'81, '82, '83 Murders Still Unsolved

‘81, ‘82, ‘83 Murders Still Unsolved

Three young women from in and around Livingston County, Michigan – Anne Marie Doroghazi, Christina Castiglione and Kim Louiselle – were murdered in three consecutive years in the 1980s and all three cases remain unsolved.

An episode entitled “Three Stories” is the latest installment of Already Gone, a podcast about both solved and unsolved cases, which will spotlight the murders. Of the three, it was that of Kim Louiselle (above) that originally caught the attention of Nina Innsted, the Detroit-area host who began her podcast two years ago. “I am trying to get the word out about these open, unsolved cases,” Innsted explained, “I am looking at three young women killed in ‘81, ‘82 and ‘83 – these cases are not well-publicized, not glamorous, not sexy; they were largely disregarded by the press.” In researching unsolved Michigan murders, Innsted kept coming across Kim Louiselle, a Green Oak Township resident who celebrated her 16th birthday on March 3, 1982, and just a little more than a month later, was found dead in Livingston County.

Michigan State Police Detective Angela Hunt took a special interest in the case when she joined the bureau of the Michigan State Police Brighton Post five years ago, saying it was a case in which more work could be done. “If we spent more time, I think we can move forward,” said Hunt, who spoke with Innsted for the podcast and welcomes the publicity for the case. She shared limited information that she has about Louiselle, a 5’7” 127-pound brunette with brown eyes who left her home on March 18, 1982, to hitchhike to her boyfriend’s house in Redford, where she remained for two days. On Wednesday, March 20, the couple discussed breaking up and he left for work. According to Hunt, Kim then walked to 6 Mile Road and Centralia, where she got a ride from a person known to her to 8 Mile Road and Merriman. At 6:30 that evening, another acquaintance of the Louiselle family reported seeing Louiselle in that area and indicated she was wearing an artificial fur jacket and jeans. So far as is known, it was the last time she seen alive by anyone other than her killer.

Louiselle’s body was found April 14, 1982, in a wooded area of the Island Lake Recreation Area, near Grand River and Kensington. A man walking the trail with his wife spotted the corpse. “Those are the circumstances, and along the way, multiple people were interviewed and all the leads are exhausted at this point,” Hunt continued. What would be key, she added, is knowing Louiselle’s whereabouts between March 20 and April 14 of 1982. Information that could help identify the killer isn’t known, she admitted, nor is the girl’s time of death, because her body had been exposed to the elements, though it was ascertained that she had been sexually assaulted. No evidence was recovered from the scene though Hunt is hopeful new techniques and advances in forensic capabilities will be helpful should there be a break in the case. During the past year, tips have been received regarding the now almost 36-year-old murder, but none was fruitful.

  
The Kim Louiselle case has some similarities to that of 19-year-old Christina Castiglione (above), also a brown-eyed brunette who disappeared in Redford Monday, March 19, 1983, almost a year to the day of Louiselle’s disappearance. Castiglione’s body was also found in Livingston County, 10 days later, on March 29. Former Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte worked the investigation and indicated the unsolved case still haunts him.

Castiglione’s father had taken away her car, a Mustang, and she had just started a job at the telephone company, Bezotte recalled. She was last seen hitchhiking on 5 Mile Road near Telegraph in Redford. “We have to assume someone picked her up and that’s the tough part of the case. She ends up dead in [Livingston] County and we were never able to connect it to anyone who knew her,” he added. “We could never connect the dots.”

Castiglione’s boyfriend and other friends were cleared of involvement. Bezotte remembers 20 to 25 polygraph tests were administered to various individuals, all of whom passed and many of whom also had alibis. It is believed she was picked up by a random stranger, after which she was sexually assaulted and strangled.

Never cleared of suspicion was the man who alerted police to the location of Castiglione’s body, which was found near Fisher and Fawcett roads in the Oak Grove State Game Area. The man said he had been out in a field looking for deer when he saw the body from a distance and never came within 100 feet of the corpse. This turned out to be one of several lies he told police, Bezotte explained, adding that the man’s brother lived in the area where Castiglione was taken. The individual agreed to take a polygraph but failed to appear at the scheduled time. The man had no criminal history and because there was no evidence against him, he wasn’t charged and three years later, he was in an accident that left him a paraplegic. The last Bezotte heard, the man was living in New Jersey. The only chance of solving the case is if someone comes forward with a change of heart, Bezotte added. “Maybe they have a ‘come to Jesus’ moment and get religion.”

Castiglione’s parents have both died, never learning who was responsible for their daughter’s death, which also eats at Bezotte, who had remained in contact with the family, which also included a sister, for years. However, he is happy the cases are being highlighted again in the newspaper and podcast. “We operate on the belief someone has knowledge,” he said. “The chances of it being solved is low as time passes, but it does happen. And that is what keeps us going.”

The murder of Anne Marie Doroghazi (above), 20, is one in which Innsted police had a suspect, but again, insufficient evidence to make a case. Doroghazi was living and working at Camp Dearborn in Milford, and without a car, she would often walk along General Motors Road to a nearby gas station to buy pop or cigarettes, according to the Milford Police Department, which lists the case as open. She was last seen alive Monday, September 27, 1981, in Milford. Two days later, her partially-clothed body was found in a ditch off General Motors Road west of Martindale Road. She had been strangled and her purse, which contained money, was discovered nearby. A request for comment regarding the case was not returned by the Milford Police.

“I think these stories should not be forgotten, and possible in many of these cases, someone involved peripherally or actively, they may talk now,” said Innsted. “They may have been scared to talk [back then]. I am also a romantic in that these kids should not be forgotten ... I like sharing old unsolved cases, because I believe the people reading about these cases or listening to podcasts, will be like, ‘Do you remember this, mom? You grew up there,’ and they might talk about something they remember from 30 years ago.”

The podcast: Visit alreadygonepodcast.com to learn more about these unsolved murders.