List of homicides in Michigan
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Incomplete list|date=August 2022}}
This is a list of homicides in Michigan. This list includes notable homicides committed in the U.S. state of Michigan that have a Wikipedia article on the killing, the killer, or the victim. It is divided into three subject areas as follows:
- Multiple homicides - homicides having multiple victims, including incidents involving race riots, mass killings involving organized crime, familicides, a school bombing, a school shooting, a post office shooting, and spree killers.
- Serial killers - persons who murder three or more persons with the incidents taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them
- Single homicides - notable homicides involving a single fatality
Multiple homicides
Listed in chronological order
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||||
| width="300"| Incident
!width="200"| Location !width="150"| Date !width="75"| Deaths !width="500"| Description !width="150"| Sources | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris murders | Decatur | 1879 | 2 | Unsolved murders of Charles Henry Morris and Esther Jones Morris | |
| Seeberville Murders | Seeberville | 1913-08-14 | 2 | Shooting deaths of two striking miners during the Copper Country strike of 1913–1914 | |
| Bath school disaster | Bath Township | 1927-05-18 | 44 | Violent attacks by Andrew Kehoe, including detonation of explosives at school building | {{Cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Arnie |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/587638431 |title=Bath massacre : America's first school bombing |date=2009 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-02470-4 |location=Ann Arbor |oclc=587638431}}{{cite book|title=Murder, Michigan: Seventy Fascinating and Dramatic Murders That Have Violently Shaped the Dark Side of Michigan History|author=Gary W. Barfknecht|publisher=Friede Publications|year=1983|isbn=0960858814}} |
| Milaflores Massacre | Detroit | 1927 | 3 | Shooting of three gangsters, suspected of having been perpetrated to The Purple Gang | |
| Collingwood Manor Massacre | Detroit | 1931-09-16 | 3 | Gang hit on three Chicago gunmen by members of The Purple Gang | |
| Ford Hunger March | Dearborn | 1932 | 5 | Confrontation between unemployed auto workers and Dearborn police and Ford security, 5 workers shot to death, more than 60 injured | |
| 1943 Detroit race riot | Detroit | 1943-06 | 34 | Riots among black and white residents, 34 killed, 433 wounded | |
| Troy axe murders | Troy | 1964-09-28 | 7 | Murder of 7 by father after release from mental hospital | |
| 1967 Detroit riot | Detroit | 1967-07-23-28 | 43 | Race riot in which 43 people were killed | |
| Algiers Motel incident | Detroit | 1967-07-25/26 | 3 | Three civilians shot and killed by police at the Algiers Hotel during the 1967 Detroit riot, dramatized in the 2017 film Detroit | |
| Robison family murders | Good Hart | 1968-06-25 | 6 | Mass murder of family from suburban Detroit while vacationing at cottage | |
| Hazelwood massacre | Detroit | 1971-06-14 | 8 | Execution-style hit killing at house in Detroit | |
| Donald Goines | Highland Park | 1974-10-21 | 2 | Author of urban fiction murdered with his common-law wife in their apartment | |
| Ann Arbor Hospital murders | Ann Arbor | 1975 | 10 | Murders of 10 patients by intravenous administration of curare drug at VA hospital by nurses Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez. | {{citation |author=Greg Stejskal |title=The Murders at Ann Arbor's Veterans Hospital; What Went Right and What Ultimately Went Wrong in the Case |date=February 3, 2011 |url=http://ticklethewire.com/2011/02/03/looking-back-at-the-mysterious-murders-at-ann-arbors-veterans-hospital-what-went-right-and-what-ultimlately-went-wrong-in-the-case |publisher=Tickle the Wire}} |
| Livernois–Fenkell riot | Detroit | 1975-08-01 | 2 | Bar owner shot black teenager. Mob beat to death dishwasher who was Nazi concentration camp survivor | |
| Rock Road massacre | Farwell | 1982-02-16 | 7 | Murder of 7 members of the Post family by former Army sharpshooter | {{cite news|title=Mass Slayings in Michigan|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=April 6, 1990|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106224122/mass-slayings-in-michigan/|via=Newspapers.com}} |
| Jeffrey Gorton | Romulus Flint | 1991-02-17 1986-11-09 | 2 | Convicted of rape and murder of a flight attendant and professor at UM-Flint | |
| Gwendolyn Graham and Cathy Wood | Walker | 1987 | 5 | Nurses aides who killed five elderly women at Alpine Manor nursing homes | |
| Murder of the DeLisle children | Wyandotte | 1989-08-03 | 4 | Father killed his four children (ages 10 months to 8 years) by driving station wagon into the Detroit River | |
| Royal Oak post office shootings | Royal Oak | 1991-11-14 | 5 | Former employee opened fire at the Royal Oak Post Office, killing four employees, then himself | |
| 1997 Detroit shootings | Detroit | 1997-03-11 | 4 | A gunman opened fire at a Comerica branch bank, killing two employees and one customer. He was then killed by police | |
| Marvin Gabrion | Cedar Springs | 1997 | 1-5 | Convicted murderer, suspected serial killer | |
| Jack Kevorkian | Waterford Township | 1998-09-17 | 1+ | Pathologist and euthanasia proponent convicted of second-degree murder for administering lethal injection of potassium chloride to Thomas Youk | |
| Seth Privacky | Muskegon | 1998-11-29 | 5 | At age 18, killed his parents, brother, brother's girlfriend and grandfather | |
| 2011 Grand Rapids shootings | Grand Rapids | 2011-07-07 | 8 | Spree killing | |
| Murders of Jourdan Bobbish and Jacob Kudla | Detroit | 2012-07 | 2 | Two white teenagers tortured and murdered in Detroit by two black males | |
| 2016 Kalamazoo shootings | Kalamazoo | 2016-02-20 | 6 | Shootings at an apartment complex, car dealership and restaurant | |
| St. Joseph courthouse shooting | St. Joseph | 2016-07-11 | 3 | Shooting by inmate at Berrien County Courthouse, killing two bailiffs and himself | |
| Central Michigan University shooting | Mount Pleasant | 2018-03-02 | 2 | 19-year-old student James Eric Davis Jr. shot and killed parents when they arrived to take him home for spring break | |
| 2021 Oxford High School shooting | Oxford | 2021-11-30 | 4 | School shooting perpetrated by sophomore Ethan Crumbley | |
| 2022 Detroit shootings | Detroit | 2022-08-22 | 3 | 19-year-old man opened fire in Detroit randomly killing three people over span of two hours |
Serial killers
Listed in chronological order by date of earliest homicide
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||||
| width="300"| Incident
!width="200"| Location !width="150"| Date !width="100"| Deaths !width="600"| Description !width="150"| Sources | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck | Grand Rapids | 1949 | 3–17 | Serial killer couple targeting widows and "lonely hearts" | |
| John Rodney McRae | St. Clair Shores | 1950-1987 | 2–5+ | Serial killer convicted of murdering two boys and prime suspect in three others | |
| Roland E. Clark | Multiple | 1954-1967 | 2 | Medical doctor convicted of two counts of manslaughter | |
| Henry Lee Lucas | Michigan and Texas | 1960–1983 | 3 confirmed, claimed over 250 | Serial killer who claimed to have killed over 250 persons | |
| Rudy Bladel | Multiple | 1963–1978 | 3–7 | Serial killer responsible for murders of seven railway employees, convicted of three of them | |
| Larry and Danny Ranes | Kalamazoo | 1964 | 1–5 | Serial killers | {{Cite news|title=Michigan's most infamous & chilling murders|publisher=WLNS|date=July 12, 2022|url=https://www.wlns.com/news/michigan/michigans-most-infamous-chilling-murders/}} |
| Michigan Murders | Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti | 1967-1969 | 7 + | Murders of female college students by serial killer John Norman Collins, aka the Co-Ed Killer and the Ypsilanti Ripper, in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area | {{Cite news|title='The worst of the worst.' A look at five Michigan serial killers and their crimes|author=Rachel Greco|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|date=October 17, 2021|url=https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2021/10/18/michigan-serial-killers-and-their-crimes/6094514001/}}{{cite news|title=In the Details: Podcast host examines crimes of Michigan serial killers|newspaper=Livingston Daily Press & Argus|author=Rachel Greco|date=November 10, 2021|pages=A1, A4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111090523/serial-killers/|via=Newspapers.com}} |
| Carl Eugene Watts | Michigan and Texas | 1974-1982 | 14-100+ | Serial killer known as "The Sunday Morning Slasher" | |
| Bigfoot Killer | Detroit | 1975 | 7 | Serial killer who raped and murdered seven girls and women between February and October 1975 | |
| Anthony Guy Walker | Lenawee County | 1975-1986 | 6+ | Serial killer responsible for at least six murders | |
| Oakland County Child Killer | Oakland County | 1976-1977 | 4+ | Serial killings of children | |
| Donald Gene Miller | East Lansing | 1977-1978 | 4 | Serial killer known as "The East Lansing Serial Killer" | |
| Donald Murphy | Detroit | 1979–1980 | 2–6+ | Serial killer convicted of murdering two women, confessed to killing at least six | |
| Michael Darnell Harris | Various | 1981-1982 | 4–10 | Serial killer and rapist | |
| Richard Clarey | New Buffalo | 1984-04-15 | 3+ | German-American serial killer and Neo-Nazi sympathizer | |
| Benjamin Atkins | Detroit | 1991-1992 | 11 | Serial killer and rapist known as "The Woodward Corridor Killer" who murdered 11 women | |
| Leslie Allen Williams | Oakland and Genesee Counties | 1991-1992 | 4 | Serial killer, rapist and necrophile convicted in the deaths of four teenage girls | |
| John Eric Armstrong | Detroit | 1992-1999 | 5-11+ | Serial killer convicted of killing five sex workers in Detroit | |
| Shelly Brooks | Detroit | 2001-2006 | 7–20+ | Serial killer murdered at least seven women | |
| Elias Abuelazam | Genesee County | 2010 | 1-5 | Israeli suspected of 18 stabbings resulting five deaths, convicted of one death | |
| Deangelo Martin | Detroit | 2018-2019 | 4 | Serial killer convicted of murdering four women and raping two others | |
| Kenyel Brown | Wayne County | 2019-2020 | 6 | Serial killer who committed suicide prior to trial |