In the early morning hours of April 18, 1981, the hallways of Bursley Hall, a dormitory on the north campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, were shattered by violence. Edward R. Siwik, a 19-year-old male freshman from Livonia, was fatally shot, becoming one of two victims in a tragic and seemingly random act of violence. The pre-med student was known to be the fire marshal for his floor.
The incident began around 6:15 a.m. when a student, Leo E.
Kelly Jr., threw a Molotov cocktail into a sixth-floor hallway. The resulting fire alarm stirred students from their rooms. As they entered the smoke-filled corridor, Kelly, who was a 22-year-old psychology major from Detroit, opened fire with a sawed-off shotgun. Siwik, in his role as fire marshal, was helping to wake and evacuate his fellow students when he was shot. Another student, 21-year-old senior and resident advisor Douglas C. McGreaham, was also killed.
Ann Arbor police responded to the scene and arrested Kelly in his dorm room without a struggle. He was described as calm by the arresting officers. The motive for the killings remained a mystery, as there was no apparent connection or previous conflict between Kelly and his victims. Friends and fellow students described Kelly as a quiet loner who had been struggling academically, having failed out of the university once before.
Leo E. Kelly Jr. was charged with the murders. His defense team indicated that they would pursue an insanity plea. On June 21, 1982, Kelly was convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. He has reportedly never offered an explanation for his actions, claiming to have no memory of the events of that tragic morning. The university community was left to mourn the senseless loss of two promising young men, with then-University President Harold Shapiro expressing his shock and horror at the tragedy.
