Washtenaw County has enjoyed low crime rates, but extraordinary
criminal acts occasionally pierced its calm and quiet.
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A strange bank robbery at Dexter in 1894 and the 1897 murder of James
Richards raised concerns. In 1937, the McHenry family suffered a
terrible tragedy but found room in their hearts to forgive. After the
murder of Eleanor Farver in 1970, detectives searching for suspect John
Edward Burns probed his background, seeking clues to where he fled. They
discovered John Edward Burns never existed. Attorney Peter Kensler was
shockingly murdered in front of his home near Manchester with two
shotgun blasts to the face. The case has never been solved.
Local historian James Thomas Mann leads a tour into some of the darkest
corners of Washtenaw County's past.