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Ann Arbor has never had a high murder rate and when one occurs it shocks the community. Ann Arbor was stunned by the murder of Gwendolyn Vogel, by her 17 year old brother James, on October 24, 1959. James and Gwendolyn frequently argued, as do most brothers and sisters, but no one could have predicted the outcome of their dispute that day.

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The Vogel family lived at 1007 Willow street, which is near West Park. James Vogel was a problem youth, who at one time sought psychiatric care. He was a good student at Ann Arbor High, but was a loner with few friends. James had a fascination with Hitler and Stalin and had posters of them on his bedroom wall. James became convinced that everyone was laughing at and making fun of him and as he became more irritable, his mother convinced him to seek counseling. James did attend one session, but refused to go again.

During the early evening of October 24, Gwendolyn sat in an overstuffed chair, in the family's living room, watching television. James came into the room and ordered her out of the chair. She refused and the two began arguing, which soon turned heated. Mrs. Vogel separated the two and told James to go outside for a walk to cool off. Gwendolyn remained seated in the overstuffed green chair.

Instead of going for a walk as his mother instructed him to do, James went upstairs and retrieved his fathers bolt-action, single shot shotgun from a gun rack. He then scooped up a handful of shells and loaded the gun. He walked down the stairs carrying the shotgun, where he was confronted by his mother. His mother screamed at him to put the gun away and she began walking toward the phone to call the police. James told her, “Touch that phone and I'll kill you.” His mother then fled out the door to a neighbors to phone for help.

James then went into the living room, where Gwendolyn sat horrified at the sight of her brother, holding the shotgun. James pointed the shotgun at her and fired the weapon. The birdshot struck her in the right forearm, neck and shoulders. As she was not dead, James loaded the shotgun again and shot his sister in the head, killing her.

James then ran from the house and stood on the porch. Just west of the Vogel house, at 219 Bucholz Court, Mary Root went out onto the porch as she heard the shotgun blasts and screams. Root was moving to Ann Arbor and was looking at homes to rent.

As she stood on the porch, Vogel fired the shotgun at her, birdshot striking her in the face, neck, shoulders and arms, but fortunately her wounds were not fatal. As she lay on the porch, James re-loaded the shotgun and fled into West Park. It was later theorized that he thought Root was his mother.

The police had already been notified and descended into West Park. Vogel observed the officers entering the park and began firing at them. The officers returned fire as Vogel began running for cover, while continuing to fire at them. Officer Charles Anderson saw Vogel on the top of a small hill. He dropped to the ground and ordered Vogel to drop his weapon. He had called Vogel by name and he responded, “My name is not Vogel, it's Hitler.” Vogel then began firing the shotgun at Anderson, birdshot striking Officer Anderson's right cheek and left leg.

Officer Anderson returned fire, emptying his service revolver at Vogel. Vogel was not struck and as Anderson was re-loading his weapon, Vogel rushed him. He ordered Officer Anderson to put his hands on his head. As Officer Anderson was on the ground, Vogel ordered him to his feet and to turn around.

Officer Anderson later stated, “All I could think of was that he was going to shoot me in the back. I just made up my mind that no one was going to gun me down that way.”

As he was getting up, he flung his service revolver at Vogel, while lunging for him. He was close enough to grab Vogel and began wrestling with him. As they were doing so, the shotgun discharged but did not strike either one of them.

Vogel then dropped his shotgun and tried to flee further into West Park. Officer Anderson ran after him and threw his flashlight at Vogel, striking him in the back of the head. Vogel fell to the ground and was then arrested by Officer Anderson. He was transported to the police station, where he confessed to his crimes.

Officer Anderson was treated at the University Hospital for his injuries. He talked about the event stating, “Arrests are just part of the job, some are harder then others. In this case I knew I did not want to die. Sometimes you have to do things to keep from dying.”

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Mary Root was hospitalized for her injuries. Her right eye was struck by the shotgun pellets and vision in that eye was impaired. Miss Root was an employee of Parke-Davis in Detroit and was being transferred to the Ann Arbor branch.

A sanity hearing was held for Vogel by Judge Breakey and on December 12, 1959, he was found criminally insane. He was ordered held at the Ionia State Hospital, until he was restored to sanity, at which time he was to be returned to the circuit court for disposition.

Undercover Sting

In December of 1959, an undercover operation was conducted on the university campus, due to complaints about homosexual activities in some of the campus bathrooms. Three plainclothes officers were assigned to patrol the restrooms and during the course of the investigation, twenty-five men were arrested. The University's Dean of Men stated, “The University's position is quite clear. It does not tolerate this type of behavior.”

While homosexuality was not widely accepted as it is today, there was still a backlash even in 1959. The Attorney General received complaints that the officers had entrapped the men arrested and a citizen wrote a letter to the Ann Arbor News, complaining of the officer's activities, feeling they were a waste of time.