In the quiet resort community of Good Hart, Michigan, a horrifying discovery shattered the summer serenity of 1968. The lifeless bodies of the Robison family were found in their secluded vacation cottage on July 22nd, nearly a month after they had been brutally murdered. Seven-year-old Susan Claire “Susie” Robison, a young female, was among the six victims, which included her father, Richard her mother, Shirley and her three brothers, Richard Jr. Gary and Randall. The family, from Lathrup Village, had been spending their annual summer holiday in their rustic cabin nestled in the woods near Lake Michigan.
The scene that greeted the caretaker who had been alerted by a foul odor was one of unimaginable violence. All six members of the Robison family had been shot, and both Susan and her father had also been bludgeoned with a claw hammer. The advanced state of decomposition indicated that the murders had occurred on or around June 25th. Investigators determined that the killer had first shot Richard Robison through a window before entering the cottage to murder the rest of the family. The brutality of the crime sent shockwaves through the peaceful northern Michigan community, sparking a massive investigation by the Michigan State Police and the Emmet County Sheriff's Office.
Suspicion quickly fell upon Joseph Raymond Scolaro III, a business associate of Richard Robison. Investigators uncovered evidence that Scolaro had been embezzling a significant amount of money from Robison's advertising business. It is believed that Richard Robison had discovered the financial discrepancies shortly before the murders and had confronted Scolaro about it. The theory is that Scolaro, facing imminent exposure, drove to the Robison's secluded cottage and systematically eliminated the entire family to silence them.
Despite a mountain of circumstantial evidence against him, including his ownership of firearms of the same caliber as those used in the killings and a shaky alibi for the day of the murders, authorities initially felt they lacked sufficient physical evidence to secure a conviction. The case remained officially open, though investigators were confident that Scolaro was their man. In March 1973, as prosecutors were reportedly preparing to finally bring charges against him, Joseph Scolaro took his own life. He left behind a note in which he claimed to be a 'liar but not a murderer.' Due to Scolaro's suicide, no one was ever arrested or tried for the murders of the Robison family. The case is officially considered unsolved, but for many involved in the investigation, the identity of the killer is an open secret.
