The Torch Murders

The murders that shocked Michigan

In the early morning of Tuesday, August 11, 1931, a Washtenaw County farmer found the smoldering remains of a car. Inside were the bodies of four teens burned almost beyond recognition. Police immediately began an investigation, even tapping Harry Bennett, head of the Ford Motor Company Service Department, for assistance. The three killers stood trial two days later as a mob gathered outside the Ann Arbor courthouse clamoring for a lynching. With the mob held back by the Michigan National Guard, Bennett delivered the killers to Jackson Prison by midnight Thursday. At the time, the so-called Torch Murders were deemed the most gruesome murder in Michigan's history--and perhaps the nation's.

Peeling away myth from truth, author James Mann tells the story in full for the first time ever.