Collecting Commentary for a New Edition of The Michigan Murders

by Laura James

Years before Ted Bundy began his killing spree, John Norman Collins terrorized two university towns, assaulting and killing young women. When he was finally caught by his uncle, the "Co-Ed Killer" had inflicted harm in many forms.

Photo: John Norman Collins today. Via Michigan Offender Tracking Information System

Those who hail from around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan, still recall this time of terror. These murders affected people deeply. As one remarked to me, "Several bodies of the victims were dumped within several miles of my childhood home. It made my father crazy and paranoid, and other people I talk to who were in Ann Arbor -- or in places where the murdered women grew up -- during that period have vivid recollections about the murders, investigation, trial, and conviction of John Norman Collins."

Collins once appeared on a local TV show, Kelly and Company. Some involved in the trial also spoke. The video can be seen on Youtube.

The University of Michigan Press is about to issue a new edition of the seminal book about the case. It is The Michigan Murders by Edward Keyes, which is on many "best of true crime" lists.

The new edition will be replete with commentary from Michigan true crime author Mardi Link, whose books and website I know and admire. She will address the police work that went into capturing Collins and what detectives might do differently today.

The new edition will also feature a prologue that I will write about the social impact of the murders themselves. It will include stories of how the murders affected and changed people. If you remember Collins and have a story for the book, please share it.

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