In the summer of 1968, a horrific crime silenced a vacationing family in the peaceful resort area of Good Hart, Michigan. Gary Lee Robison, a 16-year-old male, was one of the six members of the Robison family who were brutally murdered in their Lake Michigan cottage. The family, from Lathrup Village, was on their annual summer getaway. Their vacation turned into a tragedy that would become known as the Good Hart murders.
The Robison family, which included Richard, his wife Shirley, and their four children, Richard Jr., Gary, Randall, and Susan, were last seen alive in June. It wasn't until nearly a month later, on July 22, 1968, that their bodies were discovered inside their cottage by a caretaker who was drawn by a foul odor. The scene that awaited law enforcement was one of unimaginable violence. The entire family had been shot, and two of the victims had also been bludgeoned with a hammer. Gary Robison was found in a bedroom, having been shot once in the back and twice in the head.
The investigation into the mass murder led police to a prime suspect: Joseph Raymond Scolaro III, a business associate of Richard Robison. Investigators believed that Scolaro had been embezzling money from Robison's company and that Robison had discovered the theft shortly before the murders. A significant amount of circumstantial evidence pointed towards Scolaro. Shell casings found at a firing range where Scolaro practiced matched those discovered at the crime scene. Despite the evidence, Emmet County prosecutors initially felt there was not enough to secure a conviction.
Years later, as investigators prepared to bring charges against him, Scolaro took his own life in March of 1973. He reportedly committed suicide upon learning of his impending indictment for the murders. While he was never tried or convicted, authorities remain convinced that Scolaro was responsible for the deaths of the Robison family. Officially, the case of the Good Hart murders remains open, a dark chapter in Michigan's history.
