In the spring of 1972, the life of 19-year-old Michael Gerchenson, a sophomore at Southern Illinois University, was tragically cut short. On May 3rd of that year, his body was discovered, shot to death, along a stretch of highway near West Frankfort, Illinois. This violent act marked the beginning of a series of brutal and seemingly random murders that would instill fear across the state and unravel a story of racial hatred and organized violence.
The initial investigation into Gerchenson's death would eventually connect it to a string of other homicides, revealing a common and terrifying thread.
The investigation took a significant turn when ballistics tests linked the. 30 caliber weapon used to kill Gerchenson to the murders of the Corbett family in the affluent Chicago suburb of Barrington Hills and the Hawtree family in rural Monee. Further evidence emerged when Gerchenson's car was found burned, and inside, a laundry ticket belonging to a member of a group known as "De Mau Mau" was discovered. This discovery was a crucial lead for investigators, pointing them toward a shadowy organization of disgruntled Vietnam veterans. As the investigation intensified, it became clear that the murders were not isolated incidents but rather a calculated campaign of terror.
In October 1972, a major breakthrough occurred when Chicago police arrested nine young Black men who were members of the "De Mau Mau." Among those taken into custody and charged with the series of murders, including that of Michael Gerchenson, were Reuben Taylor, his brother Donald Taylor, Michael Clark, Nathaniel Burse, Edward Moran Jr., and Robert Wilson. Cook County Sheriff Richard Elrod described the group as being motivated by racial hatred, stating he could see "no other apparent motivation" for the slayings. The suspects, some of whom had been expelled from Malcolm X University for their disruptive behavior, were seen as the "ringleaders and triggermen" of the gang. While the members were charged in connection with the string of nine murders, the legal proceedings that followed would be complex, with some charges being dropped after convictions and lengthy sentences were secured for other killings in the series. Although specific trial outcomes for each member solely for the murder of Michael Gerchenson are not distinctly detailed in available records, the collective prosecution of the De Mau Mau gang for their violent crime spree was intended to bring justice for all their victims. The investigation and subsequent convictions effectively dismantled the reign of terror orchestrated by the group, bringing a close to a dark chapter in Illinois history that began with the senseless killing of a young college student.
