FILE 130 / 1 August 2019 / 142 MIN / full

I Killed The Devil... You're Welcome

Jackson, MichiganListen

The town

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

This week all the way to Michigan: Jackson, Michigan. It's in Jackson County, zip code 49201, area code 517, eleven square miles. about 0:06:20

History, in brief

1829

Jackson was founded in 1829 and named after Andrew Jackson.

about 0:07:09

Town note

By the end of the 1800s Jackson was a hub of railroads, which brought people and trade.

about 0:07:30

1882

The first state prison in Michigan was built in Jackson, and by 1882 it had the largest walled prison in the world.

about 0:07:45

1838

The first state prison, built in 1838, was a temporary wooden prison enclosed by poles on 60 acres donated for the purpose.

about 0:08:16
All 20 history facts

1829

Jackson was founded in 1829 and named after Andrew Jackson.

about 0:07:09

Town note

By the end of the 1800s Jackson was a hub of railroads, which brought people and trade.

about 0:07:30

1882

The first state prison in Michigan was built in Jackson, and by 1882 it had the largest walled prison in the world.

about 0:07:45

1838

The first state prison, built in 1838, was a temporary wooden prison enclosed by poles on 60 acres donated for the purpose.

about 0:08:16

1839

The prison took in its first 35 prisoners in 1839, and a permanent prison was built three years later.

about 0:09:15

Town note

In the 1850s a warden placed more emphasis on education and rehabilitation than punishment.

about 0:09:27

Town note

Cheap inmate labour helped make Jackson one of the leading industrial cities in the nation at the time.

about 0:11:18

Town note

The corset industry came to Jackson in the 1860s and the town became a centre of corset manufacturing.

about 0:11:27

Town note

The invention of the duplex corset by a company called Bortree made it the top corset manufacturer in the world.

about 0:12:29

Town note

Sixteen manufacturers of women's corsets operated in Jackson in the early 1900s, most of them on two streets.

about 0:12:40

1920

Elastics changed corset design and by 1920 most of the manufacturers were gone; only three survived into the 1920s, turning to therapeutic and prosthetic goods.

about 0:13:41

Town note

At one point one Jackson company was making 300,000 corsets a year.

about 0:14:13

1860

A woman-owned corset manufacturer in 1860 had the first and only female president, who invented and patented the coronet corset.

about 0:14:25

1910

Before Detroit, Jackson factories were making cars and parts; by 1910 the car industry was the town's main industry and more than 20 brands were made there.

about 0:14:59

Town note

The brands included Reeves, Jackson, Carter Car, Orlo, Whiting, Butcher and Gage, Buick, Janny Globe, Steel Swallow, CVI Imperial and Standard Electric; all were defunct after Ford's assembly line.

about 0:15:08

Town note

Ye Old Carriage Shop in Spring Arbor has 60 antique cars, including five one-offs and 16 cars made in Jackson.

about 0:15:48

1914

In 1914 George Toradoff founded the first Coney Island restaurant and created the Coney Island hot dog by the railroad station; he sold more than 17 million hot dogs in 31 years.

about 0:17:50

1934

A new prison was completed within the city limits in 1934 and took in all of the state's prisoners; it is now the Armory Arts Village artists' community.

about 0:18:35

Town note

Jackson has a museum where visitors can tour a closed cell block on the grounds of an active prison.

about 0:20:33

Town note

Tony Dungy, the football coach, is from Jackson.

about 0:21:12

The figures, as told

Religious

30.2%

Biggest faith: Catholic, 12.2%

about 0:26:28

Who lives here

White 67% · Black 21.8% · Asian 0.5% · Hispanic 6.4%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▲ almost double

about 0:32:25

Violent crime
▲ almost triple

about 0:32:25

Money

Median home value$116,800
Two-bedroom rent$840
Median household income$31,000
Cost of living85
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2019

Property crime

"almost double"

Comparison: "national rate". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:32:25

Violent crime

"almost triple"

Comparison: "national rate". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:32:25

Population

"32,875"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:28

Population change

"down 12.2%"

Comparison: "since 1990". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:50

Population in 1900

"25,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:08

Population in 1930

"55,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:18

Population in 1960

"50,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:24

Median age

"32.1"

Comparison: "five and a half years under the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:08

Married population

"34%"

Comparison: "usually 50-50". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:08

Single with children

"37%"

Comparison: "normally 16%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:22

Single with no children

"15%"

Comparison: "usually 10%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:28

White population

"67%"

Comparison: "about 62% in the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:41

Black population

"21.8%"

Comparison: "average 12.3%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:47

Asian population

"0.5%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:00

Hispanic population

"6.4%"

Comparison: "about a third of the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:12

Voted Democrat

"about 37%"

Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:09

Voted Republican

"about 57%"

Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:09

Voted independent

"about 6.5%"

Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:09

Unemployment rate

"about 7%"

Comparison: "about 4% in the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:24

Median household income

"$31,000"

Comparison: "almost $58,000 in the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:26

Religious population

"30.2%"

Comparison: "usually 50%". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:28

Cost of living

"85"

Comparison: "100 is the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:42

Median home cost

"$116,800"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:42

Homes valued under $80,000

"about 70%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:42

Average two-bedroom rent

"$840"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:22

Four-bedroom house

"$29,900"

Comparison: "1,500 square feet, rough condition". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:36

Three-bedroom house

"$135,000"

Comparison: "1,224 square feet on two acres". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:48

Five-bedroom brick house

"$200,000"

Comparison: "5,000 square feet". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:30:05

The reviews

1.0 / 5 · average of 1

1 star

“Titled 'a nightmare town you need to avoid' and posted in September 2018: the writer was born and grew up around Jackson, moved back once and says he will never set foot there again. He calls it a town with a black cloud hanging over it, says there are no jobs, and lists its principal products as bad backs, alcoholism, drug addiction and divorce. Young people leave as soon as they can, and everyone says 'I'll be out of here soon'.”
about 0:21:32

In Michigan

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The story

Jackson, Michigan, lies in the south-central part of the state, about an hour and a quarter from Detroit and three hours and twenty minutes from Chicago. At one point 16 corset manufacturers operated on two streets, and by 1910 more than 20 car brands were being made there before Detroit took the industry. By 2019 the population had fallen to 32,875, down 12.2 per cent since 1990, with a median age of 32.1, an unemployment rate of about 7 per cent against 4 per cent nationally, and a median household income of $31,000 against almost $58,000 nationally. Property crime was almost double and violent crime almost triple the national rate.

He was about 31 and she about 34, and both had been married before. For a dozen years they seemed to get along, taking holidays together and running the business. In 1992, however, Patty consulted a divorce lawyer and said there was physical and emotional abuse in the marriage; nothing more about it surfaced for seven years.

Nine days before he went into hospital he held a pig roast. Patty was angry about the cost and about the people in the restaurant, and the corn he bought brought bugs into the kitchen. The couple fumigated the place themselves. He was admitted to Foote Hospital on 29 June 1999 and had the clot removed. On 6 July he was sent home. He had also been on Prozac for years and had to stop it abruptly before surgery. Friends and relatives noticed that he was not himself.

Patty's sisters and father spoke to her every day, and around 15 July 1999 they could not reach her. The family knew the car had been sold a few days earlier because the restaurant was closed and money was short, so they called the police. Bissard looked around and felt something was wrong, so he returned with Detective Thomas Fiero. They found the box on the front porch of a neighbouring house. Inside were charred pieces of a skull.

A twelve-hour search of the property produced body parts, a sleeping bag and a bag holding about 40 pounds of bones. He had cleaned the living room, washed the carpets and cushions and moved furniture to hide stains.

To a psychologist he later described a demon sitting on his couch and threatening his wife. The defence was insanity, based on the brain surgery, the sudden withdrawal from Prozac and the haemorrhage. Asked whether he had anything to say, he maintained that he had killed the devil and that everyone should be grateful.

He also claimed his lawyer, Joseph Phillip, was ineffective for not calling Father Shaver; that failed too. Further attempts in 2016 went nowhere.

The case

Murder of Patricia 'Patty' Arts

Victims

Patricia 'Patty' Arts. co-owner of Pizza and Tacos, married to Arts

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 1 August 2019.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Cynthia Powers. Patty's sister
Dorothy. Patty's sister
Patty Wirebaw. Patty's daughter
Virgil Wirebaw. Patty's son-in-law, who said asked about having Patty killed
Susan. sister, a nurse in Phoenix
Alex Lazaroff. 18-year-old dishwasher at the restaurant, friend of the couple
Wayne Bissard. deputy sheriff who first responded
Thomas Fiero. detective who led the investigation
Joseph Phillip. defence attorney, later a judge
David Whiting. man allegedly asked about making Patty 'come up missing'
Michael Willis. man told in the early 1980s how he would dispose of a body
Dr. Gerald Deldado. doctor who examined
Dr. Ruben Ortiz Reyes. pathologist who reconstructed Patty's skull and leg bones
Dr. Edward Cook. defence neuropsychologist
Dr. Bradley Sewick. defence neuropsychologist
Charles Clark. prosecution forensic psychologist
Dr. Galdi. psychologist who interviewed and 43 other witnesses for a 77-page report

The timeline

  1. 1987 Arts and Patty marry; he is about 31 and she about 34about 0:36:25
  2. the early 1980s tells Michael Willis he could commit the perfect murder by cutting up a body and boiling the meat so it would not smellabout 1:23:54

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode