1836
In 1836 three entrepreneurs bought 480 acres from a Detroit banker and called the settlement Hastings after him.
about 0:06:54Spoilers are covered until your reading preferences load.
FILE 233 / 22 July 2021 / 164 MIN / full
We're going to Hastings, Michigan; the murder happened in Hope Township, which is pretty much part of Hastings, and this is Barry County. about 0:05:22
In 1836 three entrepreneurs bought 480 acres from a Detroit banker and called the settlement Hastings after him.
about 0:06:54A sash, door, blind and hardwood lumber company operated in Hastings from about 1865.
about 0:07:15Bentley Brothers and Wilkins arrived in 1878, making sash doors, blinds, hardwood lumber and agricultural tools.
about 0:07:24Slocum H. Bunker built the first house devoted to entertainment, a boarding house for mill hands that also served drink.
about 0:09:29In 1836 three entrepreneurs bought 480 acres from a Detroit banker and called the settlement Hastings after him.
about 0:06:54A sash, door, blind and hardwood lumber company operated in Hastings from about 1865.
about 0:07:15Bentley Brothers and Wilkins arrived in 1878, making sash doors, blinds, hardwood lumber and agricultural tools.
about 0:07:24Slocum H. Bunker built the first house devoted to entertainment, a boarding house for mill hands that also served drink.
about 0:09:29Levi Chase ran the first Hastings Tavern, a log building near the riverbank; he gave it up in 1842, retired and died there of spotted fever.
about 0:09:5623%
Biggest faith: Jewish residents, 0.0%
about 0:16:51White 94% · Black 0.3% · Asian 2.1% · Hispanic 1.1%
Ethnicity can overlap race.Property crime
▼ about one third less than the national average
Violent crime
▼ about 25% under the national average
Eight and a half acres on a lake, listing price
about 0:19:26Two-bedroom, one-bath house, 816 square feet, listing price
about 0:19:56Four-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,586 square feet, listing price
about 0:20:20"about one third less than the national average"
Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:25:34
"about 25% under the national average"
Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:25:43
"7,289"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:15:15
"up 11%"
Comparison: "since 1990". Direction: above.
As told in 2021 about 0:15:22
"33 and a half"
Comparison: "about four years younger than normal". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:15:33
"94%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:16:28
"0.3%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:16:28
"2.1%"
Comparison: "about half the usual". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:16:40
"1.1%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:16:40
"33%"
Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:19
"65.3%"
Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:19
"less than 2%"
Comparison: "last election". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:27
"23%"
Comparison: "less than half the average; normally 50-50 is the normal". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:16:51
"other Christian"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:00
"0.0%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:15
"0.0%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:15
"a little bit lower than the average"
Comparison: "the average". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:50
"about 25% of jobs"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:17:55
"$48,114"
Comparison: "national average about $57,500". No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:18:08
"83.5"
Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.
As told in 2021 about 0:18:08
"53 out of 100"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:18:30
"$122,100"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:18:33
"$910 a month"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:19:03
"$79,900"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:19:26
"$127,500"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:19:56
"$162,900"
No direction stated.
As told in 2021 about 0:20:20
4.0 / 5 · average of 3
“A small town where everyone knows everyone, with a few bars, a casino not far away, no clubs, live bands at the amphitheatre, festivals, farmers markets and several stores; the schools are not the greatest but are being remodelled.”about 0:10:34
“A beautiful if small Michigan town; the libraries are full of current and useful information, dog parks and playgrounds are plentiful and the people are so nice you cannot go anywhere without seeing someone you know.”about 0:12:01
“The reviewer grew up there and wishes they had not: little to do but drive around, asbestos in the elementary school, buildings falling apart, no internet access in a rural area, and Confederate flags all over town.”about 0:12:54
They lived in a double-wide mobile home at Gurd Road in Hope Township, outside Hastings, Michigan, with their eight-year-old daughter. Ricky owned a glass company called Wholesale Glass in Paw Paw with three partners and played in bars as a popular local musician. Their shifts kept them apart, they argued about money and in early 1985 they had discussed divorce.
He had a cocaine habit, a history of petty crime and a habit of boasting that he was a hit man. Carol Strobel, his former girlfriend, later said that from early July 1985 he talked about a job worth $3,000, drove her past the Goddard house and said the man inside was going to be killed, explaining that Rich's girlfriend wanted a gold chain and ring taken from the body to make it look like a robbery. In September he told her the job had been postponed because the girlfriend wanted to increase the insurance. She moved out at the end of September.
Ricky lay face down between the living room and kitchen with a massive wound to the head. He had been shot from about five feet with a shotgun, the blast entering the left side and hitting the back of his head. The medical examiner said he died instantly and that the blood pattern showed the body had been moved before the police arrived.
Detective Ken Demont of the Barry County Sheriff's Department found no sign of forced entry. Missing were Ricky's wallet, a jewellery box, his wedding band and a gold necklace. Left behind were a mink coat, a payroll cheque, a bank bag holding $101, a television, a stereo, a VCR and a vase containing cash, which looked like a robbery done badly or in a hurry.
In February the investigation turned to the insurance and the telephone records.
In August 1986 a diver from South Haven found the shotgun in the river, with a shell marked as made in Hungary, matching a shell found at the Goddard home. He had been identified from a carnival card as Kimberley, and only later was his real name, Frederick Kuna, established.
The case kept turning.
January 25, 1986 / the Goddard mobile home at Gurd Road, Hope Township, near Hastings, Michigan
As told in the episode, on 22 July 2021.
Accused
Accused
Accused
Accused
Accused
June 1984; body found July 20, 1984 / a creek beside M66 in Assyria Township, Barry County, Michigan
As told in the episode, on 22 July 2021.
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
about 0:52:22business
about 0:30:45business
about 0:29:36home
about 0:43:37police
about 0:56:24hospital
about 1:02:40police
about 1:36:04road
about 1:54:47body found
about 1:54:47other
about 1:22:16other
about 1:39:06business
about 1:32:58other
about 0:09:56