want to look at your watch just to be sure.



On July 30, 2009, Edwards was arrested at his home in Cedar Heights Mobile Home Park in Louisville, Kentucky, for the 1980 murders of of Tim Hack and Kelly Drew in Wisconsin. Police were contacted by his own daughter who felt he was responsible for killing the two teenagers. He was convicted of those murders and confessed to others as well. He died in prison in 2011.

Was Edwards involved in the Robison murders? I doubt it. But I would not put it past him to try to claim credit for them, if for no other reason than to mess with the police. I think that he was interested in them, however.

 

[Richard]

Whether or not Ed Edwards had anything to do with the murder of the Robison Family is a matter of conjecture. He was, however a murderer with no scruples what so ever. Below is a summary of some of his known history. One has to wonder what other crimes he committed but did not admit to.

LINK:

Edward Edwards | Photos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

 

[Richard]

The Robinson family
Murdered 25 June 1968

LINKS:

Robison family murders - Wikipedia

The Robison Family Murders

The Unsolved Mystery of the Robison Family Murders

The Good Hart Murders: Case Closed

 

[Richard]

Police and investigators are pictured outside the cottage near Good Hart, Mich., near Lake Michigan, where Richard C. Robison and his wife and four children were found slain, July 22, 1968.

LINK:

50 years after Michigan family's massacre in cottage, investigators put rumors to rest

 

[cnmccarthy]

What’s baffling to me is the blunt force trauma to the little girl. I get being enraged by your boss if it’s really Robinson that did this but what on earth would cause a man to bash in a little girls skull on top of shooting her? That takes a lot of rage. MOO

 

[itsrak]

Gotta believe Mrs. Robison's brother was involved in the murders.