In Public Record

A Journey to the Truth of a Murder and Trial

September 1990. In Shaker Heights, Ohio, teenage honors student Lisa Lee Pruett vanishes into the night. A boy calls 911 when she does not arrive for a secret late-night meet-up. Police soon find her nearby, stabbed to death and left exposed. Lisa had just passed an important test and earned her driver’s license. She was a Girl Scout, athlete, musician, and lover of poetry. Then her life was cut short.

Investigators quickly focused on a troubled young man who lived a few blocks away. His name leaked, the media swarmed, and the case became a spectacle. Two years later, he was indicted on controversial testimony, tried under national attention, and ultimately acquitted. His life never recovered.

Decades later, the murder remains unsolved. Now a former police officer reopens the trail, determined to separate rumor from evidence and find the truth, if it is still there to be found.

©2026 Michael Kelly (P)2026 WildBlue Press