In the summer of 1968, a horrific crime shattered the tranquility of the idyllic resort community of Good Hart, Michigan. The victims were the Robison family, who were vacationing in their secluded cottage on the shores of Lake Michigan. Among them was 12-year-old Randall Mark Robison, known as Randy, a young boy whose life was tragically cut short. The family, hailing from the affluent Detroit suburb of Lathrup Village, consisted of Richard, his wife Shirley, and their four children: 19-year-old Richard Jr., 16-year-old Gary, Randy, and 7-year-old Susan.
The family had been spending their summer at their cottage, a peaceful retreat nestled in the woods. However, this idyllic setting became the scene of a brutal and calculated mass murder. On June 25, 1968, an assailant shot and bludgeoned all six members of the Robison family to death inside their summer home. The crime was not discovered for nearly a month, on July 22, when a caretaker, concerned by a foul odor emanating from the cottage, peered through a window and made the gruesome discovery of the decomposed bodies.
The investigation that followed was extensive, piecing together the family's last days and searching for a motive for such a heinous act. Investigators determined that Richard Robison had been shot through a window of the cottage while he was seated inside. The killer then entered the home and murdered the rest of the family. The brutality of the crime, with some victims also being bludgeoned with a hammer, suggested a personal and rage-fueled attack. The remote location of the cottage and the lack of immediate witnesses made the initial stages of the investigation particularly challenging.
Suspicion eventually fell upon Joseph Scolaro, a business associate of Richard Robison. Investigators uncovered evidence suggesting that Scolaro had been embezzling money from Robison's advertising business. It is believed that Richard Robison had discovered the fraud and was about to take action, providing a powerful motive for the murders. While a significant amount of circumstantial evidence pointed towards Scolaro, a conviction remained elusive.
In a dramatic turn of events, just as investigators were closing in and an indictment was imminent, Scolaro took his own life in March 1973. In a suicide note, he denied his involvement in the murders, leaving the case officially unsolved. Despite the strong belief among many investigators that Scolaro was the perpetrator, the lack of a confession or a trial has left a lingering sense of uncertainty. The tragic story of the Robison family, including young Randall, remains one of Michigan's most infamous and haunting unsolved crimes, a dark chapter in the history of the peaceful Good Hart community.
