The Kill Jar

Obsession, Descent, and a Hunt for Detroit’s Most Notorious Serial Killer

By: J. Reuben Appelman, Catherine Broad - Foreword

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Four children were abducted and murdered outside of Detroit during the winters of 1976 and 1977; their bodies eventually dumped in snow banks around the city. J. Reuben Appelman was six years old at the time the murders began and had evaded an abduction attempt during that same period, fueling a lifelong obsession with what became known as the Oakland County Child Killings.

Autopsies showed the victims to have been fed while in captivity, reportedly held with care. And yet, with equal care, their bodies had allegedly been groomed post-mortem, scrubbed-free of evidence that might link to a killer. There were few credible leads and equally few credible suspects. That's what the cops had passed down to the press, and that's what the city of Detroit and J. Reuben Appelman had come to believe.

When the abductions mysteriously stopped, a task force operating on one of the largest manhunt budgets in history shut down without an arrest. Although no more murders occurred, Detroit and its environs remained haunted. The killer had, presumably, not been caught.

©2018 J. Reuben Appelman (P)2018 Tantor

Renamed: My autobiography plus a little about the OCCK

Way too much emphasis on the authors personal life to make this a good true crime book. There are already so many characters in the OCCK case that adding more from the authors life that has zero connection to the case made this book very jumbled and confused. The description was VERY misleading of how much of the case was covered, I feel I know more about the author than the OCCK case.

More memoir than true crime

I have been interested in the OCCK case for many years, following Cathy Broad's blog for almost 8 years now, and was eagerly awaiting this book. I found it somewhat disappointing because it reads more like a memoir than a true crime book about this horrific case. Though the author's personal details and broad connection to the story could have been interesting to read, I felt it was on the verge of distasteful in the way it was presented. There are some interesting details, but all of these can be found with simple Google searches or perusing Cathy Broad's blog. Overall, it's an okay book, but not one I would highly recommend to get an understanding of the OCCK case.

Evidence

I loved that someone actually dug into this case. The police were not forthcoming or someone would have been held responsible.

really enjoyed the listen

I'm from Michigan, and I'd heard about this scandal on the Already Gone podcast. so intriguing!

An author's life journey

I would retitle this book The Kill Jar: A Memoir... I liked it because it was full of details I didn't know about the case... but when a book is 50% about the author, I do like to know ahead of time. Overall, the narrator is fitting and the book is well written.